Technology Dependence is An Addiction

Before the advent of powerful AI chatbots, the philosopher Daniel Dennett had already spent years wrestling with the dangers of advanced machines and artificial intelligence. In a 2017 interview he said:

“We have become breathtakingly dependent on technology that only a few of us know how to understand or repair…Now, of course, we’re also losing our talent to read maps because GPS is taking over, and the fact that if we were to have an electronic blackout, we would be thrust into the most destructive panic you can imagine…I don’t think we have to worry about robots enslaving us, but I think we have to worry about our own dependence on them…Bad habits can evolve just as good habits do. Why? Because they’re just more infectious. They grab onto some weakness in our makeup, in our dispositions, and they exploit it, just like viruses” (Curwood, S., 2017).

There are two key takeaways from Dennett’s insights:
–Over-reliance on automation poses a clear risk.
–We must treat our habit of technological dependency as what it is, an addiction.

We Know Something’s Not Right With Our Tech Use

Many of us have deployed digital countermeasures: deleted email, news, and social apps, tried online time limiters, or killed our internet connection; but without a comprehensive plan to address our cravings, our addiction subverts these restrictions. We know that plastic neural processes can generate rigid behaviors (Doidge, 2007, pp. 208-209). Digital addictions can be recalcitrant hydras because they are less glitch and more feature of normal brain function.

The Distraction Economy Seeks to Monopolize Our Time

In the new digital economy where “money flows to attention” (Goldhaber, 1997), success means exploiting brain addiction mechanics to get, keep, transfer, and convert attention to profit.

Digital Distractions Damage Us

There is evidence that digital addictions damage our ability to read, concentrate, and learn. “Dozens of studies by psychologists, neurobiologists, educators, and Web designers [that] point to the same conclusion: when we go online, we enter an environment that promotes cursory reading, hurried and distracted thinking, and superficial learning” (Carr, 2010, pp. 115-116).

Social media addiction can increase depression and suicidal ideation, especially for the most vulnerable (McCluskey, 2021; Peters & Brandom, Slides 24-25). Children say that neither law enforcement officers, nor teachers and social media sites can do as much as parents to protect them (Pew Research Center, 2022, p. 12). It’s on us to protect our children and ourselves.

We believe there is salvation to be found in key ideologies like essentialism, digital mindfulness, and digital minimalism.

We Must Protect & Foster Deep Work

Computer scientist and father of digital minimalism, Cal Newport, has articulated what we believe to be humanity’s best chance for survival in a digitally distracted world with his concept of Deep Work: “Professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive capabilities to their limit. These efforts create new value, improve your skill, and are hard to replicate” (Newport, 2016, p. 3).

In a world of passive technology addictions that drive provider agendas, we need tools that can help actively harness our own energy to drive our own objectives. We must protect our right to unplug to protect the personal space we require to work deeply.

ActiveTech.Org

ActiveTech exists at the intersection of digital mindfulness and digital minimalism and seeks to articulate a practical and moderate lifestyle to counter our digitally distracted era. To popularize and create tools that support each of us in cultivating a personal discipline of unplugging suited to life in our digital metropolises.

Choose Active Technologies—Brain Train Not Drain

While mindless entertainments may be pleasurable in limited doses, a healthy lifestyle favors active technology engagement (like reading or coding software) versus passive engagements (like streaming TV). In the face of daily decisions for ourselves and our children about what healthy technology interaction looks like, ActiveTech offers an easy-to-apply rule of thumb for technology engagement in our personal life and as parents.

Digital Addictions can be Retooled through the Internal Discipline of Unplugging Supported by a Universe of External Products

(The Unplug Discipline & The Active Tech Category, Michaels, 2023)

Our Big Ideal

ActiveTech believes the world will be a better place when conscientious digital hygiene becomes a widespread consumer demand.