I just spoke at the annual meeting of SIM (the Society of Information Management (SIM). These are corporate Chief Information Officers (CIOs) and Information Technology (IT) specialists who know me, they’ve read my books in their Leadership Learning Forums (LLF) and have listened to me talk to them over the last 20 years about the many ways there are for human beings to share information. We have explored the unconscious, entered trance states, and participated in ceremonies.
This year I talked about how the handheld computer is reprogramming human behavior on a massive scale. We are becoming addicted to the ping of an arriving call or text that triggers a burst of endorphins which stimulate the reward centers in the brain, and urge us to want more.
85% of all Americans are never more than an arms length away from their phones. In our culture, it is almost unimaginable to think about what life is like without the pings. Late-night show host Arsenio Hall recently said that he had the worst day in his life when he inadvertently left his iPhone at home. I can’t be the only one who is terrified of what seems to me to be a cultural addiction to the ping. We are afraid that if we disconnect we might miss out on something that could be more important or exciting than whatever we are or are doing in the moment.
We defend our habit by exclaiming it could be an emergency and that we always have a choice about whether or not to respond to the intrusion. The bottom line is that it always takes us away from the moment and makes wherever we are or are doing never enough.
Our fetish with multitasking makes it possible to do many things but none of them as well as we could if we were more focused. I think we are suffering from Cultural Attention Deficit Disorder, that is manifesting in an epidemic of stress related mental illness and taking too many drugs.
Here is an antidote; come to the Thanksgiving table without your cellphones, make it the family ritual it is and be with each other in this moment. Tell family stories that remind you of all the things you are thankful for and what’s most important to you.
Life is what happens between the pings.
Happy Thanksgiving, I say this To All My Relations, Mi Takuye Oyacin.
Sage advice, Carl, as always. And thankfully for those flying on this holiday, cell phones are still not approved for use during the flight. Like was recommended for addicting drugs, “just say no”!
Steve Moffic
Agreed. I’ve been thinking this for a long time. I finally gave in and got a “smartphone”, simply because nobody would call me anymore, and I needed a texting plan to keep up with anyone on a phone. It’s very depersonalizing. And I’m in a field where you have to use computer technology a lot (meteorology). It has a lot of good uses, but I don’t like what it’s doing to people. When I first heard of couples fighting because their partner wanted to text instead of having sex in bed, I thought it was a joke . . . NOPE.
Interested in what you think about psychiatric drugs, since you mentioned them here as well as in the last video. Have you written anything in detail about this? Or a video that I haven’t dug up, maybe? I know someone on them who wants to get off, and I’m torn between encouraging that and thinking, maybe that’s dangerous to mess with. But then the drugs are dangerous too. It’s a Catch-22 sort of thing. If you want to discuss at length I left my email address. But hoping there is a reference you could point me to. The concept though, the phones and internet have become like a drug. (Soma?) It almost reminds me of a dystopian sci-fi novel at times. You ever read _Cell_ by Stephen King? Haha . . . he is clearly not a fan . . . well happy Thanksgiving to you too. Enjoy your videos, have seen many, just never commented, probably why this comment is so long.
Hi Matt:
Thanks for responding and yes I’ve written lots about psychiatric drugs and if you peruse old Schlagbyte titles there are enough to keep you busy for a month. Enjoy, Dr.H.