Our Withering Ability to Discover

I remember as a child my grandparents would often remind me of the lack of technology they experienced in school and how grateful we should be to have such an opportunity to explore and discover today, and they’re right. I mean, look around. We have 3D printing and credit cards on our phones and movies at a click, not to mention the endless depths of the internet at our fingertips. You might think that the generation that grew up amidst the rise of technology would be the brightest, most aware, open-minded, and educated members of society. It seems, unfortunately, that the result today has brought us quite the opposite. Our social skills beyond a keyboard are a bit rough around the edges (maybe that’s just me). Our attention span has dwindled. Our interests instead of being discovered through friends, clubs, or community events are handed to us through ads, YouTube videos, and whatever appears on our explore page. Lastly, with the immense amount of information available for us at any moment, it has become a growing challenge to distinguish which is valuable and truthful and versus those with a hidden motive.

Siva Vaidhyanathan advocates a similar argument in Antisocial Media, pointing out the paradoxical thinking in the mission of Facebook. Although Zucherburg is constantly reassuring users that his site was created with the purpose of connecting, methods such as filter bubbles and algorithms lead to narrow viewpoints and limit exploration to new ideas. The goals behind such tactics is to show users what they are already guaranteed to like while simultaneously keeping their field of vision (and thus, knowledge) to what the creators choose it to be. It seems that social media platforms in general do a far better job at dividing people than bringing them together.

After reading this piece and attempting a few social media challenges to reduce my time spent on devices, I have found that it is extremely difficult to detach from habitual scrolling, even if doing so brings no benefit to me. Reviving the ability to discover and be actively present in the context I am in takes an awareness that I usually do not have to put effort into. Most importantly, I caught myself not wanting to reduce my screen time or pay less attention to social media. Falling into habits takes far less work and self-control than acting against them. Granted, after a few days of practice (not taking photos, no device use in transit, and paying more attention to screen time notifications), I started questioning what I was planning to do before I clicked an app. These challenges may be been uncomfortable, but they did cause me to act with more purpose.

 The creators of these apps know how to attract and keep a user. Our ability to post at any given moment, comment to a friend, and direct message anyone serve as motivation to pass hours scrolling, typing, and snapping without the slightest awareness of our surrounding environment. I am a victim of the trap too. Granted, we must take responsibility for our half of the bargain. By signing up, making an account, or typing in the web address, we are taking our attention capabilities and delivering them to a site or app with the intention only to maximize their time in our lives.

This corporate scheme to maximize screen time in addition to keeping your eyeballs on things you like to see and agree with rather than new information makes for a destructive combination.

          

So how do we revive our primitive abilities to discover, socialize, and be curious once again? I might first suggest not writing off all social media for good. Not only is that going to be quite painful, but it also disregards the utility in these apps. If used correctly and with awareness, they can be used for good. Although I have explained the difficulties behind reducing screen time, doing so will eventually become habitual. Whether your chosen act is not having the phone out during dinner time or taking an hour a day to go device-less before bed, there are small actions that could help get the ball rolling. If a consequence of social media is distanced relationships, maybe ask a close friend to lunch or coffee. Deliberately choosing to be engaged in time with them will not only deepen your relationship but strengthens social abilities. Perhaps walking the dog or going to a local market would be simple tasks to leave a device in the car and force yourself to look around instead. I am no pro at this weening off social media thing, but I have seen the benefits from a few exercises. At the end of the day, what’s there to lose? At most, you might have to watch one less YouTube video or catch up on your feed later. The payoff in terms of awareness, socializing, and practicing exploring weighs far more than an hour or two of screen time.