What happens to your brain on digital?
It's more than mere distraction.
Unfortunately, it’s worse than you think.
Because it’s impacting our ability to think.
A recent podcast interviewed three researchers studying the long-term effects of digital interactions in this rapidly morphing and accelerating environment of distraction and overload.
There’s more to unpack than I can do justice here so let me pique your interest with a summary and quotes.
Remember: We have a limited supply of attention, focus and cognitive resources. Knowing that:
Skimming instead of reading
Has become an adaptive or survival strategy
Beneficial and required in the workplace
Taxes our ability to process and comprehend on a deeper level
Impacts our ability to ready deeply and integrate analysis to discern the truth, or lack of it
“Beauty goes missing when we are skipping and skimming and scrolling and word spotting” ~Maryanne Wolf
Social media is changing the nature of our attention
“Dark” or damaging patterns – infinite scroll, dopamine refreshes, engagement lures
Deliberate design influences disassociation: total absorption, flow or zone states
Rather than encouraging creative flow dissociation is redirected into gaming and other addictive online behaviors
If you don’t understand how you became tempted or lost, it’s not by accident
“Software developers have figured out that they can exploit this capacity when designing apps and devices to make money out of it” ~Nehal El-Hadi
Offline isn’t offline any more
While a few social media dalliances may seem trivial, the cumulative total adds up to experiences that affect how we spend the time in our lives as a whole
The result is a dramatic impact on our ability to live our lives aligned with our goals and values
Sites and services undermine our ability to deploy our attention in ways we would endorse for ourselves
“Our digital environments are stacked against us in terms of the way we spend our time and attention online” ~Kai Lukoff
The cognitive costs are mounting
“Media multitasking” is switching between different types of media or between online and offline
May be natural adaptation to tech environment created around us
Negatively affects cognitive control – the ability to effectively pay attention to task at hand
Comes with a “switch cost” and performance suffers on primary task – why texting while driving is outlawed
Social media generates “attentional residue:” our brains don’t forget and don’t clear our working memory when we go offline
Frequent switching, online interactions and attentional residue means a greater proportion of our working memory is consumed with these cognitive processes
“For every “you” there are a thousand or more engineers, developers and designers on the other side of the screen who are purposefully or intentionally designing these services in order to capture your attention” ~Kai Lukoff
Bottom line and concern for society
We have fewer cognitive resources available in our offline lives.
The biggest worry: The cost over the long-term may mean we are deteriorating our cognitive control ability.
“Through our behavior we are harming that muscle that enables us to focus .” ~Daniel B. le Roux
In other words, we’re becoming less thinking, perhaps less human, beings.
Doesn’t this scare the bejeebers out of you? I strongly suggest listening to the podcast below.
Then, go wander outside!
3 Resources for You
Books, articles, tips, tools and advice to help you unplug. (Books may be aff links.)
The Conversation Podcast: Too many digital distractions are eroding our ability to read deeply and here’s how we can become aware of what’s happening
Establish offline hours: The hour after awakening, the hour before bed.
Waking Up: A new operating system for your mind. Claims to be “not just another meditation app.” Been using this for several months, sporadically, and I seriously love it.
Being able to smell the fresh air and disconnect from the news and your phone – there’s nothing like it. Jason Ward
