|
Cell phones aren't the problem. Social media isn't the problem.
The problem is something that has always been in the background - connection. Cell phones and social media are just the new sedatives that drugs and alcohol have always been. They aren't the problem just a way to massage it and make it more workable.
People like Jonathon Haidt are cashing in by trying to persuade people that if we ban cell phones and social media or put serious parameters around them, all will be well.
All this will do is make a generation of people seriously bored.
What people really want, really need is connection. Deep connection. They don't know it, but this is what their life is missing. This is the dopamine hit that doesn't instantly dissipate the minute it's over. This is the dopamine hit that lasts.
Like almost every major problem, it can be traced back to school. Deep connection is nearly impossible without independent thought because, without it, all that can be produced is shallow conversation which doesn't inspire deep connection.
School actively discourages independent thought. What question is a teacher's worst nightmare? "Why are we doing this?" The response from the teacher is almost always a quick scolding about being disruptive and the question never gets asked again.
Consequently, the child learns that questioning equals unnecessary disruption and that being compliant is always the lesson of the day. Meanwhile, their ability to create independent thoughts never gets worked, so it never develops.
Fast forward to adulthood and that same person has no original thoughts, very little well considered skepticism and not much to add to any mentally stimulating conversation. In other words, they were conditioned to be generic and boring.
This is a recipe for lack of connection because discussions about Johnny's haircut can't go very deep and can't last very long before people run out of things to say. And, the people who have managed to develop their independent thought have no one to meaningfully talk to.
So, you end up with two people sitting in a room doom scrolling and not meaningfully connecting so their obvious best option is to continue doom scrolling.
This is what happens when we actively discourage the question "why are we doing this?"
|
