How Smartphones Shrink Our Brains
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ก.ย. 2024
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Smartphones are so ubiquitous that they almost fade into the background. Everyone has one and nobody thinks twice about them. But what if they were affecting the way our brains function in a very tangible way? That would mean society has been collectively altered and we don't even know it. In this episode we take a look at the research of the tenuous relationship between smartphones and our brains.
Sources and show notes: docs.google.co...
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Producer: Dagogo Altraide
Writers: Laura Woods, Dagogo Altraide
Editors: Brayden Laffrey, Dagogo Altraide
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I accidentally stopped using social media after breaking up, because I don't want to see anyone's stories. Turns out I feel happier and less overwhelmed. I'm gonna continue doing that.
thats soo true
Yeah bro just binge watch TH-cam!!!
You're literally on one right now
its better when no one knows about what you are doing with your life.
ok
I am preparing for a competitive exam and this is what I realized: every time you use smartphone after study session it becomes noticeably harder to focus back on studying even after long hours of abstinence, or in other words your day is gone. On the other hand if you just study with decisiveness of not touching smartphones you actually don’t feel like you’re missing out a lot and time flies faster.
It is not just a smartphone problem. It is sad, but I can't get myself to study for 1 hour without being tempted to check messenger, WhatsApp, Instagram, blogs... All of which I can do on my computer too.
My solution, apart from keeping the phone away, has been to use Focusfilter: an app that prohibits your computer to access certain websites for 1/2/3... hours. It works quite well for me.
Time goes slower without mobile
I noticed this too like when I’m done reading for awhile and I use some type of high stimulating technology like video games, I forget everything I just did. It’s no good
Which competitive exam
@@amrit5679 NEET PG
When you use smartphone and then study time passes slower, however when you wake up and study without touching smartphone time passes relatively faster is what I meant.
The heavy smartphone use is slowly killing my mother. She has severe chronic depression and spends all of her time scrolling on tiktok or posting selfies. Shes obssesed with her self image and cant do basic tasks like cooking or going to the grocery store. I dont know how to help her, ive tried to explain all this information, to make her do other things, with no effect.
Social media can DESTROY your mind, especially if you have depression. After a messy breakup and financial problems, i started to feel more depressed. When i was working as an intern, sometimes i couldnt bear to look at anybody, i would get up and go to the bathroom and cry, thinking about ending it all. I've decided to quit instagram and started to write for almost a year now, and my life has been so much better.
Sometimes i wish we could go back to the 90s and just forget that these fucking pieces of glass exist.
I wish my mom could rest her mind, she deserves so much more from life than looking at a screen.
the iphone is designed for WOMEN, they knew the vanity of women, all good looking teenage girls are addicted to their phones, so much so I swear they could not walk without them, it's all by design and everything we do is going to be recorded.
Hope your mom gets better dude.
That's crazy, didn't realize social could have such a big effect, please try to to help your mom, i hope both of your lives get better
It breaks my heart reading this 😢
Just like my lazy father does nothing but watch netflicks all day long
You know you're in a bad way when you have to tell your technology to remind you to not use the technology
Kinda like when your drug dealer says, "orrrrr, you could just not have the gear, but give me money anyway."
Damn true
@@Idler_JP Theoretically speaking of course.
@@someoneelse4492 "kinda" could be potentially legally interpreted as a possible "slang" equivalent for "theoretically speaking"
I'm not a lawyer, but that's the best I can think of right know... regarding "your" drug dealer.
I vote this comment be pinned 🤖
A secondhand alarm clock was a dollar, I don't need a phone by the bed anymore. Wrist watch with no wifi cost two dollars and it is a blessing. No messages when I check the time. Small changes that matter a lot. Three bucks for a much calmer head and better life. Less depression too. Very thankful.
You can turn off notification by night, but it doesn't stop you to have a urge to check yourself, you're right
@@Etrehumain123 Yeah the urge is the problem haha
I'm a teacher and every year we take all our schools 8th graders, about 110 students, to the alps for a one week skiing trip.
On this trip, smartphones and all wifi capable devices are forbidden to bring. Naturally this creates quite the uproar from many students when we tell them, but especially from the parents. Some have even forced their children to smuggle their phones on the trip because they feel the need to always be able to call them.
Now the interesting thing is the change in behaviour we can see in our students on this trip. At home, we have smartphone zones in our school where the students are allowed to use them. It's not uncommon to see groups of Up to a dozen students sit next to each other completely silent, all looking at their phones. But on our trip, they become much more social and even behave more child like again. They play stupid games, laugh a lot and are generally very happy. The physical exercise also helps, I think.
There were numerous students who told me that the thought of getting back to their phones stressed them. The constant messaging, scrolling and posting is actually nothing they do enjoy, but a chore.
It really makes me sad to see these happy children being trapped by technology. As soon as they are back home, they are glued to their phones again and it would take more strength and determination than any 14 years old can muster to break out on their own.
Also did a similar thing as a teacher. The first day, kids (and young adults) were absolutely miserable and short-tempered. By the 2nd day, they seemed to have moved through several stages of grief and started to interact more and find creative ways to spend their time that didn't involve scrolling (though I also noticed a weird tick among many students where they were making scrolling motions with their thumbs in the air or on their pants). By the 3rd day, everything seemed much less stressful and hurried.
But that trip was only 3 days. As soon as students got phones back, they resumed their normal, hunched-over postures and endless scrolling activities.
imagine people in the 80's where some people trying to detach themselves to newspapers. isn't this in this current generation having problems with smartphone phobia the same thing as newspapers before? I don't know, any thoughts?
Do you think the kids just getting away from most technology on the trip helped as well? I understand how phones have impacted people, but I can’t help but wonder if the use of laptops and iPads like a lot of schools use now are also partly to blame.
@@minzugaming I don't see a similarity with newspaper reading and how it was used by most people in the 80s. After dinner, my dad would pick up the newspaper and read some of it. I might browse through it for an interesting article or two and I enjoyed looking at the Sunday comics. Sometimes, I cut out a comic strips to share with friends b/c I thought it was funny. It was just reading material like when you read a magazine. You didn't read it for 3+ hours a day and constantly carry it with you and look at it. Teenagers didn't sit silently on a curb each reading a newspaper like I see teens on their iPhones.
And we thought with computers and their games where causing obesity, be interesting to see what happens over the next few years.
That app he tried to sell us @6:44 was like a black mirror moment lol.
'Phone apps shrink hippocampus? Don't worry, there's an app to fix it. Introducing HippoCamera'!
Technohell
And then shoe-horning in an add for a news aggregator that pins you to your phone even more.
I bought Opal, bc iPhone “restrictions” are very user unfriendly. Best 50$ (with discount) I’ve ever spent, considering today’s economy! Mom was right, this damn Internet and smartphones really damaged me 🥲
P.S. Yes, I know it’s some irony that in bought app to fight this demon, but it’s f*cking works wonders. We doomed as a species.
Geeze 😢
Totally. Ridiculous
I have always plugged in my iPhone out in the shop when home. I work at home so this gives me a long day with no distractions. Before I work in the morning I check emails etc, but phone goes into cold storage for the rest of the day. I know it would destroy my ability to focus so never gave it the chance! I recommend this to everyone.
I’m 33, I LIVE on TH-cam.. It literally plays in my background while at work. Even sometimes in the car. I catch myself sucked in even when I’m around my kids. I notice when my kids have to say daddy 3 or 4 times. It crushed me and I’ve now made a big effort to cut phone time. Not gonna lie, it’s hard. And I don’t even do social media much anymore
You absolutely need to take a media detox. At the least just only listen to music. It will be hard at first but it becomes so much easier after a couple of days. You will learn how to entertain yourself by being present, thinking about goals, and working to achieve those goals. Media addiction will rob you if your life, because it will make you a sleep walker that consciousness is stuck in spectator mode.
Take some serious time off, in an offline environment. In any way you can. At least 1 week, preferably 2 weeks. There are numerous types of trips you can do. Volunteering, going out into the woods, meditation retreat, anything. Carry an old Nokia phone for emergencies with you, and that's it. No wifi, no laptop. Just being with other people. You can heal from this.
After those two weeks, set up strict rules and communicate them to the people around you. Build systems that reduce your dependencies. Replace the youtube with something else. Find new activities that are meaningful to you. You can do it.
I'm reading this on my TV where I watch TH-cam. It's a good alternative when everything else has been taken away from you during the pandemic - friends, money, company, bars, cafes. Just download some music to play while reading a book on the sofa.
Try using radio
@@devonrd My issue is I need my phone for life - mainly internet banking, some government services, work 2FA and at times my password manager. So maybe an approach for me is uninstalling all apps except these ones so my phone can't really do much anyway? What do you think? I'm the exact same as OP in that I don't even have any social media, but live on reddit and youtube, which I think is just as bad if not worse now. I'd like to change that. But my issue is I get my news from reddit, so if I can't do any of this what do I do then? I don't trust my local news (rupert murdoch) so how?
You don't need a dumb phone. You need a quiet phone.
Completely disable notifications for anything that you can (and will) check regularly (email, news, social media).
Silence as many of the remaining notifications and communication channels as possible (group chats, messages/DMs from anyone outside your closest family/friends).
The only audible/perceptible notifications should be those that *actually* require immediate attention. Like a family member calling about something urgent.
Make it difficult for people to distract you (mute all messages) but provide a way for them to get in touch with you when needed (audible ring signal if someone tries calling twice within 5min).
What you prescribe is more like a work mode than a phone mode. Why silencing incoming calls? You either want to pick them up or they are spam that you want to block. Also if you don't have a lot of spam mails and sms are also something you would want to know when they come.
Wont stop me from wanting to watch something like Coldfusion on youtube 😂
My phone is permanently on silent. I refuse to be a responder monkey.
I check it regularly but resist to be at the beck and call and forced to respond.
Be mean
It keeps them keen
@@xSkyWeix I don't silence calls completely, so that's the one method to get my immediate attention.
Most other communication methods however I have set to be completely silent and without popup notifications.
They still provide a reliable way to reach me, since I will notice the "pending messages" dot/icon the next time I check my phone or look at the taskbar.
But it's much easier to stay focused and ignore pending messages for a while when the only indication is "there are messages" instead of hearing a notification sound for every new message or seeing notifications pop up constantly.
This is what I mean by a "silent phone": Heavily filter out the number and type of notifications that will get your attention. This makes it much easier to not pick up the phone constantly in the first place.
Smartphones are awesome tools and information sources to have at your disposal.
But as with any tool (like a hammer) or information source (like a book or newspaper), WE should be in charge of when to use them.
They shouldn't demand our constant attention, especially not for "irrelevant" stuff like social media posts, software updates, ads/deals/offers and "slow" correspondence (where it's perfectly okay to reply within hours or days, not minutes).
In our home my wife and I leave our phones charging in the kitchen at night.
This feels so dystopian sad too see everyone detatched from the real world
The irony of watching this on your phone
I'm 50, I used to enjoy reading magazines so much, now I don't understand how anyone has the time to read them. Doom scrolling is dangerous, you wind up reading so much crap you wouldn't if you had to buy magazine or even pick up a free one.
So much of it is designed to just to get your attention and communicates nothing.
I like Smart phones. They've made my life better.
I don't miss losing contact with people who move away, having to carry a camera around and only being able to meet new people in bars. But its alarming how easy it is to completely waste your time on one.
Magazines used to be great but post-covid the majority of them have been pretty terrible. Expensive, thinner yet still full of ads, and the quality of the articles has taken a nosedive.
Which is a shame because they once offered a solution. I was introduced to the early days of the internet at a young age, and even then I realised where the future was headed; so as I got older and wiser I’d look for any opportunity to reduce screen time and magazines were the way
what about wikipedia? or researching to learn about things that interest you? Yes most people are only for the entertainment but i use it more for learning.
I spend some time occasionally finding and saving articles and interesting things on the internet, like many Wikipedia articles, and then print them. It kinda of helps in compensating for the lack of good magazines nowadays and helps me stay away from my phone. Also, it minimizes the need for social media.
I have thirty boxes of magazines. I've also got less time for them as TH-cam has the same information, presented by someone who I may relate better to in order to get the information.
Rings so true while I'm scrolling through endless comments on youtube.
Smartphone addiction, and tech addiction in general, is so insidious. It's like food addiction: you can't just stop consuming it because it's essential to existing in society, making it very difficult to regulate once you develop an addiction to it
"Food addiction" is mostly addiction to sugar and ultra-processed things. Healthy foods do not easily lend themselves to addiction. So yes: you can just stop consuming the *addictive* "foods" to the same extent as someone can just stop consuming alcohol.
Using social media and shit like that, that MOST people use their phones for is not necessary in todays society...... NOBODY needs a phone. ESPECIALLY kids. Phones and TV's are literally making children fucking stupid and mentally ill. Hell, using gps's alone is reducing gray matter in our brains...
@@ReturnOfHeresy you're over-analysing the metaphor 💀 but you can argue that the highly engaging content we consume is comparable to ultra-processed in the way that it's edited. Sure you can just stop consuming that content but "boring" content (healthy food) would get...well...boring so you'll seek out more engaging content as a result, almost like a gateway drug. It's very hard nowadays to just sit down and be bored, having only your thoughts to please you
@@KAIZENTECHNOLOGIES Ah I wasn't addressing "tech addiction", though I will. I just dislike the myth of generalized "food addiction". Imagine if an alcoholic claimed "liquid addiction".
As for tech, it is basically the same thing: maybe you do need a smart phone, but you don't need to engage with *content* which is the core of the addiction.
In all three cases it's a category error to blame the parent group (tech, food, liquids) for the actual problem (content, sugar, alcohol).
That's a good way of framing it, it's hard to break addiction with something that's connected closely with something that's essential.
Like a smoking addiction being associated with taking a 15 minute break at work.
Taking a break is important, but if you've made that connection, it's hard to stop smoking without disrupting your whole stress relief routine.
social media destroyed the Social Gathering.
I removed all the social media on my phone years ago. Now, I don't feel the need.
Same, and now I’m at the point where I feel like I need to stop watching /listening to yt and podcasts but I love the informational side of yt like “cold fusion” and such channels. It’s a struggle lol
@@Bbbbbbbbbbbbb728 i only recently deleted my social media apps, i still play video games and watch youtube and im in the same boat, sometimes i feel like i just need to give it all up and live out in the wilderness to regain my humanity
@@Bbbbbbbbbbbbb728 same, at this point YT is the biggest time sink for me. i think i am addicted to the informational channels. my friends who have seen my feed think its great because its all science, tech and knowledge driven channels but i know i am spending far too much time on here.
I did the same back in 2016 and I haven't had an issue until a few weeks ago that I have to download Facebook again because I felt like recording some serious events for legal purposes.
Deleted all social media 4 years ago, and now it's like I never had it in the first place.
If I want to contact a friend I ring them and go visit them, like in the good old days, i'm 50.
My grandparents lived in the same house for 50 years. A couple of years ago my little brother (who was in his early 20's) got lost on the way driving there because he blindly followed Google Maps to a completely wrong address. I was shocked to realise that he had no real navigational skills, he didn't notice he was going the wrong way or that he wasn't near any familiar landmarks. As a kid, I guess he always had his head down looking at some device when our parents drove us to see our grandparents, and as an adult he always had a device telling him where to go.
Same with my sibling, we've lived in the same town for 19 years and I was shocked when I was riding with them to our local movie theater and they needed the GPS. I'm only 3 years older but I knew how to navigate our town long before I could even drive.
@@mattwolf7698 are you a millennial? I was born at the beginning of that generation and my brother was born at the end of it, so I'm noticing this huge cultural and technological gap between siblings of this generation.
Its more that children in a low trust society are not allowed to free roam
@@muhcharonanope
I'm an elder millennial, and for about the first ten years that I had a driver license, I did not have a phone with a navigation app.
I never paid much attention to routes and how to get to places around town until I started driving the routes myself. When I moved to the city I now live in, I studied the map and noted locations of places to shop, eat out, work, live, and the school systems, so I generally had a good idea of where stuff was before I walked into my home for the first time.
I've also met people who can't find anything without a navigation app giving them turn-by-turn directions, so I don't think that it's just a matter of people not developing a skill because of smartphones.
I left social media 1yr ago. Much happier
I have people in my life who are struggling in certain ways and I’m convinced it’s because of their phone addiction. This is truly a silent epidemic.
Ted Kaczynski wrote about this at length a decade before the release of the iPhone and everyone dismissed him and called him crazy.
What are you gonna do? Ban smartphones? Ban social media sites? Ban gaming? Ban Netflix?
@@ii2gjdp20sjdj2 That's because he was crazy. You know, blowing innocent people's limbs off and stuff.
Reflection is truly both key and lock. Unfortunately, the majority of humanity is simply incapable.
🐲✨🐲✨🐲✨
"Before I start, I must see my end. Destination known, my mind's journey now begins. Upon my chariot, heart and soul's fate revealed. In time, all points converge, hope's strength resteeled. But to earn final peace at the universe's endless refrain, we must see all in nothingness... before we start again."
🐲✨🐲✨🐲✨
--Diamond Dragons (book I)
its so crazy how silent this is, i think its because the people who are using the web all the time are surrounding by people, by design, who are also using the web all the time. and nobody sees anything wrong with it because its such a massive bubble. the thing is that the people who escaped the bubble are also, by design, not here to tell us how bad it is. its like if everyone in the world who vaped could only talk to other people who also vaped. there wouldnt be anyone there to tell us to stop vaping
Worst problem is social media. I have a smartphone and I use it for work mostly but I don’t have social media on the phone. The only time I use it is if I need something.
Yeah, the average person will be done a great service if they just uninstall their social media apps, and only use social media on computers/laptops. It's a game-changer.
@heychrisfox real
You don’t have social media?
Who left this comment on a social media platform then?
Jesus 😂
@@xe4meI guess he means things like Instagram and Facebook.
@@xe4me I said I don’t have social media on the phone.
I got text neck a few years ago and couldn't look down at my phone anymore without a lot of pain. I started to only have the phone with me, listen to music on it and take pictures of nature and cats, but that's it, no social media, no texting, because that makes me assume the position that hurts my neck. It's been a blessing in disguise, I'm used to it now. Going for a walk, riding a train, it's a different experience. I'm more present, I pay more attention, I notice more, it's nice. I started using less and less social media too and I try to not multi-task too much, just focus on one thing at a time. What I find interesting is the fact that people don't retain information from reading from screens, which I did notice in myself before, but that when I read from my e-reader I seem to get the same feel as a book. I wonder why this is, or am I maybe wrong and will I forget every book I read on it (I hope not!)?
I gotta be honest. If this was 1999, I could EASILY ditch my phone. I'd just hang out with friends, or call 'em on the landline. Nowadays, I only have very few people in my life, most of them not close enough to hang out, and too busy to call. Getting rid of stuff like texting would just result in me not communicating with anyone anymore but my wife. It's not just the phone, it's how our lives changed in the last decades. Phone addiction is just a symptom and a catalyst.
Yep. In highschool and college I was the most social in my life.
Facts
Smartphones enabled this state of things to occur. It's not a symptom, it's the cause, the broad over-interconnectivity had led to social distance.
True, its come to a point where you cannot operate successfully without a smartphone. I live alone and being in a different country, i need the smartphone to be in touch w old friends and family.
Make more friends then
This video was absolutely brilliant, thank you for covering this insanely important issue. I’m a UX designer working in app dev in the charity sector, and have been absolutely horrified at some of the dark patterns the most popular social networks and games will use to force engagement.
Problematic smartphone usage and psychological torture have a lot in common. There needs to be HEAVY legislation for this.
There are no laws against algorithmic jank, digital plagiarism (via CGPT, Midjourney, Claude, Bing, etc.), and certainly no consequences for super-wealthy corporations owned by the Sam Altmans, the Steve Jobs', the Elons, etc. 💪😎✌️ That's just how society rolls. Profits over people. Economy over ethics. Money over morality or mindfulness.
It do be what it do be. Reflection is key, but mankind simply isn't capable. They LITERALLY "can't". 😂
🐲✨🐲✨🐲✨
"Before I start, I must see my end. Destination known, my mind's journey now begins. Upon my chariot, heart and soul's fate revealed. In time, all points converge, hope's strength resteeled. But to earn final peace at the universe's endless refrain, we must see all in nothingness... before we start again."
🐲✨🐲✨🐲✨
--Diamond Dragons (book I)
I stopped using all social media. Life has changed completely for me. I see a deeper more richer meaning to life. The sky looks and feel bluer, the weather and changes in it are closer to me, in short I feel incredibly connected to the world around me. I have have all those divisive voices out of my head. I am finally living my life and not constantly comparing my life with the 'anyways' fake life of social media personalities. I really hope more people give up on social media and experience how wholesome and rewarding life is. Lastly, positively commenting or negatively commenting I was always inevitably falling for the vicious marketing of social media influencers, for whom, honestly, we the regular people, are nothing more than cattle. Quitting social media was the only way to really voice my opinion. I know it sounds like a conundrum, but yeah staying away from social media is the only way not to play their game. Thank you for making this video. I watch TH-cam only for quality long form content, documentaries and Non-AI generated videos. I have turned off TH-cam shorts, though I have to keep doing it every 30 days. I am also a premium member, so I never see any ads.
- thankfully I don’t get distracted by TH-cam shorts but I was wondering how do you turn it off?
Children should not have smart phones....They are poison
they need it to survive in society tho. imagine being 18 and finally was allowed to use the internet and cell phone. good luck getting a job.
They are the main targets
@@MuiKaHo wut?
Neither should adults if we're bieng honest
@@patrickhenry8425 Here is an example. a 18 year old prospective worker that is tech savvy vs an 18 year old that only in the last 2 years have started using smartphone, and computer. the person who is more tech savvy has a higher chance of getting a job through 1. different means (online) and 2. technological skills. Employers dont want to teach people how to use their generic tech. It costs time and money. Someone who has enough skills to navigate the internet at a young age has a higher opportunity to get jobs. its basically a requirement now. Similar to needing at least a bachelors to get acceptable wage and not work at fast food joints.
I teach Conflict Resolution into the health sector and as part of communication talk about this, but your feature actually gives my amateur theories factual back up in so much more detail! Amazing information, thank you!
At some point I knew I was addicted and also weaken my attention span, that was like 2 years ago, at first I try to correct my concentration by removing tiktoks, reels from my life, and always watching longer videos, also decided to spend more time avoiding my phone, like going to the gym, and learning Japanese so I can memorize more and more each day, currently I haven't escape the reels addiction, every time I reinstall the app I can waste hours on it and then be disappointed about it, so it's a fight about deleting and installing the app over and over again but I feel like everytime it takes more time to feel like I need to use social media, also my dog has been the biggest help, as we try to reach the 15km walking each day
Also I feel like I need to reach my goal before auto-generated content base on preferences, I feel like once technology reaches that point the addiction will be stronger
Try getting an App Blocker on your phone, specifically one with very intense restrictions that make it very hard to turn off. Then uninstall reels and block the playstore/appstore with the app blocker so you don't reinstall reels again. This way you increase the friction between you and your social media problems.
@@maidmermaidmaiden was thinking about doing that, also to avoid TH-cam shorts, every social media app now has some kind of reels option
Mermaid, it's called increasing friction to the user interface. Linux Desktop works like that, because it doesn't have official Apps and except Debian-based, RedHat based or whatever snapd capable distro, Arch Linux as the only way to open a Web browser might increase time spent in smart management. raspberry pi 400 btw
Smartphones have definitely f***'d my brain. Having ADHD only makes matters worse. I used to genuinely enjoy learning, even though focus has been a lifelong issue. At this point in my life the thought breeds anxiety because while focusing is hard enough on it's own, memory has become an entire issue all its own.
Try.
You just undisciplined or uninterested. No such thing as ADHD.
@@neversayjellook doctor neversaynever 😁
@@neversayjello no such thing as real world. you are in a video game.
when you conceptualize normal negative feelings as a full fletched mental disorder, that disorder becomes a reality.
8:14 lol ofc you'll get nervous, its like getting a call and not being able to pick it up.
Yes. I am kinda surprised that this isn't being talked about more and out there in the public. When I go around and see, especially younger folks, everyone is glued to their fucking mobile phones. People walking the streets, no eye contact, blank stares, unable to do anything without their devices in hand, socially awkward, parents giving small kids phones just to be able to do some scrolling of their own. Deeply worrying. I think that in a couple of years, a decade maybe, this is going to seriously backfire and we will find ourselves in deep trouble as a society if this is not addressed.
Great video, thank you for it. I believe more needs to be done about this.
What's ironic is that I DELIBERATELY have forced myself to mentally (and physically) multitask BECAUSE I saw a documentary long ago about how "old people find it more difficult than young people to multitask", so I decided to force myself to multitask since the early 2000s to PREVENT dementia.
Our brain is being rewired to be focused on analyzing, categorizing, and short term problem solving skills, over prioritizing them in the place of Imagination, abstract problem solving skills, and novelty altogether.
I think the key is how we use our devices. I think the most important thing is using your smarphone mindfully. Become less reactive and impulsive, and dedicate time for doing specific things on your phone mindfully.
Some examples of how I achieve this: I have notifications blocked for 90% of my apps because I found literally every single app wants your attention even if it's not appropriate (like why tf does a PDF reader send us 3 notifications a day? I just want it to read pdf files when I need it). Also, when I need to focus I turn on "Do not disturb" mode, and check my notifications after finishing my task. I also dedicate time for social media use. Instead of opening it multiple times a day, I read through posts and replies in the morning next to a cup of coffee. Similarly I don't impulsively watch youtube videos when I'm bored, but dedicate time to it in the evening, I consciously think "okay now I'm gonna watch videos for 40 minutes" for example.
As an autistic I have no short term memory so I'm forced to long-term memorize everything.
@@nuclearcatbaby1131 In the CIA they call it Compartmentalization.
Truly upsetting knowing how easily we become bored now. The stimulation we require is causing major depression. It’s generational trauma that older generations cannot understand and just chalk up to “being addicted to technology”
"We"? 🤔
Beat me to it 😂@@Ebani
Generational trauma? Smartphones only existed for about 2 generations (if we assume a generation is 16 years).
@@VariantAEC Most people who use phones and are addicted to it are young people and by a big amount, that has shaped our society, politics and tendencies in everything. That's his point amigo
@@CristianmrWuno
How did you get any of that at all from the OPs comment!?
I’m just here to say - thank you for providing the most thorough source reference sheet. Subbed before even watching the video
I didn't even need smartphones for my addiction 😎 I was already addicted to my PC and online games in 2001
That's the true tech addiction. Spending all your time in four walls on your computer. I've got it myself.
Yep, who needs a phone when pcs exist
That's called being ahead of the curve. Well done.
@@cybersphere Thx 💀
As a kid I first got addicted to television then later on to pc then my smartphone 🥲
From using google maps for the last decade, I can’t find my way down a hallway.
Taxi drivers no longer understand destinations such as "Illinois street & Nebraska St". An exact address must be provided for the GPS.
😂
@@vanesslifeygoNot in London. They take a test called the knowledge and can get you from anywhere in London to somewhere else.
I’ve never figured out where I was anyways so google maps has been my go to since day 1. And when I mean day 1 I mean the moment I started driving farther than the familiar areas I’ve been throughout my life
@@vanesslifeygo this isn't really that bad, now taxis aren't just tied to one location, they can move around if they want a job somewhere else and rely more on their driving skills rather than just their knowledge of the city.
This make me think of Einstein when he was jumped by journalists who wanted to subject him to the "edison test", his answer was that he did not “carry such information in my mind since it is readily available in books.” Then he made a larger point designed to disparage Edison’s view of education. “The value of a college education is not the learning of many facts but the training of the mind to think”
Can I just say, I really appreciate you sharing ALL the sources you used to produce this video! I'm looking at the Google Doc you shared as I'd like to read the articles. Thank you for all the work you do!
I started putting my phone down 2 years ago and only use a tablet. Shockingly, I don’t even care if I get a text or not when I used to before. I got tired of seeing an entire room of people staring at their phones not interacting with each other because scrolling notifications is more important. My phone now stays out of my pocket away from me the entire day and only carry it if someone calls me or I absolutely have to use the internet. It was the most boring thing I’ve ever been addicted to. I’m glad I can now call myself a survivor 😆
Same. I'm known as the anti social cowboy now. People don't really text me unless I NEED to be somewhere. No I don't need or want to know about your memes.
I don't know a lot but I get the feeling there is more to life then your mobile phone.
One time I was at a cafe with my mom, in walks a couple, they sat down, took out their phones and proceeded to scroll, they only looked up to order food and went back to scrolling, never exchanged a word between them, finished their meal, all while scrolling non-stop, got up and left. At first I thought they had a fight or something but when I saw them walking away holding hands realised that maybe it’s a regular occurrence 😳. Glad I’m old enough to remember what a world without smartphones felt like. I hardly ever use mine. Definitely not at a table. That’s just bad manners.
To be honest this video has changed my perspective towards smart phone, yeah everything have there pros and cons but nowadays it's more about cons like more and more screen time, less work, laziness, etc. As a student i appreciate and thank the creator for this video because it opened a different perspective towards these rectangular boxes. I don't completely criticise smart phone as it may be helpful for retrieving something new or contacting. And everyone should understand where they have come due to this smart phone like is it bad or good.
Thank you for this video. Most of these things, I had already heard, but your video was a very powerful reminder. I’ve been putting my phone in a separate room, leaving it at home when I walk out the street to get food or groceries (I live in Taipei), and just living more present. I started to even notice how having my phone in my pocket would bring intruding thoughts of expecting messages, calls, etc. I’m in the middle of something.
感謝你 🙏
I am 22 and I train myself for self corntrol. I dont use social media, just TH-cam for lerning new things. Thank You for the video man
The most sad thing is seeing parents having no interaction while with their children because the parent's eyes are glued to the screen - at the shops, cafes, walking, at the playground. Children are not learning important social interactions and parents are missing out on knowing, teaching and enjoying a relationship with their children.
This, plus children on phones sitting in prams.- these kids are getting worse undeveloped brains than adults. As they are failing to see and learn about the world around them.
To be honest, my phone never made me depressed, on the other hand, rising cost of housing, gas, utility is very much the thing stressing me out.
However interpersonal relationships have been completely annihilated by social media apps, people care more for likes and shares than real world experiences
The important thing to remember is that this video wasn't about depression. This is about inherent stress of using these devices. And as the data bore out, you may not FEEL stressed because of your phone, and you may not think there's a problem with your phone. But there is, and it's scientifically replicable.
It's sad to see parents would just hand their smart phone or ipad to kids to keep them quiet or not watch over them.
It's how they were raised, frankly. Gen X and Millennials were allowed unlimited "screen time" on television and computers. But that was in the days where both the TV and the internet were safer and less deliberately addictive. Now Gen Z and Gen Alpha are having their brains melted by well-meaning parents who don't realize they're basically giving crack cocaine to their children.
I do sometimes question if my parents' tactics were better. At age 8 or so, I'd leave the house and go wander in various forests or relatively wild places without ever telling my parents where I intended to go. They were fine with that, but damn....what if I had broken a leg or something? And there is literally one instance at age 4 where I apparently wandered out into a snowstorm. Obviously I'm still here, but some luck may have been involved.
I am myself using sometimes my very limited you tube channel to warn people about no longer owning their minds. Scrolling, being "dragged along" by stimuli, being bored when stuff takes more than 30 seconds, being anxious not to see the "blipped in" messages. All of that is part of losing our ability to choose what to pay attention to and for how long, or to focus and stay focused, or indeed to think. Even the meeting apps seem to be mostly catalogues for chosing people as comodities. Not looking good indeed. And thanks for your enduring, high quality owrk
Smartphones and social media has disconnected us more than any other time in human history
I try to avoid all social media even WhatsApp even on phone at all times except important calls. It's either laptop screen or not at all.
The irony of this video... Watching on a smartphone, addict.
Was just thinking that lol
I have to use maps to find my way to places. My brain shuts off if a person is showing me the way.
I found myself addicted to my phone as well, but as soon as I removed social media from the mix in my apps, that fix the problem.
TH-cam counts as social media
The channel ident is awesome - the distortion and the voice "you are watching ColdFusion TV".
I knew phones were a problem when I started to see people crossing the street staring at their phone, instead of the cars coming towards them.
I pulled a lady out of an intersection one time because she almost got splattered by a lights and sirens ambulance because she was looking at her phone
That's just Darwinism at work.
And also when some people driving cars are on their phones endangering others.
Well how about people sitting on the same table all looking at their phones/
I’ve been looking into feature phones lately because I hate how my phone makes me feel. I miss my Motorola from 2006 when it was just call, text, music, photos.
Dumb Phones might be what you need. But personally, I think they're just a fad. Getting an iPhone, digging into the settings, and really making sure to turn off the bells and whistles is usually enough for most people. It's just not an act most people are willing to do.
After 2015 the world just wasn't the same
@@axel3689more like 2011-2012 at the least
I just went two months without using a smart phone or computer. I surprised myself and did better than I thought I would.
Those people who are slow to notice that the light has turned green~~and honking at them does little good.
Was behind one of those folks yesterday.
Even tho I was alive before the smartphone existed, I keep forgetting how incredibly new the entire concept still is. Like it's not even vintage yet.
Great video, nice editing, smooth voice, excellent level of video making. Not to mention the gist of the video itself. I could only guess how elaborately it was planned to implement this professionally structured composition of video embeddings and get such a great result. Good job with TH-cam videos! Keep it up!
I'm from the US, but moved to East Asia about 5 years ago. Smartphone addiction is bad in the West, but it's a whole different thing here. People will literally *never look up* from their phone while walking from their apartment to the crosswalk, across the crosswalk, down the sidewalk, to the subway stop, on the subway, getting off the subway and walking to their workplace.
And then, at work, my East Asian colleagues can't seem to put their phone down to work for more than 20-30 seconds before spending 2-3 minutes scrolling again. It's a large part of why they "work" from 7am to 9pm but are far less productive than they were 10 years ago.
This is very very true. Phone addiction is a REAL thing in some parts of Asia
It actually started over there. China to be specific... at least that what some people who used to live there when basic cell phones were around were saying. Imagine that... being addicted to a dumbphone.
I found a pretty good compromise was to leave my phone in extreme battery saver mode at all times which gives you the option choose which apps are allowed to send notifications. So I can still get important calls and texts but ignore all the other crap until I'm not busy with other things.
What a great episode, I found the digital wellness app on my phone and halted all alerts to ALL my social media. I thought I was doing well before, by just having my phone silenced, but I kept picking it up and looking at it every 5-10 min and found myself in a rabbit hole for the next 20-40 min. I was shocked to see my 'screen time' was over 3 hours before noon, much of it being social media... the only thing I have left on is the app telling me its time to drink water... step one in recapturing my health.
4:46 memory
7:57 addiction
11:08 cognitive function
12:38 stress
News, Movies, Reading -- these basic things that we really need (At least I believe) is available on a Smartphone only. In the world of Data hacking and misuse of Data, we need non biased analysis and that's why Internet comes in. So I think Smartphone usage should not be "criminalised", unless you're scrolling down all the day on social media! I personally have stopped almost every app to send me notification and that has helped me a lot! I just look at them in the end of my working day, those who need me in urgency, they can always call me!! This is my opinion and way of living. Thank you Dagogo for the wonderful work for us!! I enjoyed your video as always!!
Right. If one is waiting, say in the waiting room of a Doctor's office or on an airplane flight, there is nothing pathological about looking at one's phone to do a crossword puzzle, play a game, read a book, check the news, etc. Before smartphones these venues provided paper versions of all of these things to help one to pass the time. We just do it through a pixel display now.
Spyware has become so sophisticated nowadays
its everywhere, youre not truly safe unless youre devoid of all technology living in the wilderness, even then who knows what kind of sattelites we have up in space, they can watch your every move no matter where you are
"Alexa, do you work with the CIA?"
my comment about satellites was deleted, theyre watching from everywhere, nowhere is safe from the prying eyes of the government
"there's a little service in your spyware, Google"
So many kid already affected by smartphone. it cant be stopped.
I have to say it seems the biggest issue here is social media and not so the portal used to access it. My iphone for me is a music studio, photography studio, art studio, camera, radio, tv, and communicator. I also study languages and follow tutorials connected with my hobbies. I use social media little and enjoy the times I purposly leave the thing at home as much as I enjoy being creative on it any place any time I chose. My only addiction is that the alternative would be carrying a cumbersome slr camera, tv, radio, and books around with me.😊
Cold Fusion is an automatic thumbs 👍 up. Should be required viewing in grade school/high school & college 😊
Smartphones have brought us everything we need. Entertainment,games,news,friends and family (at a glance,because we are curious about ongoings in family circles but not a whole 60 Minutes of it).
Smartphones are here to stay,this will not change. Only different now is, we will live the same way we are born and same way we die, alone.
Waiting in the lot to start work. Thanks, CF!!👍🏼
I really liked this video and I plan on making some changes about how I use my cell phone. I also plan on getting rid of a lot of apps too.
It's a good thing I caught this video. I learnt ALOT today. Excellent piece, and now I know I have been definitely using my smartphone too much, especially on social media.
I’ve tried to cut down on phone a lot past two days and already been so productive and feel better in myself, phones really do hold you bk more than you think
I swear I'm the only person in the world who doesn't care for phones that much lol. What distractions I DO have is multiple computer screens though.
dito
Same shit.
Computer screens aren't as bad since they stationary. However, if you have 3 screens like I do you definitely work an "office" job. I spend 12 hours a day looking at screens and have developed the ability to multitask very well. The problem is when I turn them off I find that multi tasking doesn't always translate to the real world that well. Im often in my head thinking about different things and wonder why I'm in the kitchen.
trading one addiction for another
@@somedogsarecops2354 nah, not really. I have a 3-monitor setup at home, and I barely do any office work on it. I originally got it to make multitasking easier, but I found out I barely use the third display, so I'm thinking of getting rid of it.
The crazy part is most of us were too lazy to watch the full video, and start to scroll in comment to seek more dopamine since we already feel knowing what's the video is talking about and we will get no new knowledge but just extra existential crisis
Fascinating. I've been aware of this but nowhere near how aware I am now. Brilliant story, thanks again Coldfusion 👍
R.I.P the birth-rate
dating app helped me find my cool gf tho so its not all bad
@@TESkyrimizerUnfortunately you're probably one of few as dating apps have become rotten and greedy
@@TESkyrimizersame here… she’s my wife now lol
Get informed about the effects of 5G . Increased cancer, decreased sperm count to name 2.
@@mg-kush that's true actually, Dating on online sucks
I spent a few months with a flip phone. Happiest times of my life. Stupidly switched back to my smart phone after a large life milestone. Need to switch back as I am right back in the swing of the addiction
flip phones rule, serious, the one I have has really good apps too, best thing too is the flip phones fits in cargo pant pockets great.
I have actually taken away all my social media.. except whatsapp...but still my screen time is huge... i found the culprit to be youtube... hope there is a remedy for that too.
One of the most amazing, informative and awakening videos I ever watched. Thank you so much
life hack: set your phone display to black & white (usually via accessibility options). As primates we are deeply engaged by color and removing this factor from the equation has a profound effect on how compelling your phone and the content on it feels.
on TCL brand it's Settings > Accesibility > Color Correction > Gray Scale
4 year + no social media user here
You have to be confident and prepared to lose things for your mental health and your actual confidence, passion, will to live back
Homie, you commented on a social media video. You've also posted multiple videos on social media. You're still on it.
Could you please use a better microphone? Blue Yeti, for example? The current microphone sounds like a potato.
I ditched my iPhone 13 for a Nokia 2760 Flip. I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to get one since I sometimes need to use Uber, but apparently you can call Uber and arrange a ride over the phone.
I do have to say that I once saw a girl in her mid-20’s or so reading a magazine in the dentists waiting room, her phone was out but guess she felt like going old school lol - but she literally stopped on a picture, was looking at it for a few seconds, and while she thinks I didn’t see her, I definitely saw her trying to zoom in on the picture with her fingers, just to quietly go - “Omg what are you doing?!”, and it took everything in me not to start laughing my ass off but I kept my cool and just buried that memory deep deep down in the banks… this video resurfaced the hell out of it and I truly hope one day we can learn to detach from our phones, because the world truly was a better place before them.
_This comment was commented from my iPhone_
I remember giving up social media and really limiting streaming time
1. Finished School while working full time
2. Picked up Reading
3. Lost 40 Lbs
4. Participated in an obstacle course and I was never athletic
5. Got promoted at work
6. Was overall happier
7. Started joining Meetup groups for pickleball and hiking
8. Learned to cook
I permanently gave up social media but TH-cam keeps sucking me back in and it feels like social media with its endless scrolling
I do think the long-form videos on youtube are less bad. It has a serviceable search function find what you need and there is a lot of really useful information here. For web browsers there's the Unhook extension which can remove the content feed and comments altogether if you want. Maybe Revanced on mobile can do that too, i'm not sure. A good compromise would be disciplined and limit time spent on youtube per day / week
I really should send this article to friends and family that use the smartphone too much.
The algorithm showed me _only_ gambling ads while watching this video, normally I only get the _occasional_ gambling ads. [And I don't gamble at all]
Could that be a coincidence or did the algorithm register that this video mentioned addiction and the ad choice went "targets!"
I saw a Motorola ad on this video nearly thrice.
When i am doing sth with people i forget to use my phone, so much that i may have multiple missed calls😂. But other days when i dont want to hang out i use my phone a lot. I like to have music or some video about sth that interests me through heaphones on when doing sth boring like going to the toilet😂. Also i just cant handle moving around without headphones and listening to sth when not in actual nature without human or human made noise, nature noises are great to listen to, but without all the other buzz. Some time ago when i had not found that i could have headphones on i barely went outside, but then it reduced my anxiety and gave me more motivation when i had headphones on and made me move around more as a result. Also i do some mental training using my phone like learning a new language and other stuff, but i guess it would also be better doing it in a non 2d way like books for brain anyway. Thank you for educating❤
I just started decreasing my phone usage from a month even less than 10 minutes some days. Now I have more clarity of my life and im progressing more and more. And the biggest things is you need to leave using your phone for 4 hours after you wake up you wouldnt need entire day and yes like one comment here that said peer pressure yes it is and have also be dealt with. LEAVE YOUR PHONE
Don't seem like you are doing it enough. You left out enough punctuation that you could fill a dictionary.
Watched 30 seconds, said “tell me something I don’t know” and closed the video lol. But came back, a sign of the times. We’ve been seeing this happen over the course of years.
I made so pretty stupid choices when I was using social media. As a teenager I see all my friends on there phones which made ME want to be on my phone but thankfully I had parents that always told me to leave it at home or in the car. The more I was away from my phone the more i saw clearly and was awakend to the brain zombies around me.
I actually thankful for Simon Sinek's advice. "Be bored. Let your mind wanders. That's how creative ideas comes..."
Thanks 👍 for this videos.
As someone who is very interested about the human brain, I find this video to be incredibly informative. Thank you very much for shedding light to this subject, I feel like no one does these deep dives into what the brain does.
From all of my life. I have been alive and I have seen the world change tremendousl there was a time just less than 20 years ago when if you walked in public or in a mall. Not everyone was glued to their phone or any other device , everything changed , now everyone I know is glued to something and is very uncomfortable(socially) when they take their gaze off those phones
The only notification I have is for SMS, everything else is off. That really helped. However, I still constantly check my phone or social media on the computer when I’m supposed to do something else. Already left Facebook and will likely do the same with Reddit and what not. It’s so toxic. I had already realized my memory and focus nosedived in the last few years, especially since COVID. Need to get back to normal.
I'm rarely on social media and mostly use my phone for games, configuring gcam, playing around with raw photos and videos, listening to music, tuning my ukulele. There's still the pc (I think I use that more lol). Anyways, I think I have everything under control ...well I hope so.
i got banned from tiktok and replaced it with TH-cam shorts 😢
Got 3 non-skippable ads in a 20 minute video
If they were youtube ads, use the Brave browser. It blocks all of them.
youtube legit increased the ads by so much every video is almost unwatchable
@@loganmix03 I was using revanced extended, but youtube blocked my account. Now I use cleantube or normal TH-cam.
Just use adblock, even FBI recommends that.
I have seen the difference in my kid's behaviour. Even if he uses the phone for an hour he snaps back and is restless. Whenever his phone is locked up a few weeks before exams and tests.. he is a lot more cheerful, inquisitive and creative. And it must affect us adults in similar ways. I have limited my phone usage & have to charge it only once every two days.
My personal story of being deviceless for a couple days is pretty remarkable. I slept more than 8 hours per night, and managed to take at least an hour nap each of those days