The insidious grasp of the internet on our minds

Photo by Sergey Zolkin on Unsplash

I can safely say that my intelligence and ability to fulfil my potential have been massively affected by technology — in some positive, but largely negative, ways.

I was lucky enough to be born prior to having an internet connection in the home. And I really fear for young people today and future generations for whom this wasn’t or won’t be the case.

Let me explain.

I am an only child and grew up in the countryside. For the first ten to fifteen years of my life, I primarily entertained myself in the holidays in the following ways:

• Reading
• Board games
• Making up my own games and pretend play

Two of these tasks are not that straightforward when you have no siblings to play with. So I got creative. I adapted the rules of Monopoly so I could play it on my own or with my toys as other players. I invented my own symbol-based writing language. I adapted my own version of Quidditch on the garden swing. And I had a whole bunch of imaginary friends.

Some people might find that really sad to read. But the older I get and the further away from it I go, the more I realise how fantastic it actually is. Creativity, originality of thought and adaptation are so important, yet there is little room for them in an age of always on technology. But there is another factor which I think is even more important which is being absolutely decimated by technology, and feeds into all of this — our attention spans.

I used to be an avid reader. I say used to, because I honestly can’t say it any more. I complete a couple of novels a year, at most, and the books I really want to read — nonfiction books — I never seem to get around to. Every time I think about it I feel this laziness and fatigue come over me. Because it’s so much easier to watch TV, play on an app on my phone, or scroll social media.

It doesn’t take a lot to mentally fatigue me. Any kind of excuse — a poor night’s sleep, a day in front of the computer doing work — will act as a reason to eschew reading or creative pursuits, and hit the internet. The reason why I refer to the internet as insidious is because the line between work and leisure is becoming increasingly blurred. It’s normal to use the same device — and even be seated in the same spot — for all activities.

What are some of the positives that I’ve experienced with technology? Well, it’s sometimes easy to forget how much it shapes our lives. How many of these have you done recently:

• Found out about a new area of interest or news story through reading online
• Taken up or developed a hobby, such as language learning or yoga
• Found out about an exhibition or concert
• Developed a new skill, such as coding
• Found a new job

I’d therefore be remiss to say that using the internet is all bad. What do these things have in common?

• They can be accessed quickly (often for free)
• Information can be obtained easily (e.g. skim-reading an article or skipping through a YouTube video)
• They encourage you to do something, or spend money

And what might they be poorer at:

• They don’t encourage deep engagement (e.g. thinking through a problem) without hints
• They don’t require originality of thought — only consumption
• They don’t present information in its raw form (no more wading through books)

Before anyone jumps down my throat, I’m not saying that resources online can’t do this — but it’s more difficult to do so. You need to be able to stick with and really engage with e.g. a course and do additional study, while avoiding the many temptations of flitting over to something new. And therein lies the problem — especially for people with attention problems.

This goes deeper than wasting time on Netflix when you could be reading. How often prior to the internet would you have skipped popping to the shops and cooking, and instead ordered food from a restaurant directly to your house? How often would you have done a home workout? And how often would you have bailed on a friend last minute without calling, or ignored their call to your landline, it being the only means to catch up?

The internet is affecting us all in innumerable ways. Do we really want to become bots that mindlessly consume the same content? Or do we want to be able to have conversations, in person, with people who offer new perspectives, and it be interesting and stimulating — rather than hurling abuse at them online or “cancelling” them? What would you really prefer — reading one really great book cover to cover, or listening to ten snippets through an app, not really listening while you commute to work or do the dishes?

Here are some things we should maybe aim to regain to some degree:

• Boredom (and having to entertain ourselves without a device)
• Taking time to think and reflect on what is important to us
• Engaging in something that makes us think, outside of our work
• Doing one task at a time well, rather than multitasking poorly

Perhaps I’m worrying over nothing and the information age will expand our brains more than ever. But if we’re honest with ourselves, how much of our time to we spend in mindless consumption mode — and how often does your mind feel truly stretched and challenged? One of the greatest challenges society will face as we get older is a rise in the number of people living with dementia. Things like engaging socially, taking up new skills and limiting stress can make a difference. But are we prepared to put in the effort?