2,479 words

It was supposed to make our lives better, not consume them — or so we thought. Smartphones and social media are as ubiquitous as they are dangerous. They are a tool, but unlike most, they offer an easy on-ramp to behavioral addiction and cognitive decay.

It’s not uncommon to look over at another table at a restaurant and see two or more people on their phones, not saying a word to each other, nor to be on a line for coffee and see every last person with their head bowed toward their little black mirror, aimlessly scrolling without any purpose beyond keeping themselves away from the abject horror of being alone with their thoughts. These types can often be found in an almost trance-like state, slavishly refreshing for another morsel of dopamine. They check their phones incessantly throughout the day with no real expectations beyond what an algorithm may feed them.

Some people who spend all their time on their phones are deeply annoying. Smartphones have elevated the human automaton from a pest to an outright nuisance: people running into you while walking or driving while looking at their phones; people and their iPad kids who have the volume turned up in public places. Under those conditions, nobody can pay attention to anything and they are continually scatterbrained.

Psychological studies have found that people who are more creative tend to be less “bored” when sitting alone without a screen to entertain them, and enjoy the time to think more than less creative people do. While many reach for their phone during even the smallest window of free time, others enjoy the time to think, as a study by the University of Arizona confirmed.[1] While the consequences of this technology are wide-ranging, they grab on to some quicker than others: namely, the less creative and less disciplined.

A handful of disciplined people will be able to use a smartphone to their advantage, while the majority will see themselves struggling to spend any time away from their phones.

Last week I had a full day of running errands. I kept a list of stops I needed to make on my phone and used the map to find the quickest route around the city to reach them all. Having a phone to easily communicate with others and complete the tasks of the day made the entire process smoother than it was in the days of paper maps and payphones. But suppose I saved myself 30 minutes of time and effort with my smartphone by avoiding traffic delays, navigating the best route, not forgetting anything, or needing to stop to find a payphone. What use is it to save time if I were to get home 30 minutes earlier only to spend an hour mindlessly scrolling through social media on the device that earlier in the day made me so productive?

Even as a way to “unwind,” social media is problematic, because it is specifically designed to trigger a dopamine release and foster constant dopamine-seeking behaviors that can lead to addiction. One example of this — and there are dozens — is that social media companies can tell which type of posts you enjoy and interact with the most, and they will place those in your feed at intermittent times to keep you spending more time on the site.

The average screen time of individuals globally is over five hours per day. While other statistics may report a lower rate, they often do not consider watching shows or listening to radio or podcasts as part of the time spent online, accounting for the variations.

Brain imaging studies show a correlation between intense online use and shrinking gray matter volume in parts of the brain. There is also a decline in cognitive control in the brains of those who spend excessive time online. Upon first reading of these studies, I suspected people with poor cognitive control are more prone to addiction, but a study out of China found that brain atrophy advanced as study participants were online over a more significant period.[2]

The next issue is one I experienced personally, which led me to take this issue very seriously and cut my phone and Internet time to the bare minimum. The problem was a brief disorientation immediately after looking at my phone and a temporary mental fog. I noticed this when I looked at my phone and then rapidly switched to a new task in the real world. This odd disorientation spurred me to research it, and ultimately culminated in my writing of this essay. When we switch from one task to the next, our brains take time, albeit only briefly, to shift our focus, causing an immediate lag in focus. A cognitive concept called “attention residue” further explains the fog, disorientation, or struggle to refocus. Attention residue describes the cognitive impairment your brain experiences when shifting attention from one task to the next.[3] While we may have gone on to the next task, our brains may continue processing information regarding the previous task. When we switch back and forth between tasks, or take on too many tasks at once, it becomes more difficult for our brains to keep everything straight. We can lose focus or find it impossible to refocus on a task after we switch our attention between several. I think of attention residue as akin to a buildup of static that interferes with what we are trying to focus on. When we do not switch tasks, there is little static. But each switch introduces a bit of static that continues to build up until we find it impossible to focus for a certain amount of time.

An example I came across that was very salient was the experience of being in a classroom while listening to a lecture, then checking a message, replying, putting my device away, and then struggling to pay attention to the lecture again. Although I was no longer actively reading or writing, the “residue” caused difficulty in focusing. The same is true of driving. People will often look at their phone to read or reply to a message while driving or at a stop light. When they look back to the road ahead, their focus will be diffused, and the time it takes for one’s brain to switch focus may be costly in such a situation. Another example is being in a conversation, looking at your phone to see who has messaged or called you, and then returning to the discussion — only to struggle to continue speaking fluidly.

I occasionally think of a small but well-conducted study of texting while driving by Car and Driver magazine over a decade ago. While academic approaches to this subject are conducted in labs with driving simulators, Car and Driver used an actual closed runway for their experiment. Their study examined the baseline reaction time for participating drivers to stop a car that was travelling at 35 and 70 miles per hour, then compared the times to those of drivers who were reading or writing a text message, as well as those who were driving drunk but not using a phone. The results were telling. The reaction times of those drivers who were drunk was actually closer to the baseline! Composing or reading a text slowed the drivers’ reaction time to the point of being several times the effect of being drunk.[4] The experiment’s conclusion was that it is in fact better to drive drunk than to drive sober while being on the phone.

Another interesting and more extensive study found that people perform more poorly on cognitive tasks simply by being in the room with their phones. Study participants performed the worst when their phone was visible on their desks. Even when the phone was turned off or kept out of sight, the presence of a phone may still lower cognitive ability and eat up those mental resources we use to focus and control ourselves. If you are actively trying to not use your phone so much, it requires self-control and mental resources that cannot be devoted to other tasks, given that our brain’s energy and other resources are finite.[5]

Studies have shown that using devices can change the physical structure of our brains. In the pre-Global Position System era, the brains of cab drivers had enlarged hippocampi due to the demands on their brains to remember directions, routes, landmarks, and the like.[6] Comparable studies on musicians showed similar results, as did those on monkeys that were taught to use basic tools. In short, our brains grow or decay based on use or disuse. Although my phone helped me to navigate the city on a busy afternoon, too much reliance on mapping technology will cause my natural ability to retain directions in the future to suffer.

The act of remembering and consolidating information strengthens our brains, builds them up, enhances neural connectivity, and allows us to learn new skills and remember new information more easily in the future. By “offloading” or “outsourcing” information to our phones, computers, or the Internet in general, we do not engage with our memories as much, which not only makes it more challenging to use our minds but also makes it easier to lose those skills and memories we do have.

Similar research regarding reading and comprehension suggest that the medium is more important than one might assume and could matter as much as the content itself. Decades of studies reveal that reading the same text in a printed text and a digital screen will have different outcomes in terms of retention and clarity for the reader. Those who read physical books understand the content more clearly and retain the information for longer when compared to those who read the same text digitally.[7]

Digital devices and the Internet are taxing our working memory and adding to attention residue. Essentially, the Internet gives our minds the opposite effect as the calming effect that comes from reading a printed text. The more there is for the brain to focus on or sort through, the more taxing any task becomes. When we are looking at a screen, the energy we naturally use to process and encode information is instead being used to figure out what to focus on, robbing us of mental energy. Studies have found that webpages with a large number of hyperlinks cause readers to retain less information even when readers do not click on them. The decision to click or not click takes focus away from the text, even if it is not done consciously.

Smartphone and Internet use certainly have their benefits, but they are not without serious consequences. Academic studies supported by cross-sectional, longitudinal, and empirical findings have shown that smartphone users who use them a great deal report more physical pain — specifically eyestrain, neck pain, and back pain. They also report more depression, anxiety, feelings of loneliness, and mood disorders when compared to a similar group of users who spend less time on their phones.[8] Further studies have found that study participants who reduce their phone use by one hour per day reported a reduction in anxiety and depression.[9] Thus, the greatest beneficiaries of smartphones and social media are without a doubt those who control the platforms, not the users themselves. A bit of additional convenience can quickly turn into a compulsive behavioral addiction that exacerbates mental health problems.

Over the years I have had used the Internet and my phone at varying levels. During periods in my life when I used them less, I felt better. I had sharper mental clarity, faster recall, a heightened sense of “presence” in the moment, and a general sense of calm. I felt less “scatterbrained,” a term I believe people use to describe extreme amounts of attention residue. There was less mental clutter and a considerably greater ability to focus. When I was going through periods that required more connectivity, I felt the opposite: focusing was difficult, anxiety crept in, and I often felt that I was rushing through the day in a daze. Reflecting on these periods in my life led to many places, and this essay is one of them.

There is little I or anybody else can do about those who choose to remain addicted, infatuated, dependent, and generally enamored with their phones and the Internet. Modernity is bristling with pitfalls for which we were never prepared. Endless pornography, calorie-dense foods with no nutritional value, and high-speed Internet in our hands at all times pose a threat to our well-being. The weak and the natural slave class will become addicted to porn, junk food, the Internet, or computer games, and will likely end up in poor health. It is unfortunate for them, and for us, that we must deal with the consequences.

On the whole, new technologies exist to consume more than to serve. More will be victimized by them than those who use them for higher purposes. Any solution other than the radical deindustrialization of society may not exist on the grand scale. But on a personal scale, understanding the deleterious effects that phones and the Internet can have on you, your friends, and your family is a start towards a more genuine life and serene mind.[10]

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Notes

[1] Niranjana Rajalakshmi, “Creative people enjoy idle time more than others,” University of Arizona News, July 5, 2023.

[2] Sarah Harris, “Too much internet use can damage teenagers’ brains,” Daily Mail, July 18, 2011; Dave Mosher, “High Wired: Does Addictive Internet Use Restructure the Brain?”, Scientific American, June 17, 2011; and Homgmei Wang, et al., “The alteration of gray matter volume and cognitive control in adolescents with internet gaming disorder,” Behavioral Neuroscience, March 2015, Vol. 9.

[3] Sophie Leroy, “Why is it so hard to do my work? The challenge of attention residue when switching between work tasks,” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. Vol. 109, No. 2, July 2009, pp. 169-181.

[4] Mike Austin, “Texting While Driving: How Dangerous is it?”, Car and Driver, June 24, 2009.

[5] Adrian F. Ward, et al., “Brain Drain: The Mere Presence of One’s Own Smartphone Reduces Available Cognitive Capacity,” Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, Vol. 2, No. 2, April 2017.

[6] Ferris Jabr, “Cache Cab: Taxi Drivers’ Brains Grow to Navigate London’s Streets,” Scientific American, December 8, 2011.

[7] Ferris Jabr. “The Reading Brain in the Digital Age: Why Paper Still Beats Screens,” Scientific American, November 1, 2013.

[8] Muhammad Daniyal, Syed Fahad Javaid, Ali Hassan, & Moien Khan, “The Relationship between Cellphone Usage on the Physical and Mental Wellbeing of University Students: A Cross-Sectional Study,” National Library of Medicine, July 30, 2022; and Elia Abi-Jaoude, Karline Treurnicht Naylor, & Antonio Pignatiello, “Smartphones, social media use and youth mental health,” National Library of Medicine, February 10, 2020.

[9] LaKeisha Fleming, “A Small Reduction in Smartphone Use Can Make a Big Difference for Mental Health,” Verywellmind, May 25, 2022.

[10] For further reading on the subject, see:

Technological Slavery: The Collected Writings of Theodore J. Kaczynski with an Introduction by Dr. David Skrbina

The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas Carr

Irresistible by Adam Alter