Our screens cry and whine for our constant attention in the form of vibrations and alerts.
The more we ignore our devices the louder their “cries” get. “Just open me already,” begs one email, “No, look at me, I’m more important and have been stranded in your unread inbox longer,” complains another email. Just when you think you have matters under control, your cell phone chimes in and says, “How dare you forget about me?”
Since the arrival of the internet 25 years ago, we have become trapped in the fully connected universe, says Julia Hobsbawn, editor-at-large of the social-health section on Thrive Global, a New York-based organization that aims to change people’s relationship with their technology for the better, and author of Fully Connected: Social Health in an Age of Overload.
The book explores the ramifications of technological reliance and offers solutions for how to resist the sensation of constant connection and the importance of human networking.
See also: Why America should follow France’s lead and ban smartphones in schools
MarketWatch talked to Hosbsbawn about the findings of her latest book.
MarketWatch: You wrote, “Technology companies sell us limitless possibilities. Finite somehow equates to failure..” What’s the problem with the way technology is being marketed to us? Why is it a problem, to be drawn to limitless possibilities?
Hobsbawn: Technology is not making us happier or more productive. The most interesting thing out of the Facebook FB, +4.45% scandal is that people weren’t really reading terms. They were just pressing, “I agree.” The algorithm is encouraging them to just click. I’m not actually “anti” technology companies. I am “anti” the fantasy that we can outsource to technology all the time. I call it “Silico Evangelism.” I am not apologetic about that.
I am secular. I have no religiousness in my life whatsoever, but I became interested in ritual. That ritual for me is powering down.MarketWatch: You talk about “techno shabbat,” which you defined as a regular time each week to unplug from technology for an entire day. Why do you believe temporarily unplugging is the solution to over-connectedness? Why has it become harder to disconnect?
Hobsbawn: I am secular. I have no religiousness in my life whatsoever, but I became interested in ritual. That ritual for me is powering down. From about 2 o’clock on Fridays, I start clearing my inbox. I’m mentally preparing to switch my computer brain off.
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MarketWatch: Prior to the internet age, did social health and networking interest you?
Julia Hobsbawn: Social health has to bring some kind of order to a pretty chaotic time. Technology companies are, in my view, currently adding to — not diminishing — the chaos.
MarketWatch: In your book you wrote, “Most of us are neither thriving nor surviving in the age of overload.” How about you? Are you surviving or thriving in the age of overload?
Hobsbawn I am very much my own guinea pig. I can’t stay permanently connected to technology. There are many complications. I do talk about this in the book when I break down what I believe to be the three fundamental ingredients to social health: knowledge, networks and time.
MarketWatch: What are your views on connectedness in the corporate world?
Hobsbawn: I believe that there is an enormous challenge coming from technology in the workplace, and the pressure workers have to multi-task. A large majority of the people in the workforce are going to continue working 10,000 days of their lives and they need to work in a happier and healthier environment — not just for their own personal growth, but for the productivity and output of their business.
(This interview was edited for style and space.)
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