Initially, on the internet we were passive consumers of our screens. We logged on to find an info, send an email or check the weather and then logged off. The digital environment has changed drastically today. It’s not just the internet, it’s an ‘Attention Economy’ – a multi-billion dollar ecosystem that is engineered to capture your attention as the world’s most valuable resource.
We at Quotenestify believe that the key to regaining our autonomy is awareness. It is a fact that the tech industry has some great psychologists and data scientists that keep us scrolling, clicking and refreshing. This has prompted a new wave of “digital minimalists,” tech ethicists and industry whistleblowers with deep insights into ways we can “unplug and take our lives back.
Below are four important quotes that explain the inner workings of the attention economy and give us the inspiration to place more boundaries around our screens.
1. Slot Machine in Your Pocket by Tristan Harris.
Technology is not neutral, it is deliberately developed to exploit our psychological weaknesses to increase screen time,” says The Guardian.
— Tristan Harris
The Context:
Tristan Harris was a former Design Ethicist at Google, and is now a Co-Founder of the Center for Humane Technology. He knew how platforms focus on user engagement over health after experiencing it first-hand, and he is now one of the biggest voices raising the alarm about the manipulative algorithms behind apps and social media feeds.
The Philosophy in Practice:
This is where people fall into the trap of thinking that they do not have enough willpower to stop watching YouTube when they spend two hours mindlessly scrolling. Harris’s statement goes some way towards washing some of that guilt off because it shows that you’re at war against an enemy that isn’t the same kind of war that you’re expecting. The functionality of pulling to refresh, of the “infinite scroll” and of random notifications is exactly like that of a casino slot machine. Understanding that our apps are designed to work on our dopamine system is key to reclaiming our time. Once you understand that the screen is not neutral, you stop considering it as a harmless distraction, and begin to consider it as an environment that you need to actively manage.
2. The Path of Intentionality: by Cal Newport
Digital minimalism is in no way against the new technologies of the Internet age, but it’s against the way that so many people use them.
— Cal Newport
The Context:
Georgetown University computer science professor Cal Newport is the author of the bestselling book, Digital Minimalism. He realized that the “tech detox” (the idea of taking a break from your phone and then falling back into the same bad habits on Monday) was an idea with a major problem. He wanted a long-term, rather than short-term, philosophy of tech use instead.
The Philosophy in Practice:
One of the most widespread myths regarding reclaiming your life from tech is that you have to get out of the electronics game and go out of the grid by dropping your smartphone into a river. In other words, digital minimalism isn’t about rejecting technology, it’s about rejecting mindlessness, says Newport. The principle is to consider each application and digital service by asking the following question: Does this tool add massive value to what I want to care about? If the answer is no, you take it off! If the answer is yes, you optimize the use and timing of it. It’s not about technology being a tool to achieve your objectives, it’s about using technology to help reach your objectives.
3. The Destruction of Discourse is the documentary about Chamath Palihapitiya.The Destruction of Discourse is a documentary about Chamath Palihapitiya.
What are the short-term dopamine-driven feedback loops that we’ve set up that are killing how society is supposed to operate? No civil discourse, no cooperation, misinformation, mistruth.
— Chamath Palihapitiya
The Context:
Chamath Palihapitiya was the former Vice-President of User Growth at Facebook. During a talk at the Stanford Graduate School of Business in 2017, he said he felt very guilty about his contribution to the creation of the platform. He’s candidly gotten everyone in the tech industry surprised.
A Philosophy of Practice:
This quotation is a re-centering of the focus on personal screen use, and on the impact of the attention economy on society. However, social media algorithms don’t really care about truth or nuance, they just care about you staying online. Human beings are hardwired to respond to outrage and tribalism, making for natural amplification of anger and polarization. Palihapitiya’s cautionary note allows us to pause to think about the consequences of every time we tweet or comment or post clickbait, thus fueling the frustration of a machine designed to generate profits from outrage.
4. Jaron Lanier: The True Product
It’s the “little by little, small by small, unnoticed change in your behavior and perception” that’s the product.
— Jaron Lanier
The Context:
Jaron Lanier is a computer scientist, pioneer of virtual reality, and one of Silicon Valley’s most significant philosophical critics. His book Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now dispatches with the old dictum, “If you aren’t paying for the product, you are the product. Your data isn’t the business, your altered behavior is, he argues.
The Philosophy in Practice:
Advertisers don’t only want to know what you like; they want to sway a little what you do. The prospect of behavior modification on a mass scale is chilling, Lanier notes. The attention economy is more about seducing you into the belief that your self-esteem is shifting day by day, your buying habits are changing, and your politics are evolving, in small increments. Recuperating your electronic life is restoring your psychological sovereignty. It’s a deliberate choice to safeguard one’s view of the world from algorithms that change it for profit.
The only resources we have which are truly limited are our time and our attention. We can listen to the warnings from these tech insiders and ethicists internally and avoid passively handing over our attention, instead creating a digital life that is ours, not theirs.
