“I think we have created tools that are ripping apart the social fabric of how society works.” The underlying physiology of this idea is that we are a society addicted to dopamine. Ironically, this was not said by me or a world renowned psychiatrist. It was said in an interview with Chamath Palihapitiya in a recent Verge article. Palihapitiya is a former social media marketing exec, whose professional mandate over the last decade was increasing (dopamine) users.
I applaud his concern and courage to speak his truth.
While most may think that this addiction to mobile devices and social media solely strikes the younger generations, it also affects those young at heart. My 82 year old mother is so attached to her phone that she often has trouble looking up to speak to me. She is very taken with checking who liked her latest post. The preference for tech bonding over the human kind is becoming increasingly prevalent in our society. It’s a physiological problem that knows no boundaries. It is slurring our words (cuz), blurring the lines of truth (fake news), blunting relationships (15k “friends”) and stunting our articulation skills (😀). We humans need to connect and trust using handwritten language, spoken words and animated behavior.
Addiction is the byproduct of unmet human needs and our personal wiring. The cure for device-driven dopamine addiction is simple: put your tech away and strike up a conversation with the human beings all around you. You may be overwhelmed with how good you feel when your true human needs are met. Now that’s dope.