You May Have A Habit You Want To Break, But No, You Are Not Addicted To Your Digital Device
Imagine that you’re a typical middle school student having dinner with your family. Your mother takes your smartphone away and puts it in a lock-box that won’t open for an hour.
Would you: (a) go ahead and eat dinner with your family? (b) try to pry open the box? or (c) smash the box with a heavy tool when your family is sufficiently distracted?
As depicted in Netflix’s popular documentary, “The Social Dilemma,” the answer is first (b) – if that doesn’t work, then (c). Apparently, for youth, being connected online is akin to an addictive substance: “There are only two industries that call their customers ‘users’: illegal drugs and software,” as information design expert Edward Tufte has put it.
Popular media fuels this portrait, with testimonials from extreme users and highlights of the...