Technology Addiction Threatens America’s Future
A lesser-discussed epidemic plagues the nation, and it threatens American peace and prosperity. It’s fueling a wave of mental health problems, including unprecedented levels of anxiety, depression, and suicide. It’s decreasing attention spans and critical thinking. It’s rewiring the brains of millions of people and robbing entire generations of their most valuable resource: their time.
This epidemic doesn’t yet have an official diagnosis, but it’s known to professionals at the forefront of the crisis as technology addiction. You don’t have to be a doctor or a scientist to see that modern humans are glued to screens. Just look around. Spontaneous conversations in elevators or while waiting in line at coffee shops are now only something that happens in the movies, not real life. In some cases, talking to someone unexpectedly might cause the recipient to simply look terrified. How did we get here, and what’s actually happening to the human experience?
I’ve spent the last year and a half exploring these questions as part of my next documentary, DETOX. I’ve interviewed dozens of brilliant minds from across the globe to try to make sense of this strange chapter in our existence. Technology addiction is a problem that is spiraling out of control and the potential consequences are beyond disturbing; they are straight out of an episode of Black Mirror.
When former Facebook data scientist Frances Haugen blew the whistle on her former employer, we learned that Facebook, now Meta, knew the negative impact social media has on teens, but hid it from the public. Americans aren’t the only ones concerned about the effect on young people, either. The Chinese government recently issued rules barring children from online gaming on school days and limiting gaming to one hour a day on weekend and holiday evenings. The World Health Organization also recently declared “gaming disorder” as a behavioral addiction in their latest edition of the International Classification of Diseases. But the problem isn’t limited to video games and America isn’t a Communist country that can or should mandate how people spend their time. It’s on us as individuals, families, and society to address the growing threat of technology addiction and its devastating impact on our lives and culture.
Solving this problem doesn’t require us to eliminate technology from our lives. It requires us to manage it. We don’t have to stop using our smartphones. We just have to stop them from using us. The first step towards a solution is to recognize that technology addiction itself is a real threat to our future and to understand why it should be prioritized in a modern world filled with countless problems.
Watch the mission video below to learn more about our film DETOX or visit us here.
