π₯ The fireside - Issue #3

Hello beautiful human being π
how is your technological addiction going this week?
Oopsβ¦. did I use the word addiction? Sorry, I meant your βsocial media habitβ.
A couple of weeks ago my girlfriend and I had dinner with a couple of friends in Pisa (Tuscany, Italy).
What do you think we did, whilst eating gorgeous Italian food and drinking amazing local wine in the centre of one of the most artistically renowned cities in the world?
Yep, we kept checking our phones compulsively.
I donβt know what snapped in me that evening, but after that episode Iβve spent a considerable amount of time reading and researching about technological addictions and questioning my own use of technology.
βYes, Facebook is evil and makes me less productive. Delete my account?! Of course not, other people are addicted, not me!β
βI think Iβm wasting a lot of time on Instagram and it actually makes me feel sad. Everyone seems to have a lot of fun but I know itβs fake. I thought about cancelling my account but not nowβ¦ now I got to watch these funny videos.β
You know itβs an addiction because we are ashamed of it but we donβt want to do ANYTHING about it.
The biggest problem with addictions is that they donβt look like addictions for those who are addicted. Indeed, people will go the extra mile to justify and rationalize why they keep doing something that harms them (trust me, Iβve been a smoker for 10 years.)
The result is in front of everyone: we are not in charge of our relationship with technology anymore. It controls us and we know it.
βOk, but what can I do?β
This is the question I get asked the most when I raise my concerns.
I donβt know what you can do but I can tell you what Iβm doing:
Iβve removed all social media apps from my phone (eliminating the temptation to open them when Iβm bored)
Iβve turned off ALL notifications on my phone
Iβve started using a chrome extension that literally blocks me from accessing certain websites except for specific times of the day I set. (eg: I can only access my inbox twice a day)
Iβve stopped using Slack because it made focusing impossible (instead Iβve switched to Twist, which promotes a calmer and more mindful communication)
These are little steps, but we can all do something to help ourselves. Little steps. How about no phones in restaurants/theatres/cinemas or just anytime you are with somebody else? The first person who checks their phone without a compelling reason, pays the bill.
Whatever you decide to do, simply thinking about the problem is already a step forward.
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PS: If you enjoy this newsletter, please share it with your friends. Thank you! π
What is making me think
π΅ We know that tech companies can manipulate our minds with their addictive products. What we donβt know yet is how this is affecting democracy. If you are only going to read one article this weekend, make it this one.
π± Tristan Harris, a former product designer at Google, argues that weβve lost control of our relationship with technology simply because technology has become better at controlling us. You should trust him: heβs one of the guys who have designed the most addictive apps in history. (Related TED Talk with Tristan Harris).
πΉ Simon Sinek in yet-another-fantastic-speech about leadership. This one has made me ask myself βwhich game am I actually playing?β
πΈ People (especially young and working in tech) are increasingly falling in love with the idea of Universal Income, yet very few of them see the political and social consequences of it. Great article if, like me, you think Universal Income is the future.
π Iβve created a simple tool to visualise your life in weeks. The aim is for you to answer the question: What would you do if you could count the life you have left?
What I'm reading
Iβm reading βManβs Search for Meaningβ by Viktor E. Frankl. The author is a concentration camp survivor who also happened to be a psychotherapist. In talking about his story, he focuses on the psychological problems of life in a camp and how he managed to overcome those by identifying the purpose of his life. Great book.
Before that, I read βAntifragileβ by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. I find it genuinely hard to describe this book and Iβm not even sure Iβd recommend it. However, lots of interesting ideas and mental models to make you look cool at a dinner party.
WTF?!?
πΎ Some public lavatories in Beijing use facial recognition so that the automatic dispensing machines will deny toilet paper to people who ask for it more than once within a given period.
βοΈ A giant hole (80,000 square kilometres; 30,888 square miles) has opened in Antarctic ice pack, and no one knows why
Feedback
If you made it this far, Iβd love your feedback on what youβd like to see (or not like to see) in the next email digest. Just hit the reply button.