I liked Mr. Cal Newport back in the day, Deep Work is a classic. Here's a long-read in the NYT that, kiiind of in contrast to that infamous one that captured our minds this week (#1468526, #1467408), is _weeeeelll worth your time_.

“I’m done ceding my brain — the core of all that makes me who I am — to the financial interests of a small number of technology billionaires or the shortsighted conveniences of hyperactive communication styles.”“I’m done ceding my brain — the core of all that makes me who I am — to the financial interests of a small number of technology billionaires or the shortsighted conveniences of hyperactive communication styles.”

To stave off disaster, we need a full revolution in defense of thinking, launched against the digital forces seeking to degrade it. No more shrugging (“What can you do? Kids these days just love their devices.”) or halfhearted experiments with minor tips (“Turn off notifications”) or passive acquiescence to the latest tools (“If I don’t embrace A.I., I’ll be replaced by someone who does”).

I do this a little bit in my personal life… if we're out, having food, or doing something together, OUR PHONES ARE NOT OUT. They stay at home or in pockets, fucksake.

We've talked about these themes around here a bit #1383936, #944961... my reflections from a year ago:

I have a friend whom I had the pleasure of spending lots of time with recently. He's not the sharpest tool in the box, and works a nonsense job—although one that he is convinced is important, so it doesn't technically qualify as a David Graeber-type Bullshit Job.

There isn't much silence in his life; every moment of every day is filled with some sort of noise. If he's not playing a nonsense game on his phone, he's swiping through 5- or 10-second videos on TK or IG. Or else he calls his friends, me, or numerous family members for a brief chat while doing some household chore or walking from the station or running this or that errand.

Summary, dude's never thought hard about anything in his life.Summary, dude's never thought hard about anything in his life.

It wouldn't occur to him to watch a long-form podcast (#943891) or read a book.

Hanging out recently, then, I also noticed that in some of the more complicated convos we had, he lost the trail after about 10 seconds. If a chain of reasoning lasted for longer than that, or involved more than two or three components, his attention was elsewhere, his interest no longer on me or the ideas I was trying to give voice to.

I draw a direct line from the smartphones (dumb phones?) in our hands and the mindless scrolling they incentivize, and this loss of cognitive ability to reason or think or create.

As if on cue, a group of us (6-7 peeps) sat around waiting to leave and the conversation dried up. One by one the others took out their phones and started scrolling. I looked at them, one after the other, and then saw my friend doing the same thing. The addiction, instant-dopamine-feedback from a flashy screen, re-asserted itself. You know, you can just sit in peace; let stillness fill you; be with the universe. But eh, why bother... there are new cat videos every five seconds

Anyway, back to Cal's article:

"we face a new crisis, one that affects our minds more than our bodies: the negative impact of digital technology on our ability to think.""we face a new crisis, one that affects our minds more than our bodies: the negative impact of digital technology on our ability to think."

Research from Gloria Mark, a professor of informatics at the University of California, Irvine, indicates that our attention spans are about one-third as long as they were in 2004, with the biggest drops happening around 2012.

A meta-analysis released last fall showed that consuming short-form video content, as delivered by apps like TikTok and Instagram, is associated with poorer cognition and reduced attention, and the results of a clever experiment from 2023 found that the mere presence of participants’ smartphones in a room significantly reduced their ability to concentrate.

"Thinking is also an engine for making sense of our lives and cultivating our moral imaginations.""Thinking is also an engine for making sense of our lives and cultivating our moral imaginations."

In the world of physical health, we now know we should largely avoid ultraprocessed snacks like Doritos and Oreos, which are Frankenfoods made by reconstituting stock ingredients like corn and soy with hyperpalatable ratios of salt, sugar and fat. Much of the digital content that ensnares our attention in the current moment is also ultraprocessed, in that it’s the result of vast databases of user-generated content that are sifted, broken down and recombined by algorithms into personalized streams designed to be irresistible. What is a TikTok video if not a digital Dorito?
To continue unfolding the physical health analogy, let’s consider exercise. The cognitive equivalent of aerobic activity is contemplation — the intentional focusing of your mind’s eye on a singular topic, with the goal of increased understanding. Just as the sedentary lifestyles that emerged in the mid-20th century degraded our bodies, our current lack of contemplation is degrading our brains.

Another way to exercise our brains is to reject the constant companion model of phone use, in which we keep smartphones on us at all times. This places us in an untenable mental environment in which bundles of neurons in our short-term motivational systems, trained through experience to expect a quick reward from looking at our phones, are constantly firing, creating an insistent urge to pick up the device.

About HERE I got up and demonstratively placed the device-from-hell two rooms over. Good place for it... and then the doorball rang, and then the food was ready so I had dinner and (refreshingly, read instead of watched some podcast) and then my friend called and blah-blah, two hours later I returned to this.

Yes, Mr. Newport, you're right; also, it's not JUST the devices that interrupt usYes, Mr. Newport, you're right; also, it's not JUST the devices that interrupt us

And of course this ventures into AI territory, #1467035, #1467016

A recent study conducted by researchers at the Boston Consulting Group found that offloading difficult tasks to A.I. led to increased mental exhaustion — a state they called “brain fry” — because of the constant context switching required to monitor and manage the A.I.’s behavior.

BOTTOM LINE:

Spend more time with your phone out of easy reach. If it’s not nearby, it won’t be as likely to trigger your motivational neurons, helping clear your brain to focus on other activities with less distraction. Let’s boil this down to a simple rule: When you’re at home, keep your phone charging in your kitchen instead of in your pocket.

TL;DR -> get off those stupid screens, eh.

https://archive.md/YUvs4