How we moralize screen time
This past summer, I spent a lot of time thinking and journaling about ways to reconcile my relationship with technology, especially with screen time.
While researching, these were some of the keywords that kept coming up:
brainrot
doomscrolling
digital detox
digital hygiene
dopamine junkie
information diet
Cyber Celibate (cool substack!)
Neo-Luddites
anti-tech
anti-alg
unplug
go analog / offline
Most of these terms have “guilty” connotations, suggesting we have to practice rather radical self-retraint to resist falling into temptation of bad digital habits.
I started observing how words like celibacy and abstinence may be adopted from religious contexts, in which you’re in constant spiritual warfare with temptations of the devil.
In the context of our increasingly antagonistic stance with technology, this “devil” seems to now be referred to as “dopamine.”
I remember reading the book Dopamination, and afterwards feeling super scared of dopamine messing up my brain. I thought to myself, ‘OMG this is scary. My brain is melting. I need to seek boredom OR ELSE I’m going to be…. rotten and degenerate. I shouldn’t live like this.’
The Religion of "GTD"
This way of viewing dopamine reminded me of a topical presentation I gave for the Critical Approaches to Tech Solutions course, on our reading about the ”religion of Getting Things Done,” the idea that abstinence, ascetics of time management, and efficiency are regarded as moral virtues in a highly optimized, capitalistic society.
Most screen apps on the market like Opal seem to use this feeling of guilt or shock factor to force us off the screens. The ads would often say something to the effect of: “At this pace, you are on track to waste 30 years just scrolling your life away.”
Initially, it motivated me to download the app and try it. But when I hear this type of “doomer” warning (though they may be true) so frequently, the shock factor fades, and I find myself desensitized. In those times, I’d just be left with feelings of immense guilt for falling back to my bad habits.
Reframing dopamine
But dopamine, the chemical itself, is not entirely evil… In fact, dopamine has such an integral function in our brain that helps us feel happy and excited to pursue something with passion!
The dopamine menu stands out amongst many digital wellness tools because it reframes dopamine as something we can enjoy, and encourages us to choose from a carefully curated menu of enjoyable activities that is fully our own (not what the algorithm thinks we would like or should do).