2 major newspapers discussed the same topic these past few days. The Wall street Journal’s headlines were: “How Smartphones Hijack Our Minds”. The article went through the latest research we can all attest to without reading; our minds are harmed, fear and anxiety are on the upswing and our attention span is shrinking. Researchers call this a ‘brain drain’ but it’s not from a specific country rather it’s a global malady harming our minds.
One needn’t be opposite a screen or smartphone to suffer from it. Our minds constantly drift towards them and even if we decided not to ‘share’ or post something our whole take on reality is through constant contact with the media networks. One researcher calls our new cell phones a “super stimulant” having a mail box, newspaper, TV, radio, photo album, a public library and an ongoing and lively party with all your friends all in a small shiny package that fits in your pocket.
In one interesting research project 142 people were divided into pairs and asked to talk privately for 10 minutes. Phones were taken from half of the groups. Afterwards a test of affection empathy and trust was given to the participants. The researchers found that “the mere fact a cell phone was in the room prevented feelings of closeness from developing and shrunk the level of empathy and understanding.” What does this say about our ability in this generation to build friendships and intimacy? What are the chances a date will succeed? What does this say about sharing feelings?
The Guardian in the UK wrote almost identically: “Our Mind Might Get Hijacked”. And who is saying this? The senior Silicon Valley programmers that interview and speak out against our addiction to gadgets and apps. They admit, “We created a monster” and after developing these functions they openly come out against the great damage this technology causes.
Justin Rosenstein is part of this movement of regret going through Silicon Valley. He was the creator of the Facebook ‘like’ button. Today he no cellphone Facebook and avoids his own ‘like’ button. He says: “My intention was good and positive but the outcome shows negative and damaging consequences which are as addictive as heroin.”
What do we do? We wait for the next article and earth shaking study. We cluck and tell ourselves we should really put away our cell phone sometimes, lip service to calm our guilty consciences with thinking that in exactly 10 seconds we’ll be back on ‘What’s App’!
But there’s a ready solution. Without any cooperation with these prominent news outlets, Rabbi Dr. warren Goldstein announced the upcoming Shabbat as the “International Shabbat” observed by Jews world round. Rabbi Goldstein is the Chief Rabbi of South Africa who is trying to unify our nation around the wonderful and ancient gift which becomes more relevant than ever in light of the technological advances of our time.
The President of Israel, mayors of Israeli cities, artists, students and countless people and organizations joined up to make this Shabbat as glorious as possible for people in all walks of life and Judaism. A day of calm without computer screens sounds like a prescription any doctor would write right now, the sooner the better!
We received this prescription millennia ago. It’s time to fulfill this prescription.