Overdosing on virtual connections
Eric Stryson says people in modern societies like Hong Kong need to geta handle on reality as smartphone use increasingly turns to addiction
A decade ago, all the talk was about the digital divide leaving behind millions of poor people. Today, that has been replaced by a modern drug of choice for the masses - digital crack.
Growing numbers of people are apparently addicted to electronic gadgets providing continuous, always-on media and communications that feed an insatiable desire for the next fix.
Digital crack works the same way as crack cocaine. Each time we see a new message or alert, the brain gets a "hit" of a neurotransmitter called dopamine offering a small, temporary feeling of pleasure. Smartphones now apparently produce the same dopamine-inducing pleasure response that crack cocaine does.
In Hong Kong, people on the streets walk around like zombies, staring down at their smartphones. Waiting for a lift, standing in a queue, or dining in restaurants, their gaze is fixed on their device.
Sadly, for many, the digital dopamine fix is more compelling than the outside world. Psychiatrists are now considering listing the condition as a full-blown disorder. China opened its first internet addiction treatment centres in 2004 and by 2009 had more than 300 of them.
Unchecked, technology will tear at the fabric of society. The onslaught of digital media will grow more intense as bandwidth increases. With more such "innovations", our loss of empathy will become more acute. We will witness the further atrophy of basic human skills like reading non-verbal behaviour. We risk losing the ability to communicate with each other in meaningful ways.
