Lately, Scott and I have been feeling a bit of overwhelm in our daily lives, particularly when it comes to AI and the push to control and collect data on every aspect of our personal lives. It seems that we both were feeling this individually before we even began this conversation. Anywhere you go, you see people who are distracted to the point where they are not even living in the world around them. It brings me back to the old Beatles song Yellow Submarine. It is like everyone is looking out through a portal into the world around them rather than living in that world. It is a significantly smaller world than the one that exists when you look up at the rest of the world for a brief moment.
Everyone is vying for your attention, and that is how big corporations make a lot of money. They thrive on getting you to stay on the screen for a few seconds more, and they are very good at it. Research into human behavioral psychology in regards to marketing and advertising began in earnest in the 1950s with the introduction of the television. Over the past 75 years they have become masters at shaping and controlling human behavior through a little 3-inch screen.
Many people fail to realize that they are no longer even thinking their own thoughts. They have become like Pavlov’s dog, trained to respond to stimulus. I work at the Tin Can Chandelier, an environment designed for people to step away from a frenetic, distracted pace of life and simply make art. Yesterday, we were extremely busy with people working on projects and interacting. I love this place, because it is one of the few vestibules where people actually talk to each other face to face rather than staring at their phone and ignoring the person in front of them. Even so, I could not help but to notice the chaotic symphony of notification tones. The ding, rings, and other strange sounds added to the buzz of the conversations and gentle music playing in the background. I watched for a while. Every time someones phone rang, almost 100% of the time their kneejerk reaction was to divert attention from the person in front of them and check their phone. Pavlov would be quite proud.
I think the reason why the various rings and notifications were so distracting to me is because Scott and I have both been stepping away consciously from the digital world. We find that the more we unplug, the happier we are and more able to focus on the things that are important us and not what big corporations wielding AI want. That is the whole point. I only allow notifications on my phone from close family members and work.
I have Facebook and use it for my business and some connections with people I don’t regularly see. Even so, I limit my time on the platform. Scott closed his Facebook account entirely. No fanfare, no announcement, just a simple click of the delete button and Mark Zuckerberg was gone. This has given me so much of my own life back, and the results have reached into more parts of my life than I ever expected. Instead of doom-scrolling, I now have time to create more artwork and work on my blog, including writing three articles. See you soon.
