Smartphone addiction is ruining our brains

While there’s been plenty of anecdotal evidence of smartphones impacting our mental health, recent medical studies are showing how smartphone addiction is literally rewiring our brains.

Why It Hurts: Expert studies demonstrating how smartphones impact our attention spans, ability to regulate our emotions, and potential for productivity have wide-ranging implications — including a growing no-phones-in-school movement, society’s relationship with social media, and the legality of endless notifications.

Between the Ears: It appears that, yes, our phones are giving us “brainrot.”

A recent study out of South Korea found that there’s a major increase in brain activity among those addicted to their smartphones — people who spend hours a day on their devices and can’t go a few minutes without checking them.

Citing the study, Brent Nelson, chief medical information officer for Newport Healthcare, said the activity shows that “the brain is working extra hard compared to a non-addicted brain when asked to do, actually, a pretty simple task.”

That level of activity makes people “less attentive and more easily distracted.” In other words, when our brains are always on overdrive, they go into meltdown mode (i.e., brainrot).

Those changes in the brain lead to behavioral issues and can cause mental-health challenges such as depression and anxiety.

While places like Newport Healthcare operate treatment centers for teens with smartphone addiction, where switching digital devices for analog hobbies has proven successful.

Some companies are giving educators the ability to transform brainrot content into education materials for the classroom. It’s a classic “if you can’t beat them, join them” mentality. If adopted, it could revolutionize how young people interact with the world… both digitally and IRL, which stands for ‘in real life’.

Let’s go one step further: Get out from behind your keyboard!

A picture is worth a thousand words, and a ten-minute conversation, face to face, is worth a thousand emails.

Find out where your target niche hangs out, then physically go there. It might be conferences, trade shows, even a local meetup or bar. Just show up. And be a real person – don’t just go to shove your business card in people’s hands. Be your authentic self. You will instantly stand out from the zillion cold callers!

Allow me to conclude this by highlighting the importance of Critical Thinking:

Without critical thinking we cannot thoughtfully process information and make reasoned decisions. We do not need smartphones and keyboards for critical thinking! With those devices we lose the ability to thoroughly analyze issues, understand different perspectives, spot logical fallacies, and weigh evidence.

Critical thinking is the very foundation of a healthy democracy and an educated populace. It is also essential that young people are directed to critical thinking.

When we work in groups and are forced to engage in discussions, it is a great change to expand our thinking. Minds design, build, regulate and use technology for good or ill. Minds make ethical judgements with global consequences. No algorithm can replace human wisdom and analysis and critical reading and thinking skills.

I look forward to receiving your comments to my ‘demanding’ article; please contact me at [email protected]