Don't Touch Grass, Touch Each Other
The following is the transcript of my troop deployment (i.e. ending rant) from episode 78 of my news podcast The Mind Killer. If you like it, please consider subscribing to the podcast
It seems like the past few months, I’ve encountered a number of articles about how people, and especially young people, are getting less happy. There are a number of theories about why this is, but by far the most popular explanation is, you guessed it! The smartphone!
And maybe they have a point! Smartphones are an amazing technology which allows us to greatly increase our skills and knowledge, but they can also be used irresponsibly. Doomscrolling is bad for your mental health, no question. Social media greatly increases the ability of bullies to intrude into the lives and thoughts of others, often with the active assistance of authority figures and gatekeepers. Certain online ideologies encourage people to process all conflict as trauma and award status for being pessimistic and depressed. As with any technology, it’s important to use it in a healthy and intentional way, and if it becomes compulsive to step away.
One particularly unhealthy way that technology has changed things is, I think, to convince people that it’s not important to see each other in meatspace. It’s easy to use social media, texting, and other forms of electronic communication to make it seems like you’re spending time with your friends without actually spending any time with your friends. According to the census bureau, time spent with friends by Americans 15 and older started declining in 2013, and has now declined by more than half to only about 2 hours and 45 minutes. Time spent with other people has also declined, and there’s been a huge increase of around 9 hours per week in time spent alone. Covid certainly didn’t help, but the vast majority of that decline came before the pandemic.
If you’re looking for an explanation for why people are unhappy, I would start there. Being with other people, especially our friends, is absolutely necessary for our mental health. I’ve personally started asking people to hang out more and saying yes to other people’s invitations. I’ve joined a Facebook group for local people who want to go out and do things. I’m starting to host board game meetups on Sunday mornings. And so far, I can personally attest that I feel better on days where I get to see other people. I encourage everyone listening to do the same. It’s important to touch grass, but as a certain telecom company told us decades ago, it’s more important to reach out and touch someone.