"Technology is a great servant but a terrible master. This is the most important book ever written about one of the most significant aspects of our lives--the consequences of our addiction to online technology and how we can liberate ourselves and our children from it." --Dean Ornish, M.D. Founder & President, Preventive Medicine Research Institute, Clinical Professor of Medicine, UCSF, Author, The Spectrum
Technology: your master, or your friend? Do you feel ruled by your smartphone and enslaved by your e-mail or social-network activities? Digital technology is making us miserable, say bestselling authors and former tech executives Vivek Wadhwa and Alex Salkever. We've become a tribe of tech addicts--and it's not entirely our fault.
Taking advantage of vulnerabilities in human brain function, tech companies entice us to overdose on technology interaction. This damages our lives, work, families, and friendships. Swipe-driven dating apps train us to evaluate people like products, diminishing our relationships. At work, we e-mail on average 77 times a day, ruining our concentration. At home, light from our screens is contributing to epidemic sleep deprivation.
But we can reclaim our lives without dismissing technology. The authors explain how to avoid getting hooked on tech and how to define and control the roles that tech is playing and could play in our lives. And they provide a guide to technological and personal tools for regaining control. This readable book turns personal observation into a handy action guide to adapting to our new reality of omnipresent technology.
Initial thoughts: This is one of those books that consolidates what you probably already know, backs that knowledge up with research and makes a plea for readers to actually act upon that knowledge. I think by now, most of us are aware about the negative impact of technology and social media on our relationships and health. Vivek Wadhwa and Alex Salkever, however, acknowledge the benefits of technology as well, which is why they strive for balance and are all about human agency.
Even though there was hardly any new information for me, for some, the stats they cited might still come as a surprise. Their suggestions on how to limit and control our use of technology are accessible, and are beneficial not only for those who decide to follow these suggestions but also for the people who interact with them.
