Disconnect Paper

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University of California, Berkeley *

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Arts Humanities

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Oct 30, 2023

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docx

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Uploaded by AdmiralFire12189

Disconnect Paper Technology has undoubtedly benefited us as a society, helping us progress and achieve things that once were mere dreams. As time goes on, we gradually see improvements alongside innovations in modern technology that have completely shaped the world and our civilization, making the idea of living in a world without technology seem impossible. With this essay, I will describe my experience disconnecting from all technological ties for 36 hours. Initially, living without technology felt very odd and unnatural, making me very self-conscious about my reliance on it as I found myself feeling the urge to use my electronic devices whenever I got bored. However, after about 24 hours, I adapted to this change, getting to truly appreciate life free from constant connectivity, while also opening my eyes to technology’s immersion in modern society; seeing it’s influence all around me. Throughout this experience, my thoughts really resonated with that of Professor Andrew Przybylski in his 2013 article about the fear of missing out, and with that of journalist and writer Nicholas Carr in the 2008 article titled “Is Google Making Us Stupid?”, where he expresses the idea that our reliance of technology is rather detrimental, arguing that the ease of internet searching, and distractions found when browsing the web were possibly limiting our capacity to concentrate. This paper will argue that my experience illustrates both Przybylski’s and Carr’s arguments. Disconnecting for roughly 36 hours opened my eyes to see how immersed technology is in modern society and in everyone’s life. I forced myself to absent from technological use by leaving my electronic devices in my dorm; this way, I firsthand witnessed other people’s tendencies on their devices; simply observing them and the world around me, noticing people’s behavior in a simple activity such as walking around campus and the city, where most individuals walked listening to music or looking at their phones even when accompanied. During

this experience I felt very bored, unnatural and out of place at times; feeling like something was missing, as time started to move slower than normal, giving me an uncomfortable sensation of vulnerability and loneliness, proving Carr’s argument about technology making me more stupid or useless due to how dependent I am on it. Two key examples stood out within the first 15 hours as I carried out some activities from my daily routine. First, was in English class, where we were instructed to do a group activity and write our responses down, which proceeded to all the class pulling out their laptops in synchrony and start endlessly typing in complete silence. For some reason, I started to feel anxious and insecure about my work, like I was completely out of place, like a baffled fish out of water; just because I was the only one writing in a sheet of paper. I dealt with this by forcing myself to write, which felt very refreshing as I hadn’t written an essay in paper in quite some time. The second example happened in the afternoon, as I was walking down the street headed to buy supplies for the dorm. It was only after grabbing everything needed from the store and heading over to check out that I instinctively went for my pocket to grab my phone while waiting in line, only to feel like an idiot after realizing I was disconnecting and had no way of paying since I had forgotten my wallet since I normally pay with my phone. Due to this mistake, I was set back for about an hour where I reflected about my dysfunctionality without my phone while walking back to retrieve my wallet. I would like to mention that I put an emphasis on doing “roughly 36 hours” because there were times where I had to interrupt the dysconnectivity experience for things that couldn’t have been done without technology, such as calling my parents and scheduling an appointment with the doctor and passport renewal office, which then again, links back to our reliance on technology and how it has consumed us. The second example of instinctively reaching for my phone the moment I got bored discussed earlier demonstrates the definition of the fear of missing out proposed by Przybylski (2013).

Przybylski (2013, p.1) defines FoMO as a pervasive apprehension that others might be having rewarding experiences from which one is absent. Basically, it’s the anxiety one might feel toward the idea that an exciting or interesting event is happening somewhere else, commonly triggered by social media activity like posts. This links back to my second example because upon being bored, I immediately felt the need to check up on social media to see what other people were up to. This subconscious need for constant entertainment is an issue caused by our mobile devices which mess with our dopamine levels since we are used to always having everything, including entertainment, a few taps away. When Przybylski (2013) describes FoMO, he states specifically that males were more likely than females to turn to social media when struggling with the sense of FoMO (Przybylski, 2013, p.3), helping me understand my behavior while waiting in line; given that I unconsciously went to grab my phone as a reflex for FoMO. This is because boredom immediately reminds me of its counterpart, fun; often leading my thoughts to memories with my friends and family, making me anxious at the idea of them having a good time without me. Additionally, the second example shows Carr’s (2008) idea that my reliance of technology is limiting my capacity to concentrate; reflected then again through the act of reaching for my phone, showing that I was not able to concentrate at the task at hand due to my reliance on my phone, where I tried to pull it out as a means to distract myself from my current situation; and because I was so dependent on it, that I forgot to bring my wallet to pay for groceries. Carr’s idea that the net seems to be “chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation” (Carr, 2008, p.2,3) is reflected during the first example where I doubted myself and was unable to work properly during English class. This is because my work efficiency worsened in response to the absence of my electronic devices, once again proving this idea that technology is having a negative effect on my ability to concentrate.

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In conclusion, my disconnect experience illustrates both Przybylski (2013) and Carr’s (2008) arguments on technology in the modern world, using both the fear of missing out (FoMO) and the theory that our reliance on technology is limiting our capacity to concentrate, in order to explain my behavior in the examples I provided for the 36-hour technology free window. This experience holds upmost importance and relevance in today’s world, leading readers to interpret the main ideas in either a dystopian sense, in that technology will inevitably be our downfall, or in a utopian one, where we will be able to evolve, prosper and thrive because of technology. This is because this experience evidences how technology has integrated into our individual lives and into our society to a point where there is no going back, influencing our behavior and our habits by making everything significantly easier. My takeaway from this experience is that technology has become an extension of ourselves; to which we need to find a balance to in order to fully appreciate its benefits since there are a lot of negative consequences such as feelings of discomfort, uselessness and the inability to concentrate or think properly, that extend from constant internet use.