Hello everyone.
Before I begin my talk today, I would like to do a small experiment.
By a raise of hand, how many of you here are extremely annoyed by these symbols?
(Laughter)
Many of you, indeed.
Before I go on to explain to you why I ask you to do this,
I'm going to introduce to you a concept
that really baffled me called the "productivity paradox."
From 1971 to 2015, an era known as the Digital Revolution
which introduced the Internet, personal computer,
smartphone, and so on,
while the number of transistors per microprocessor --
which is a reliable indicator of technological capabilities --
doubles every two years.
At the same period of time, worker productivity growth
actually goes down instead of going up.
What this paradox tells us is that
as technology becomes more advanced and more readily available --
which should have supposedly made our jobs easier and more efficient --
the marginal gain in our productivity actually decreases.
So what actually happened with productivity growth?
While there are many factors to be blamed for this decline,
such as an aging workforce,
there is one particular factor that really captures my attention,
since I was also a "victim" of it,
is addiction to technological distraction.
You see, with a plethora of information accessible
right in your palm, from irresistible clickbait
like "Top 17 most shocking truth about blah, blah, blah.
You won't believe number 9!"
to Reddit threads, YouTube videos, Facebook hashtags,
and "you may also like" suggestions at the bottom of every single article --
we are being directed to an unlimited supply of mostly useless information.
And before you even know it,
it's already 11:00 pm and your assignment is due at midnight!
(Laughter)
You feel bad, work like hell to meet the deadline
with mediocre work, promise to yourself
that it would never ever happen again.
And then we do it all over again.
(Laughter)
The bad news is it doesn't stop here.
After I escaped from the prison of Internet addiction,
sometimes I find myself haunted by images that I was once a part of.
Images like a group of friends coming to a coffee shop.
They took a selfie, posted to Instagram
and then, silence, everyone was scrolling at their phone
while sipping the coffee.
Images like my classmate
who ranted about 15 seconds of buffering
and loading of his Netflix video.
Images like a girl crying over her boyfriend's "late response" --
"It's been ten minutes, and he hasn't replied to my message yet," she said.
(Laughter)
Or a guy screaming over a 15-second YouTube advertisement
and keeps pushing the "Skip ads" button until his screen is broken.
(Laughter)
The problem is, it's not our fault.
Every single site and app, from YouTube to Facebook,
is deliberately and intentionally designed to be addictive.
"If you're not paying for it, you become the product."
Unlike a newspaper subscription, social media apps and online sites
don't charge you a cent for using their products.
Obviously, you still have to pay for the Internet fees.
(Laughter)
Anyway, they have an entire R&D team that is dedicated
to maximize the time you spent on these apps.
As Aza Raskin, the inventor of infinite scroll, himself said,
"Behind every screen on your phone, there are generally like literally
a thousand engineers that have worked on this thing
to try to make it maximally addicting.
It's as if they're taking behavioral cocaine
and just sprinkling it all over your interface,
and that's the thing that keeps you like coming back and back and back."
Indeed, features like infinite scroll, instead of having to turn the pages,
or real-time notification of everything,
from likes, comments, mentions, trending hashtags, messages, etc.,
are intended to keep you in a vicious cycle of impulses
and to keep you stay in the apps for as long as possible.
The more you use them,
the more data they have about you to sell to advertisers.
That's why you see advertisements about vacation deals on Facebook
after searching for a flight on Google.
By not giving your brain time to catch up with these impulses,
online sites and social media are actually
more effective than cocaine and alcohol in making you depend on them,
according to a 2015 study by ASU.
Similarly, recent studies by MSU
also indicated that excessive social media usage
can compromise our decision-making capabilities, similarly to drug addiction.
This is extremely concerning considering that many young children nowadays
are given access to Internet at a very young age.
Technologies' capability of hooking young people
by constantly releasing dopamine in their brain
can create a new generation
that is toxic, impatient, and unproductive.
The good news is it's never too late to rehabilitate.
While I may not be in the best position to give you specific medical advice,
one approach that worked quite well for me
is to designate a particular screen-free time.
At first, it would sound very tough and counterintuitive,
even futile, to resist this temptation.
So it might be helpful to start small; maybe just 30 minutes a day,
and then gradually increase it.
I would suggest surrendering all of your electronic devices to a trusted friend.
During this "screen-free time," you can try to read a book,
go for a walk,
or even spend some minutes on meditation
and allow your brain to quiet down and recover.
The first step in every recovery process --
whether it is substance or behavioral abuse --
is to accept the fact that you are addicted.
It would be a difficult journey, but remember, the rewards are worth it.
By regaining control of your mind
and escaping from the prison of constant distraction
built by technology,
we are also regaining the time and energy,
those that can be used to finish our work on time,
gain more sleep, hit the gym,
call your grandmother or contemplate life.
Thank you!
(Applause)
(Cheering)