The Internet’s prison of procrastination | Le Dong Hai “DoHa” Nguyen | TEDxCATSAcademyBoston

Let's hear from DoHa Nguyen, a former 'chronic procrastinator', about how new technologies have intentionally trapped us in a vicious cycle of procrastination — and how to escape it.
In this informative yet hilarious talk, DoHa visualizes the effects of this lost opportunity due to procrastination on our economy and society. From his own experience, he presents possible solutions to "break" the loop of addiction to technological distraction.
Le Dong Hai “DoHa” Nguyen FRSA is a Vietnamese social activist, software developer, and aspiring economist. A high-school student, he is the co-founder of the Global Association of Economics Education and one of the youngest Fellows of the Royal Society of Arts.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

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)