DISCLAIMER: I'm aware that I'm one of the younger users on Steemit. This post addresses an issue I see more with younger people than other generations. I know this is a controversial topic, so if you disagree I'd love to talk about it in the comments!

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Picture this.

An American family sits in their living room together on a weekday night. The TV is on, but nobody's watching. Everyone's on their devices cruising the internet ghetto. Every few minutes, someone comes across something funny and everyone looks up from their screens for a few moments to see it. Usually, it's just another political meme with no evidence to back up the stated opinion. This is what an average night looks like at my house, or any of my friend's houses for that matter.

For us, the TV is not interactive enough. We crave the consistent stimulation Facebook gives us from seeing a funny one liner or a relatable meme that agrees with our particular world view. In my view this shortens our attention spans.

How about another example?

I was recently hanging out with a good buddy of mine. He's been dying to show me an episode of one of his favorite shows, so we started watching it. A few minutes into the show I noticed he had been on his phone the whole time.
So I asked him "aren't you going to watch the show?"
"I like to multitask," he told me.
Fair enough. I'm not trying to badmouth my friends and family. They're great people. I know plenty of people who can sit through a 20 minute TV show without doing something else. But I feel like many people I know have fallen into the trap of social media addiction. They are shortening their attention spans without knowing it.

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I notice this is happening to me most of all.

Until recently, I was spending a lot of my free time on Facebook. I would mindlessly scroll through a bunch of unoriginal posts.

A few years ago when I joined Facebook, I took a lot more time to read what my friends were sharing. But I think a few years of instant gratification have gotten to me. Now I find myself scrolling past 95% of posts, even if they are posts that would likely appeal to me.

In my opinion, Facebook has done some "rewiring" of my brain to hook me on instant gratification. I never used to be this way. I think this has happened to the majority of us to some extent.

When we crave our smartphones, we tend to neglect our basic human instincts. We all have hobbies that occupy our time outside of social media. What I'm afraid of is the idea that these hobbies could be lost on future generations.

If the technology we have now takes time away from other aspects of our lives, imagine how much more engaging technology could be in 50 years. Skills we once mastered such as drawing, woodworking, and gardening might become less and less popular. Eventually people could even lose interest in them altogether.

For my own good, I'm trying to turn this around. I'm spending more free time here on Steemit, a place where thoughtful posts that take hours to compose are valued. I will try to post once a day.

I am also spending more time outside, away from technology. I believe hiking, camping, fishing, and even simply getting fresh air trigger another kind of reaction in our brains. Those are the kinds of things we were meant to do, and they bring out the best in us.

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The takeaway

Just because our civilization has developed to the point where we can choose not to do these things doesn't mean we should never do them again.

Even spending 20 minutes outside each day can improve overall well being dramatically. My Grandpa is in his 80s. He goes for a walk every day and is still in perfect health.

I don't want humans to lose the skills that advanced our civilization in the first place. The most I can do is try to teach my kids all the skills I know and hope they develop a passion for them! Ultimately, it will be up to them to choose how they use their time.

I'm not here to tell you how to live your life, I just want to offer my perspective on where I think things are headed.

Thank you for reading this post, I know it was long!

Here is a link to my previous post.