Throughout your lifetime, your brain can form new neural connections. The fancy name for this is neuroplasticity, and it occurs when you practice and repeat doing things so much that it eventually just becomes automatic, like a habit. This is how you learn to walk and talk, remember car routes, play an instrument or meditate. However, these days, the neural connections that people are forming revolve more and more around technology, and it might be time to consider if the machines are taking over without you realising.
No one is denying that technology is an amazing thing, but the truth is that we’re only infants with it and need to develop a wiser relationship. Your brain is strengthening your habitual use of phones and tablets, and it may be costing your emotional wellbeing. If you can remember a time without smart phones, think about when you used to go to lunch with a friend. There didn’t used to be anything to intrude on the conversation, but now your brain has rewired itself to monitor incoming messages, and will jerk into action if there is a sign of one on your phone.
MIT’s Sherry Turkle, author of Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other, explains that you need to designate certain spaces as sacred, technology-free zones, particularly the dinner table. This is in line with previous studies which showed that cultivating sacred moments directly correlates to better emotional wellness, including stress reduction and more happiness.
Think about your own life. Do you have a space or a chance to disconnect from the world? How would you feel about going ‘off the grid’ and dedicating your attention to whomever you are with? Technology allows us to connect to more people, but are those connections we make of any real quality or depth? There is a difference between connection and intimacy, and the latter is vital to bring into your life. Yes, technology can allow us to do incredible things, but we’re still in the early stages of learning how to relate to it. Perhaps it’s time to put technology in its proper place, and allow some spaces to remain sacred.
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