Lack of interest

I was watching the movie Columbus, which is an incredibly slow movie, but it probably has its reasons. One of those reasons is a theory described in the beginning of the film.

Gabriel, a friend of the protagonist, is describing something he read in marginalia in the library they work at. (Marginalia are notes written in the margins of a text)

Society likes to say that kids today have shortened attention spans when they can sit and play video games for hours. A professor can read for hours, while a kid can play video games for hours. That doesn't mean the kid has a shortened attention span. What we are really afraid of is that the kid loses interest in things that matter. And maybe, "we are losing interest in everyday life".

See the clip here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9d6Xi8agVg

Nowadays we see the same with short form content like tiktok. Having been on tiktok recently (yeah late adopter), I do see that there is value on the platform. It's so hyperfocused that it gets you exactly what you want. Even the comment section is personalized. Some pieces of information there are actually useful for the interests that I have. At the same time I can't put it away. I find myself repeatedly clicking 'Remind me in 15 minutes' (the screen time blocker).

I struggle with my smartphone usage. I didn't grow up with smartphones, and I see it takes a large chunk of my time. At the same time, once I remove tiktok, I don't immediately see something valuable replacing it. I might turn to my chess app, or youtube, reading hackernews, or in the 'best' case, I read a physical book. Immersing myself in a long fictional story might just have the same effect as immersing myself in one hundred one minute stories. In the end I'm distracting myself. And it might be just fine to distract yourself once in a while.

The main problem I have with my smartphone is that something else decides for me what I put my attention to. I'd rather distract myself with something that isn't so dopamine infused.

The other problem with tiktok, and my phone in general, is that it does give some value, but it comes at a cost. Yes I can message everyone instantly, but there's also a whatsapp group with people who use it as a social feed. Yes I can listen to music, but there's also a podcast with people sharing their opinion on every aspect of life. You have to be disciplined and focused to not get distracted by all those aspects.

The best way forward is to guide your attention to something valuable. Just like the movie tried to do. It's too easy to just criticize phone usage. So put your phone down, and look up.