Addiction to Technology is Ruining Lives - Simon Sinek on Inside Quest

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we know that engagement with social

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media and our cellphones releases a

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chemical called dopamine that's why when

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you get a text feels good right so you

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know we've all had it we you're feeling

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a little bit down or feeling a bit

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lonely and so you send out ten texts to

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ten friends you know hi hi hi hi hi

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because it feels good when you get a

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response right right it's why we count

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the likes it's why we go back ten times

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to see if and if it's going if our my

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Instagram is growing slower I would do

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something wrong do they not like me

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anymore right the trauma for young kids

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to be unfriended right because we know

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when you get it you get a hit a dopamine

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which feels good it's why we like it

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it's why we keep going back to it

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dopamine is the exact same chemical that

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makes us feel good when we smoke when we

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drink and when we gamble in other words

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it's highly highly addictive right we

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have age restrictions on smoking

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gambling and alcohol and we have no age

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restrictions on social media and cell

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phones which is the equivalent of

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opening up the liquor cabinet and saying

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to our teenagers hey by the way this

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adolescence thing if it gets you down

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but that's basically what's happening

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that's basically what's happening right

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that's basically what happened you have

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an entire generation that has access to

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an addictive numbing to chemical called

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dopamine through social media and

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cellphones as they're going through the

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high stress of adolescence why is this

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important almost every alcoholic

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discovered alcohol when they were

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teenagers when we're very very young the

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only approval we need is the approval of

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our parents and as we go through

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adolescence we make this transition

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where we now need the approval of our

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peers very frustrating for our parents

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very important for us that allows us to

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acculturate

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outside of our immediate families into

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the broader tribe right it's a highly

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highly stressful and anxious period of

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our lives and we're supposed to learn to

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rely on our friends some people quite by

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accident discover alcohol and numbing

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effects of dopamine to help them cope

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with the stresses and anxieties of

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adolescence unfortunately that becomes

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hardwired in their brains and for the

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rest of their lives when they suffer

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significant stress they will not turn to

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a person they will turn to the bottle

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social stress financial stress career

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that's pretty much the primary reasons

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why an alcoholic drinks right what's

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happening is because we're allowing

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unfettered access to these dopamine

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producing devices and media basically

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it's becoming hardwired and what we're

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seeing is as they grow older they to

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many kids don't know how to form deep

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meaningful relationships their words not

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mine they will admit that many of their

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friendships are superficial they will

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admit that their friends that they don't

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count on their friends they don't rely

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on their friends they have fun with

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their friends but they also know that

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their friends will cancel out them that

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something better comes along deep

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meaningful relationships are not there

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because they never practice the skill

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set and worse they don't have the coping

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mechanisms to deal with stress so when

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significant stress starts to show up in

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their lives they're not turning to a

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person they're turning to a device

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they're turning to social media they're

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turning to these things which offer

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temporary relief we know the science is

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clear we know that people who spend more

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time on Facebook so far higher rates of

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depression than people who spend less

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time on Facebook write these things

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balanced alcohol is not bad too much

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alcohol is bad gambling is fun too much

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gambling is dangerous right there's

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nothing wrong with social media and cell

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phones it's the imbalance right if

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you're sitting at dinner with your

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friends and you're texting somebody

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who's not there that's a problem that's

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an addiction if you're sitting in a

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meeting with people you're supposed to

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be listening to and speaking and you put

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your phone on the table face up or face

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down I don't care that sends the

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subconscious message to the room that

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you're not just you're just not that

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important to me right now right that's

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what happens and the fact that you

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cannot put it away it's because you are

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addicted right if you wake up and you

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check your phone before you say good

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morning to your girlfriend boyfriend or

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spouse you have an addiction and like

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all addiction in time it'll destroy

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relationships it'll cost time and it

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will cost money and will make your life

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worse