Because television is primarily an entertainment medium, all information, even the most serious or important, is packaged and presented as entertainment...
…Only when we break free from the shackles of constant distraction can we truly harness our potential to create a better world.
As of April 2022, the average American spent about 4 hours and 30 minutes daily on their phone. This time does not include talking on the phone and is expected to increase by 2024. Within those four hours on their device, additional data suggests that people spend an average of 2 hours and 24 minutes daily just on social media.
Introduction
In a world increasingly dominated by screens and digital stimuli, an insidious trade has taken place – we have surrendered our most valuable currency: attention. Prior to the advent of modern technology, our ancestors possessed an abundance of something that has become a scarce commodity today – time. Since they did not have the relentless onslaught of distractions, they had the luxury of truly observing the world around them, contemplating its intricacies, and taking purposeful action to shape their communities.
Throughout my Substack and my book, I argue that the idea of “boredom” is a relatively new phenomenon that resulted from the Industrialization Age. Prior to Industrialization, humanity had no concept of boredom. Every moment was intentional and purposeful, which is shown by how the earlier humans were able to use time and attention to start revolutions, overthrow regimes, and stand up for what was right.
But alas, we have stumbled into a dangerous trap, one that Neil Postman prophetically warned about in his seminal work, “Amusing Ourselves to Death.” We have become so enthralled by the allure of entertainment that we have willingly sacrificed our attention, the very essence of our humanity, on the altar of amusement.
Postman’s Prophecy
For background, Neil’s work was first published in 1985. The book’s origins lay in a talk Postman gave to the Frankfurt Book Fair in 1984, where he participated in a panel on George Orwell’s “Nineteen Eighty-Four” and the contemporary world.
In the introduction to his book, Postman argued that the contemporary world was better reflected by Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World,” in which the public was oppressed by their addiction to amusement, rather than by Orwell’s work, in which they were oppressed by state violence. If you follow my work, you know that I, too, come to this analysis, which I’ve detailed in the series “The Brave New World of 1984.”
Neil’s work focuses on the screens of his time, the television, and argues that television, as a form of entertainment media, has fundamentally transformed public discourse. Because television is primarily an entertainment medium, all information, even the most serious or important, is packaged and presented as entertainment.
The medium of television, with its quick cuts, sound bites, and emphasis on visuals, tends to favor style over substance, emotion over logic, and entertainment over deep understanding. The viewership of this has led to a “dumbing down” of content and a reduction in the complexity and nuance of public discourse. Furthermore, the constant barrage of entertainment can lead to a sense of apathy or disengagement among viewers.
When everything is entertainment, nothing is taken seriously, leading to a lack of critical thinking and engagement with important societal issues.
The Social Media World: Style Over Substance
Television was first mass-produced in 1948. When Postman wrote his book in 1985, television screens were the primary form of entertainment. Only 20 years later did the new screens, smartphones, come into place.
Let us take a moment to reflect on the stark contrast between our modern existence and the lives of our ancestors. In the bygone era, before television and social media, people had an abundance of time – time to think, time to observe, and time to act. They could afford to pay attention to the world around them, to engage with their communities, and to make a tangible difference.
However, with the mass introduction of the television into our homes, a subtle shift began to take place. We became entranced by the flickering images and content to passively consume the information and narratives presented to us. Postman astutely recognized this phenomenon, dubbing it “amusing ourselves to death” – a poignant phrase that encapsulates our willing surrender to the seductive lure of entertainment.
And now, in our present age, the distraction has reached unprecedented levels. Social media and smartphones have become the new opiates of the masses, demanding our constant attention and gradually eroding our ability to truly engage with the world around us. We scroll mindlessly, consume content voraciously, and yet, paradoxically, we starve for meaning and purpose.
It is a “cell” phone for a reason—a “prison cell” for your time and attention.
Reclaiming Time for Reflection and Inspiration
But there is still time to reclaim our attention and reassert our sovereignty over our most precious resource. We must confront the uncomfortable truth: our addiction to amusement has come at a profound cost—the cost of our ability to make a meaningful impact on the world.
The call to action is simple:
Let us reassess our priorities.
Reclaim our time and attention.
Rediscover the joy of observing the world with a keen eye, contemplating its complexities,
And taking purposeful action to shape our communities.
Only when we break free from the shackles of constant distraction can we truly harness our potential to create a better world.
From a personal level, I’ve begun to notice that whenever I have a break, either from meetings, deep-dive sessions, or just later in the day after hours of working, I decide to “decompress” and pick up my phone. However, I’m realizing that “small” decompression can last anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, which then brings about a downstream effect of being glued to my phone, which starts the habitual ritual of constantly checking my phone.
This constant checking prompted me to think about the question, “What would I do if there was no small device that fits in the palm of my hand that provided me with the same endless information that the TV did, which Postman wrote about?” It was this question that prompted me to be aware of how much time and attention I would devote to the device rather than the million other areas of my life.
Here is where I realized that, with any break I had, I escaped focusing on the seven pillars of life and turned my time and attention to this device instead of simply shutting my eyes and focusing my time and attention on resting and recovering, and unconsciously solving my problems or providing me with new insights. This revelation of letting time and attention improve my life, rather than continually giving it to entertainment, made me realize the problem our modern society has wrought upon us.
Exploring Reality’s Depths: The Path to Presence and Impact
In this quest for reclaiming our time and attention, what better way to invest those resources than embarking on a journey of self-discovery? Here is where my book, “An Unorthodox Truth,” comes in. With it, you are able to explore the depths of history, mainly how the Industrialization Age led to our captivity. You’ll be able to unveil the illusions of science, education, and government that have kept us captive, as well as being introduced to the aspect of reality hidden away from us, the nature of reality that empowers us to stand confidently in our purpose. For it is only when we understand the true nature of the world we inhabit that we can truly liberate ourselves from the shackles of distraction and harness our attention to create the change we wish to see.
Reflecting on my book and the articles I write here on Substack, I’ve come to realize that we look at one side of reality and focus solely on that aspect of reality. This perspective is how society was created, and until we begin to see the other aspect of reality, the “unorthodox” perspective of reality, we will never realize how small and powerful moments in our lives, like 10 minutes of self-reflection and control of time and attention, can make an impact on our day and our lives.
The choice is ours: to continue amusing ourselves to death or to reclaim our birthright as conscious beings capable of shaping our reality through the power of our undivided attention. The time is now; the opportunity is ours for the taking. Let us embrace the challenge and embark on a journey towards a more present, purposeful, and impactful existence.
Thank you for your time and attention in reading this article.
Ashe.
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Neil Postman was a prophet of our times, he tried to warn us of what we were doing to ourselves. I got an Iphone in 2010 and went from reading books all the time to, by late 2018, not having read a book for over a year. I started to realize that my addiction to my phone was the cause of my inability to focus on reading so, in February 2019, I severely curtailed my usage(I look at my phone maybe 10-15 minutes a day now and usually only to look at the crypto market); thanks to this my love of reading came back and last year I read well over 100 books. The best part about being free of a phone addiction is being able to sit back and enjoy boredom, I love being bored because it gives me time to think, to explore my consciousness, and to really perceive the reality of my surroundings. If I'm going somewhere that I know I'll be waiting I'll bring a book; often feel like a zoo exhibit as people are usually staring at me due to reading a book and not a phone. I absolutely believe that "smart" phones are one of the biggest causes, if not the biggest, for the complete breakdown of civil society. We're basically living in a society that contains a shit ton of crack fiends who are always searching for that next hit of sweet sweet dopamine and have complete schizo tendencies due to their brain chemistry being so fried.
I have a very different view of social media. Millions of people posting from their daily lives unscripted unedited sincere uncontrolled is an organic and very human process. It’s a dreamscape. One moment I’m looking see a crying father in Gaza holding his dead child, the next moment, I’m see a young girl on the north slope of Alaska talking about her family life, speaking words in her own language. The Internet has become an ecosystem of complexity beyond the Amazon rainforest. It is extremely rich, diverse, and true. For me the Internet is a cyclical process of observe, speak, think, listen, think, speak. It leads to no action for me, but it enriches my dreaming mind, and I hope the dreaming minds of the people using it beyond anything that could’ve been anticipated a generation or two ago.