The battle for attention

At the end of 2023 as I was preparing to finish my bachelor's in psychology, I began the process of writing a capstone project, a sort of mini research assignment to showcase what I had learned. Because of my interest in cognitive psychology and my sincere hate for social media platforms, I presented a capstone that highlighted the negative effects of doomscrolling.

Now at age 32, I've found myself unable to watch a tv show, follow a conversation, and finish reading a book chapter -something that I truly loved for many years-. I feel that there is a connection between how much I can absorb and the time I spend consuming both long and short content online. This morning, I observed how I use the majority of my days: My screentime revealed that I have spent from 3 to 5 hours a day on my phone. If you add working hours (8) and study time at night (3) those are almost 14 hours of screen time.

How can we attend everything and nothing at once? what kind of evolutionary conundrum we have found in 2026?

I used to praise my moments of boredom. Going to a cafe and judging people's outfits in Central Park. Thinking about plans for my day, reaching out to a friend and having dinner. I cannot remember the last time I went out with friends, and now at 32, friendship takes a whole other meaning. I guess my parents are now my friends, and my boyfriend is my bestie.

Jokes aside, this process of having our eyes glued to a screen has slowly but surely taken tiny bits of our time. Should I call this a 'phone addiction' when even work apps are also on my phone? when I have to utilize authentication systems that pull me back in? Chores have become a nuisance; cooking can be avoided if you have enough money.

We have all become 'useful' consumers. We feed data into our AI's, we do google searches, and cookies and other systems are constantly gathering information about what we do, what we like, and what we consume. The process, thereafter, is to utilize that information to keep you hooked, and keep you paying.

The time disruption has other ramifications. Moments in which we are supposed to make crucial life decisions (i.e. financial) are taken from us, we don't read the terms and conditions, we skim through, and we are willing to pay the extra fee for our own distraction.

The reason why AI companies are so successful is because technology has us in a chokehold. We don't even know what we do at the end of our days, and even if we have the technology to track our time, we are scared to find out how much of our life at the end of the year was sucked by 'content'. I am obviously guilty of filling my boredom with YouTube videos, tricking myself, truly believing that I am learning something when in fact, I am not gathering any 'life changing' advice.

What is the point of having an AI technology that can gather all the knowledge available if we utilize it to reduce our own cognitive effort? Are we transferring brain processing into computing capacity? why would I want to have all of that power if it is truly not helping humanity?

My understanding is that during evolution all species developed adaptations to survive. We live in a time where companies are racing for AI, investing millions to have the latest and most advanced technology. The cost of this is that human cognition will become a byproduct of computing power. The more time we are willing to rescind to technology, the more we build up that 'power'.

As I am writing this, I am having a hard time gathering ideas. When I turned on the computer this morning, my first instinct was to open my browser or the computer's AI. In this sense, any act that truly engages the brain into deep cognitive processes, away from the screen, may be accounted as rebellious. What is the machine going to do when we don't feed it? what are the corporations going to do when we stop buying?

Unfortunately, entire economic systems depend on that screen-eye attachment. I can't help but wonder, what matters most? the systems that keep us hooked? or our individual sense of humanity? I rather advocate for the latter.