Digitally distracted? There’s another reason we keep checking our smartphones
Who doesn’t spend more time on smartphones scrolling, clicking and surfing than they’re willing to admit? The most popular explanation is that it’s the fault of companies like Google and Meta. They manipulate users by using algorithms that encourage addiction to their platforms. In a study published in ‘Neuroscience of Consciousness’(opens in new window), philosopher Jelle Bruineberg from the University of Copenhagen takes some of the heat off these big corporations. He suggests that the reason we can’t put our phones down is because of the fundamental human desire for novelty.
It’s novelty we crave
The brain craves novelty, and checking our phones fulfils the need. “When we get this inner urge to check our email or the latest notifications on Facebook, it is not because we are overwhelmed by information; often, we are not even engaging with our mobile phone when the urge comes,” Asst Prof. Bruineberg explained in a news release(opens in new window). “But the action of checking our phone affords us easy access to a very satisfying reward: a piece of novel information. This craving for novelty is, according to cognitive neuroscience, a basic aspect of the way our minds work.” He further elaborated: “Digital technologies provide us with the means to achieve this reward with hardly any effort. We only need to move a couple of fingers around on our phone. … It is the combination of effortless access and changing content, that makes us so susceptible to develop ‘checking habits’.”
One of the most valuable resources of the digital age
Asst Prof. Bruineberg questions the attention economy. This approach is made up of anything trying to capture our limited attention. Attention isn’t only a resource, but a currency. More attention means more sales. “The idea I put forward in this article is that there is a profound mismatch between the way our minds work and the structure of modern digital technologies. But it is not about us getting swamped by loads of information,” he added. “What it boils down to is that we – and our minds – are not equipped to deal with environments that allow for frictionless engagement and task-switching, practically infinite amounts of easily available novelty and rewards,” concluded Asst Prof. Bruineberg. “And the only way to counter this development is to heavily constrain our digital environments. For example, receiving emails only twice a day guarantees that there is no novelty to be found in your inbox in between those moments. 50 years from now, we probably look back [sic] in horror at how complex and unconstrained our current digital environments are.”