In chapter 27, the researchers compare technology to food, we crave it and I completely agree. When our phones ding, it releases dopamine in our reward center in our brains. When I get a text, I feel very happy because my brain is releasing dopamine into my brain. But because of that, when my phone stays quiet, I feel lonely because there is no stimulation to release the dopamine and that is scary. We look at our phones to provide a connection with people to bring us happiness. Media is very distracting to me. I constantly am checking Snapchat to watch other people’s stories or to see if someone snapped me. I hate that I look to my phone to feel more connected with people, but I won’t stop because it connects me with my friends from back home that I can’t see everyday and it does make me feel closer to them. It usually can take me a long time to finish an assignment because I always take little breaks to go on my phone and its annoying, but sometimes I don’t even realize that I stopped working to check my phone. It is like I’m unconscious to what I’m doing until 10 minutes later and I remember I had homework to finish. It’s scary to think about that and how easy it is for my phone to control me.
Our Digital Planet