The quiet cost of constant scrolling

I have always been a fan of Ben Sasse.

He was a professor and a former senator from Nebraska and most recently the president of the University of Florida as well as an author. For years, he has been writing about tribalism, loneliness and the impact of social media on our lives. A few years ago, I read his book "Them," which incorporated many of these themes and warnings.

Sasse has been open about his recent diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. Most recently, he gave a speech at the Manhattan Institute upon receiving the Alexander Hamilton Award. That speech was adapted for an opinion piece that ran in the Wall Street Journal. It is poignant to listen to someone facing his own mortality, reflecting on friendship and our connection to one another in the age of Artificial Intelligence and social media. Like me, he is optimistic about the impact of AI but recognizes its risks. One of the themes of his speech is that we must strive to keep "the habits of humanity."

Increasingly, we go through life with earbuds in and eyes down as we look at our gadgets walking down the street. All the downtime we used to have has been filled with screen time. Now there is no such thing as boredom. It has been replaced with scrolling, which stifles the opportunity to connect with our surroundings and the people we used to interact with. Boredom has value. We should appreciate looking out the window more. Or going for a walk, leaving the phone behind.

The University of Arizona found that since 2005, Americans have been speaking 338 fewer words per day per year, resulting in thousands of fewer spoken words. Less conversation with friends, family, neighbors, and even strangers. Researchers have also found that we now move faster through public places. One wonders if those two trends are connected.

I don't exactly practice what I am preaching here in my own life. A while back, friends of ours picked us up to head out to dinner. I tapped my pockets, and a flash of panic came over me as I realized I had forgotten my phone. Sensing my twitching, our friends offered to turn around and go back home so I could grab it. After a couple of cleansing breaths, I said no, I think I'm going to be OK. I should be able to make it through a few hours without my digital crutch.

We had a lovely, relaxing evening focused on one another's company. It felt like my blood pressure went down a few points as well by being “sans phone.” I'm a work in progress when it comes to putting down the phone. Some days are better than others.

I was chatting with a friend at the dog park and shared my revelation about my semi-addiction and concern about what I might be missing out on. She shared a recent experience of hers. She walked past a neighbor on the street who had his earbuds in as he walked home from the train. She said hi, and he mouthed hello, nodded, and kept walking. She had wanted to tell him a touching story about one of his children she had the pleasure of crossing paths with recently but missed the opportunity to connect.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not anti-technology; I am a big consumer. But I wonder if these amazing devices that connect us all globally may be making us less connected locally. It seems like fewer people have time to say good morning to you as you pass them on the street in our little town. I miss that. Now it’s a little more NYC than Mayberry.

Communities are built or maintained through thousands of small moments of connectedness and being present in the moment. We need to do our best not to lose that. Maybe the challenge going forward is that these devices are tools to help us rather than barriers that separate us.

Don Scott is a candidate for Town Supervisor in Bedford. He can be reached at dbscott@gmail.com.