WB031: Brain Rot
I recently watched a two-part documentary produced by CNA Insider called No Screen, No Life.
CNA Insider is a Channel News Asia ("CNA") program that produces good long-form investigative videos on current affairs and topics. These videos are uploaded to CNA Insider's YouTube channel.
No Screen, No Life follows the journey of five Singaporean teenagers going on a 10-day smartphone detox. For 10 days, the teens' smartphones are locked in a box. A basic Nokia "dumb phone" is given as a substitute.
Brothers Jairus (17) and Way (16) are the main characters, along with their parents - Singaporean public personalities Darren and Evelyn. The other three teenagers - Jermaine, Fara and Edly - were selected by CNA following a casting call.
These teenagers each average between six & 15 hours (!!) of smartphone usage per day. Majority of their time is spent on social media, games and chatting apps. The teenagers acknowledge excessive smartphone usage is a problem impacting their studies and lives.
Unfortunately, like most addictions, the urge is quite difficult to control.
It's no wonder the Singaporean government is actively studying how to curb social media usage for underage users. Australia has already taken the lead in this, being the first in the world to ban under-16's from using social media platforms.
We are slaves to our digital devices
Watching these teenagers struggling about their daily lives sans smartphone was amusing. It did, however, surface the inconvenient fact that the smartphone has become an indispensable part of our daily lives.
From using Google Maps to find the most efficient route from A to B, to using WhatsApp to plan a social gathering with friends. Not to mention "doom-scrolling" on social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram.
We have stealthily become slaves to these portable devices.
On average, I only spend between two and four hours a day on my smartphone, yet I am sure the same "smartphone detox" pain points these kids suffered will befall me. I then wondered what intellectually stimulating activities I get up to on my smartphone, and realised, "not much".
The brain, though not a muscle, needs to be intellectually stimulated, not stimulated for amusement purposes. Otherwise, I believe "brain rot" - the 2024 Oxford Word of the Year - will start to set in.
This might explain why these days, I find it more difficult to process and retain information. I also have a shorter concentration span when reading books or doing work; worse still, I am becoming more forgetful.
Is the solution simply to dispense with the smartphone and opt for a dumb phone?
As tempted as this sounds, I don't think so. And this is more to do with smartphone apps being essential for tasks like two-factor authentication and taking photos on the go.
Perhaps a concerted effort needs to be made to ensure smartphone usage is the exception in our daily lives, rather than the norm.
This must be possible because in the pre-smartphone era, we survived just fine. And I think it's a matter of being more comfortable slowing our lives down a little, needing to be less connected in real-time and being OK in slowly taking the time to figure things out rather than seeking immediate answers.
Where there is a will, there must be a way.
A quality government mouthpiece
Side note: CNA is a major Singapore broadcasting network owned by Mediacorp, which is in turn owned by the Singapore government. The latter also owns another media company called Singapore Press Holdings ("SPH"), publisher of The Straits Times newspaper.
Despite being a government-owned entity, I feel CNA produces content that is more objective and less "scripted", as compared to SPH's content.
Of late, another CNA Insider series I have enjoyed is The Assembly, where neurodivergent individuals are given the chance to conduct no-holds-barred interviews with famous Singaporean personalities, such as Minister for Health Ong Ye Kung.
Putting aside the fact all media content is scripted to push a certain agenda, I think CNA Insider's producers did a really good job with this series.
--Ends
