Do you have a constant urge to check your email, your Twitter stream, your Facebook or your G+ account? Has it become a compulsive behaviour that verges on being uncontrollable?!
Well ….. the next time you reach for your iPhone, iPad or the keypad on your laptop or computer, you just might want to consider the words of David Linden, a Professor of Neuroscience, who suggests that our addiction to modern electronic messaging is hard wired into us!
Uncertainty and our pre-disposition for liking it”, Linden concludes, “is central to the addictive pleasurable quality of modern electronic messaging.”
Addiction to Social Networking is an issue that has figured strongly in my recent reading. Just this week I caught up on a post – On the seventh day I logged off – by Judith Way on her insightful blog Way Forward, in which she questions the amount of time she spends on social networking. Her reference to Continuous Partial Attention brought out a smile of recognition to my face! I’ve been very conscious of late of doing this more and more – and I really don’t like it! I’ve also seen more than one video lately which questions addiction to Social Networking and the joy experienced by letting go, just a little, so as to enjoy life.
A by-product of watching this video has been discovering the cool website of Big Think. If you haven’t come across this site yet, it’s well worth it. With zillions of short videos, it seems to be somewhat similar to TED.
