By Sela Renares
It is human to become addicted to something - and whether that addiction is good or bad does not matter, for it can still lead to an unhealthy obsession that becomes prioritized over your day-to-day lifestyle. Like many others, I, too, get easily addicted to things - whether it be a book series or a game in the app store. Fortunately, I can recognize when I am becoming too dependent on it, and find it easy to let go. Sadly, many others do not have that restraint, to the point where it becomes a need for their lifestyle. Many in our time have faced this fault in society’s addiction to technology.
Those who are aware of the addiction to technology, seem to think it is as simple as how our brains are wired. Our phones provide us with entertainment, as well as technological rewards: likes on a post, in-game coins, leveling up. These rewards make us feel good, thus producing the chemical, dopamine. This mass production of dopamine is created through the technology at our finger-tips - which is why many are found to be dependent on their phones. However, it is not just dopamine and feel-good chemicals that are infiltrating our brains.
It can no longer be seen as an emotional dependency, where it is simply dopamine messing with our heads, but has turned into society's dependence on its use. While many of us seem to have this understanding, we still do not have the willpower to toss away every ounce of technology in our lives, for it is our bridge to our world: it is how we stay connected.
This simple need for connection is where that third-party infiltrator comes in - manipulation. The Social Dilemma is the idea that we are encouraged and manipulated to do things that are initially fed to us through the media. An example being how the Facebook algorithms work - say I believe chocolate is better than vanilla, and I will express my opinion through posting about it and only liking posts that agree with my opinion. The algorithm will create a feed designed to encourage my beliefs - how chocolate is much better than vanilla - and will proceed to show me how horrible vanilla is. You see, it is not your everyday manipulator that is creating these ideas in your head - but more of an encourager who will only ever agree with you.
The Facebook algorithm is not the only questionable influencer on the media, for there are others out there that are subtly controlling us and our beliefs. Unfortunately, I am only able to briefly cover the idea behind the dilemma. For more information, watch the 2020 documentary, The Social Dilemma.
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