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The Science of Technology Addiction

The Science of Technology Addiction
Mary Moreck
The University of Texas at El Paso
ENGL 1311
4/10/14
Ms. Minal Singh






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The Science of Technology Addiction
Abstract
Today, technology has become problematic in our society. Despite using science and
technology to better our lives, we are the real slaves to technology (Lee). Technology can
make people lazy and be a waste of time. This paper explores how and why technology can
have a negative impact, especially in a physiological sense.












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The Science of Technology Addiction
Technology Addiction and Its Secrets
Technology addiction is rapidly sweeping the world with the recent spike of technology
in the market. It affects not only adults but children as well in many interesting ways. Children
using technology in their first years can actually affect their ability to be creative and
imaginative as well as their senses and motor development (Rowan 2013). This paper provides
background information on what technology addiction is and it explores the science of this
addiction, especially through an example of television hypnosis, and finally, explores whether
technology addiction is considered a medical addiction.
Technology Addiction Background Information
All people have heard of technology addiction; in fact most people can admit to
suffering from a certain degree of it. However, most people do not take technology addiction
seriously, not realizing that regardless of personal opinion, that is a sign of denial. The horrific
reality of technology addiction is too commonly undermined by most of the general public due
to their lack of knowledge of neurological facts of the issue, but luckily there is always that 1%
that seeks more answers. Although technology addiction is still not officially recognized as a
psychiatric diagnosis by the books due to lack of time for sufficient study, luckily certain
people are beginning to realize the limitless potential of damage that technology can have on
the human race with its projected progress.
By defining technology addiction; it is apparent that interpretation of the term varies
from person to person. For the sake of this essay, technology addiction will be the overuse and
abuse of technology. As one can imagine, this addiction has not always been around, in fact,
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The Science of Technology Addiction
it is quite recent due to the recent boom in technology. This technology boom has been
massive, and now according to the International Business Times, a third of the worlds
population now uses technology (Shwayder 2012). This can leave wondering, not even for a
second, how can so much of an entire species be drawn in so deeply to one thing like this? This
research has revealed many hidden mechanisms of technology that one would never imagine of
hearing until going into deep research.
Like cigarettes and gambling, technology addiction is not just some spontaneous thing
that simply happens. Though it may not work like a chemical addiction, technology addiction
actually shows similarities to habitual addictions such as gambling. However, although similar,
there are still many very interesting differences.
Television Hypnosis
Technology addiction is more of a habitual addiction than a chemical addiction because
one gets addicted by the actions of it rather than any chemical ties. There is something called
Television Hypnosis, which is basically an effect that television screens have on our brains
which is uncommonly heard of. Like a blue light at night can cause nightmares, or the color
green can relax you, or even colors like red and yellow can cause a stressful mood, hunger, or
faster eating, there is something about television screens that can put our brain into a certain
state. Nathan Janes explains this to us in his article about Mass Mind Control.
As most people may know, videos are not actually videos; they are simply a motion of
pictures. Similarly, technology interfaces are not constant videos but a collection of images
flickered onto a screen at a certain rate. This is common logic, however what is not common
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The Science of Technology Addiction
logic is that the flicker rate used by television screens actually puts the brain into a certain
subconscious state; essentially building a bridge from the television screen into the
subconscious by changing usual alpha brainwaves into beta brainwaves. In a nutshell, it
essentially puts the left brain to sleep, leaving the right brain dominant. The left brain is the one
that processes thinks logically, while the right brain processes things emotionally so filtering
data through the right brain alone makes one very vulnerable to accepting and remembering
information one logically would not (Remember, our dreams come from our subconscious
thoughts). It is a very cheap shot-y way for advertisers and TV station programmers to feed
people ideas straight into our subconscious. With this idea in mind, it is no surprise why so
much of the human race is literally physiologically drawn in to technology (Janes 2014).
Technology Addiction Controversy
This is a debate about whether technology addiction should have a medical diagnosis or
not. Though there is science behind this idea, many people will still deny it. Technology
addiction is just one of things easily controversial things. There are countless different
arguments about it but it is important to focus on whether technology addiction is a REAL
medical addiction or not. This may burn a giant bridge to the credibility of these ideas that have
been spoken of but yes, its true, technology addiction is not yet included in the Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. However, this is not because of the fact that technology
addiction should not be considered a real addiction, its more about the fact that this is such a
fresh thing that it has yet to have sufficient research made of it (CBCnews 2013).

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The Science of Technology Addiction
How Does One Become Addicted to Technology?
Getting addicted to technology is as easy as getting addicted to gambling or something
of that nature; if anything, even faster since technology is readily available. Initially, there
began a fear of the fact that video games and technology in general can affect someones real-
life behavior but it wasnt long before people were referring to their BlackBerries as
CrackBerries, and parents were beginning to worry about the number of hours their kids spent
on video games(Davidow 2012). This isnt even the scariest part either. With other addictions,
the physical barriers can at least be somewhat controlled but with something like technology
addiction, it is extremely hard to regulate since technology exists in our homes and pockets.
This leads to compulsive behavior which leads into the realm of obsessive compulsive disorder.
By some estimatessome 10 percentof Internet users have become so obsessed with the
Internet that its use is undermining their social relationships, their family, and marriage, and
their effectiveness at work (Davidow 2012). Yesit is that easy to get addicted to technology.
What Can Our Society Do?
Technology addictions future consequences and much undermined. Not a sufficient
amount of people seem to realize that something so simple can be so detrimental to our world.
Beginning with the fact that technology is centered on business in our modern day world, it is
very dangerous to think about the fact that something so terrible and addictive is being
distributed by large businesses. Many Internet companies are quickly learning the neuroscience
techniques that the tobacco industry has long known. People must find it in themselves to find
the courage and devotion in order to save themselves from what could be a very terrible
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The Science of Technology Addiction
upcoming world of addiction. Our society does not want to find itself not being able to have
real-life conversations with other humans in our future so it must turn to help for certain
individuals and others from places that are starting to offer help. A few examples of these
places are the Bradford Regional Medical Center in Pennsylvania, which recently opened for
technologically addicted inpatients, or the reSTART Internet and Technology Addiction
Recovery Program which takes people out into a pleasant naturalistic atmosphere to introduce
them back to everyday human activities.











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The Science of Technology Addiction
References
Davidow, B. (2012, July 18). Exploiting the neuroscience of internet addiction. Retrieved from
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/07/exploiting-the-neuroscience-of-
internet-addiction/259820/
Janes, N. (n.d.). Tv mind-control. Pupaganda.com. Retrieved March 24, 2014, from
http://pupaganda.com/originals/Tv_mind_control.html
Lee, S. (n.d.). 5 ways tech addiction is changing human behaviour. Hongkiatcom RSS.
Retrieved March 24, 2014, from http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/tech-addiction/
"reSTART Center for Technology Sustainability." reSTART Center for Technology Sustainability. N.p., n.d.
Web. 18 Feb. 2014. <http://www.netaddictionrecovery.com>.
Rowan, Cris. "The Impact of Technology on the Developing Child." The Huffington Post.
TheHuffingtonPost.com, 29 May 2013. Web. 21 Apr. 2014.
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cris-rowan/technology-children-negative-
impact_b_3343245.html>.
Shwayder, M. (2012, September 24). One-Third Of World's Population Using Intern Developing Nations
Showing Biggest Gains. International Business Times. Retrieved April 10, 2014, from
http://www.ibtimes.com/one-third-worlds-population-using internet-developing-nations
showing-biggest-gains-795299
Tinker, B. (1970, January 1). Four beds ready to treat Internet addicts. CNN. Retrieved March
24, 2014, from http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/07/health/internet-addiction-treatment-center/
Why internet addiction is a controversial diagnosis - Technology & Science. (2013, March 1).
CBCnews. Retrieved March 24, 2014, from http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/why-internet-
addiction-is-a-controversial-diagnosis-1.1340112