Podcast #35: Ainissa Ramirez

Science evangelist Ainissa Ramirez takes a look at how major technologies have shaped human culture—both intentionally and not.

By Betsy Brunner | June 4, 2020 | Culture, Ethics, Health, Knowledge, Media, Podcasts, Society, Transportation, Well-Being | Attention, Bias, Binary Thinking, Circadian Rhythms, Communications, Community, Consumerism, Control, Coronavirus, Critical Thinking, Diversity, Education, Electric Light, Emotional Reactivity, Empathy, Engineers, History, Imagination, Invention, Inventors, Language, Literature, Memory, Motivation, Non-Verbal Communication, Nuance, Photography, Polarization, Politics, Reading, Science, Self-Empowerment, Self-Identity, Social Media, Speed, STEM, storytelling, Telegraph, Texting, The Alchemy of Us, Trains, Twitter, Unintended Consequences

Now’s the Time to Go Screen-Free

Tired of Zoom calls and virtual meet-ups? Just turn everything off.

By Mo Lotman | April 30, 2020 | Cognition, Community, Family, Society, Well-Being | Attention, Calm, Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, Community, Connection, Focus, Screen Sabbath, Screens

The Transformative Power of Print

College students given an assignment of reading a print book learn about their own habits and the power of concentration.

By Michael Bugeja | July 17, 2019 | Cognition, Education | Accomplishment, Addiction, Attention, College, Comprehension, Concentration, Disruption, Distraction, Focus, Intentionality, Internet, Learning, Reading, Relaxation, Retention, Silence, Smartphones, Tangibility, Texting, Twitter

Podcast #26: Adam Gazzaley on Our Distracted Minds

Neurologist Adam Gazzaley discusses how the brain’s attentional system functions–or doesn’t–when buffeted by digital distraction.

By Mo Lotman | February 6, 2019 | Cognition, Health, Neurology, Podcasts, Psychology, Well-Being | ADHD, Aging, Anxiety, Attending, Attention, Attention Deficit, Boredom, Cognition, Concentration, Depression, Digital Devices, Distraction, Education, Empathy, Enhancement, Exercise, Filtering, Focus, Goals, Habit, Ignoring, Information, Information Foraging Theory, Interference, Marginal Value Theorem, Medicine, Meditation, Memory, Metacognition, Monotasking, Multitasking, Nature, Neurology, Perception, Plasticity, Prefrontal Cortex, Prescribable Video Game Treatment, Psychology, Smartphones, Suppression, The Brain, Therapy, Video Games

Curbing Our Tech Obsession: What, Why, & How

Young people are obsessively checking their phones more every year. Here are some reasons why, and strategies to regain control.

By Larry Rosen | January 30, 2019 | Media, Neurology, Psychology, Relationships, Society, Well-Being | Addiction, Alerts, Android, Anxiety, Apple, Attention, Blue Light, Boredom, Circadian Rhythm, Cues, Depression, Digital Media, Digital Wellness, Distracted Driving, Distraction, FOMO, Google, Information Foraging Theory, Marketing, Metacognition, Nir Eyal, Nomophobia, Obsession, OCD, Psychology, Sleep, Smartphones, Social Media, Social Obligation, Teens, Tim Wu, Young Adults

Podcast #17: Cal Newport on Deep Work

For a computer scientist, Georgetown professor and author Cal Newport is hard to reach via email. But it’s part of his philosophy that focused concentration–so elusive in our overstimulated world–is the key to a better and more rewarding work and personal life.

By Art Keller | March 14, 2018 | Artificial Intelligence, Automation, Cognition, Employment, Ethics, Podcasts, Society | Accessibility, AI, American Girls, Attention, Automation, Boredom, Business, Clarity, Communication, Computer Science, Concentration, Deep Work, Depression, Economy, Effort, Email, Exercise, Extrovert, Flow, Georgetown, Impulse, Impulse Control, Introvert, Jerry Seinfeld, Jobs, Laptops, Learning, Meaning, Multitasking, Open Office Plans, Opportunity Cost, Outsourcing, Overstimulation, Practice, Productivity, Quick Checks, Quiet, Robots, Shallow Work, smart phones, Training

A Message From the Publisher

It’s our 2nd birthday! Publisher Mo Lotman shares a few thoughts about where we’ve come and where The Technoskeptic is going.

By Mo Lotman | February 28, 2018 | Artificial Intelligence, Automation, Community, Economics, Ethics, Government, Media, Philosophy, Privacy, Relationships, Society, Well-Being | Addiction, Amazon, Anxiety, Apple, Attention, Business, Center for Humane Technology, Community, Depression, Disconnection, Economics, Ethics, Facebook, Farhad Manjoo, Google, Microsoft, Opioids, Reality, Roger McNamee, smart phones, Specialization, Suicide, Tristan Harris

Developing Brains Need Socializing, Not Screens

Parents often use digital devices as babysitters, but these devices interrupt the social and physical interactivity needed for healthy brain development.

By Meghan Carron | July 12, 2017 | Cognition, Family, Health, Media, Psychology, Relationships, Society | American Academy of Pediatrics, Attention, Bonding, Brain Development, Children, Communication, Digital Media, Distraction, DNA, Executive Functioning, Fitness, Focus, Interactivity, Nurturing, Parents, Physical Activity, Play, Serve and Return, smart phones, Social Interaction, The Center on the Developing Child

Podcast #12: Bill Powers on Tech Boundaries and Social Media

Journalist and media critic Bill Powers wrote a bestselling book about stepping away from tech; now he’s on the inside trying to make tech better.

By Mo Lotman | June 14, 2017 | Cognition, Health, Journalism, Media, Philosophy, Podcasts, Psychology, Society, Well-Being | Attention, Boundaries, Busyness, Connectedness, Digital Maximalism, Elections, Hamlet's Blackberry, Internet Sabbath, iPhone, Lab for Social Machines, Media Lab, MIT, Newspapers, Policy, Screen Sabbath, smart phones, Tech Sabbath, The Electome, The Internet, The Washington Post, Tim Berners-Lee, Twitter

Podcast #11: Narayan Liebenson on Mindfulness and Attention

Narayan Liebenson, a guiding teacher at the Cambridge Insight Meditation Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts, speaks to us about the benefits of mindfulness and attention. How might smart devices be impacting our ability to be present?

By Mo Lotman | April 12, 2017 | Cognition, Culture, Health, Podcasts, Psychology, Relationships, Well-Being | Addiction, Attention, Buddhism, Cambridge Insight Meditation Center, Compassion, Hungry Ghost, Insight Meditation Society, Meditation, Mindfulness, Noble Eightfold Path, Sanctuary, smart phones, Steadiness, Stillness, The Internet, Wisdom

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