Are Computers Psychotropic Substances
Warning
digital addiction and information addiction are nothing new. Still, millions suffer from them, and even I'm not free from them. Maybe it's time to switch tactics and define computers as psychotropic substances. The California Rules of Court defines them like this.
Psychotropic medication means medications that affect the central nervous system to treat psychiatric disorders or illnesses.
That definition only covers medication, but interactions with a computer clearly trigger its core components too. A few observations.
Devices.
Fancy interfaces make things addictive.
Vibrant colors, popping vibrations, smooth Animation, and constant notifications relentlessly demand our attention.
Try accessibility features like Color Filters (grayscale), Reduce Motion, and Disable Vibration, plus Screen Time, Notification Summary, and Do Not Disturb, to control your device's addictive nature.
Services.
Call it designing dependencies.
Services use several psychological strategies to increase their revenues.
Likes and comments, viral content, infinite scroll, autoplay, personalized feeds.
Potential's "Attention Setting" Proposal (archived here) suggests potential solutions for platform operators.
The phone is so accessible and the program can't be modified, so you use the service the way the provider wants.
On a computer, actively use extension programs to control invasive addiction manipulations.
Hanlon's Razor. Hanlon's Razor applies to digital addiction. Some people intentionally design services to be addictive, but they're only looking for a myopic solution to increase service retention and revenue, not acting out of some grand malice to encroach on human thinking. They're just stupid. Even Facebook later figured that making the platform less addictive is better in the long run.
Addictions.
Addictions aren't self-curable.
Addicts can't tell they're addicts.
They just get by on their daily dose.
If you see someone having trouble with digital devices, let them know and suggest a deeper investigation into the issue.
And if your own screen time feels problematic, it isn't too late to crawl out of the abyss.
Investigate and react proactively before it's too late.
But you're a Computer Scientist?
Some may claim I'm falsely accusing digital devices, like, "How arrogant you do not wish the endless development of computing civilization when you're making a living out of it? How dare you!" But a Noumenon itself and a Noumenon's fanatical destructive nature deserve to be considered separately. I often make an analogy to nuclear power. Nuclear scientists are fascinated by the power of atoms, but that doesn't mean they blindly support the destructiveness of atomic bombs. Same here. Engineers attracted to computer science must not blindly support the silent invasion of machines that slowly erode human thinking.
All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone.
-- Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)