Inner vs. Outer Technology – The Habit that Destroys our own Pathway to Personal Development

It’s that time of the year when the mind starts to reflect on the year and what lies ahead, especially as it gets dark outside and there is not much to occupy yourself other than work and going home, staying away from the nasty weather. 

One thing I’ve been thinking about a lot is the phenomenon of attention and how most people are having a really hard time really paying attention to themselves and their surroundings. You see it when you take public transport, at work and generally observing close ones. It’s like we’ve all been sucked in by a constant external stimulation and flow of new information. 

What is the consequence of a society that is not present any more, but locked into their tools and gadgets? We become less and less independent and captains of our own ship, so to speak. I think a lot of modern anxiety stems from this very phenomenon – too much abundance at our fingertips and no hard road to get to the things we need for basic survival leads to a sort of unease with oneself, a lack fulfillment. What used to be a struggle to attain for growth and survival has become easily accessible—entertainment, novelty, even human connection. Now, with all these things at our fingertips, we feel anxiety from too much comfort and an inability to rid ourselves from our own social media and phone addictions.

A YouTuber I’ve been following put it succinctly – we have so much outer technology that we have forgotten to use our inner technology. What’s meant by inner technology? Simply put, the ability to stay conscious and aware of your own thoughts, and to direct your focus completely to one task. Ultimately, the tools we have to control our mind, to say no to external stimuli and to allow yourself to find calm in a fast-paced environment. 

What I found about our addiction to outer technology is quite staggering:

• Globally, about 4.8 billion individuals engage with social media, with an estimated 210 million people, or 4%-5% of global users, grappling with social media addiction​​. In the United States, the concern is more pronounced, with approximately 30% of users perceiving themselves as addicted to these platforms​​. European data suggests a similar rate of addiction, though there not as many studies on this topic here.
• European usage varies, with Germans averaging around 2 hours 14 minutes and Portuguese users around 3 hours 34 minutes daily. In the UK, while specific usage data isn't available, the high smartphone ownership among adults aged 16-24 suggests significant use. Similarly, in the U.S., about 46% of Americans estimate their daily usage at 4 to 5 hours. 

Aside from calls and basic communication, there is no reason we should be using our phones that much – but we are too addicted, by design. Big Tech. gamifies apps to increase user time and incentivizes content creators to lock you in longer, so that ad revenue streams continue to flow in abundance. The Big Picture: billions of people sucked into their devices, scrolling, forming habits that are destructive to their own personal development. 

The Big Challenge

Looking at these statistics I can’t help but wonder what it’s like to go cold-turkey on your smart phone – what an unbelievable advantage would one have, how much more focused, productive and ultimately less anxious would one become? Less stimulation means more time and more mental space to organize your thoughts better. 

The ability to drown out noise and focus on your inner state of being is so crucial to high performance on a consistent level, so why are we making it so difficult on ourselves with the use of too much technology?

Let me know what you think, and whether you view technology addiction as problematic as I do! 

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