John Walt

"Your primary contact with God is through your mind, and what you do with your mind is the most important choice you have to make." - Dallas Willard

A friend and mentor of mine shared an interesting thought with me as we discussed the effects that different kinds of content have on us. He pointed out that most of us know we should avoid ultra-processed, sugar-filled junk food because it isn't good for our bodies. We need to treat the content we consume the same way. Do we want real content that strengthens our minds or ultra-processed content that makes us feel good for a second but ultimately leaves us worse off? Are we addicted to the sugar-filled content that fills social and news feeds, or are we craving nutrient-dense content like books? We should be just as aware of the content we feed our mind as we are of the food we feed our body. It is becoming harder and harder for most people to want to engage with healthy content because the platforms they use have rewired their brains to crave sugar-filled, ultra-processed content.

In the last note, we looked at how the technology we use is designed to exploit weaknesses in human psychology. Now, I would like to look at how these systems affect us. We live in a new world that our minds were not designed for, and it impacts every part of our lives.

How this impacts us

The technology we use and the content we consume shape our thinking. This is because the thoughts we have, over and over, become patterns of thinking. Those patterns of thinking end up shaping our beliefs about ourselves, others and the life we live. Our thoughts shape our beliefs and our beliefs drive our actions.

If you want to change your life, the best place to start is changing your thoughts. Most of us feel that our thoughts are not something we are in control of, but that is simply not true. We are in control of our minds, but in a communication and information saturated world, it is hard to believe. The tools of the modern world are increasingly designed to influence our thoughts and actions. How can we change our thinking without recognizing what is shaping our thoughts?

I would like to briefly look at how our new digital world impacts our thought patterns and eventually drives our behavior in the real world.

We are built for community‍

Humans are fundamentally communal. We care about our social standing within our tribe, and almost everyone is constantly evaluating where they stand in relation to the people around them. This served us very well when we lived in small tribes, settlements and towns. The problem is we aren't in small communities anymore. We are now evaluating our social standing with too many people in unrealistic ways. The thinking that once helped drive us to become healthy contributors and leaders in our communities is now leading us to pursue lives that are not in our best interest.

British anthropologist Robin Dunbar theorized in the 1990's that humans could only maintain relationships with 150 people. Hunter-gather societies, Roman legions, effective businesses, and modern social networks seem to validate Dunbar's Number. Social media has not increased our capacity for relationships. It has simply made it possible for us to maintain large numbers of "weak ties." So much of the time, we are evaluating what strangers think of us and comparing ourselves to people we don't really know.

Instant gratification

Technology is engineered to make it as easy as possible for you to get what you want. Want a ride somewhere here is Uber, want a movie to watch while you ride, here is Netflix. But most technology doesn't stop there. These tools are built to give you as much as they can of what you want as quickly as possible. Like that cat video on YouTube? Here are 3 million more videos you will like. This has fueled a Western subconscious cultural expectation that we should get what we want when we want it. Now this is driving the evolution of consumerism, Amazon and many other companies are taking instant gratification from the digital world to the real world. Order something and get it the same day or the next day. Feeling lonely, just swipe right to find tonight's date.

The lie of instant gratification hurts us in so many ways. The best things in life take time and are not instantly gratifying. The overuse of technology and media can keep us from pursuing the most important things in life by shaping our thought patterns to expect that we should get what we want when we want it. This leads so many people to give up on meaningful pursuits because they take too much time and focus.

Decreased attention span

New research shows that we as people have been losing our ability to focus for the last 130 years. There seems to be a direct connection between the amount of information available to us and a decline in our ability to focus. It's easy to feel like this is just a problem the next generation has, but it affects all of us. Research shows that adult office workers switch tasks every 3 minutes. On average, these office workers are wasting 40% of their time because they can't focus. The average CEO only has 28 minutes a day of uninterrupted focus. We are addicted to distraction because the things we give our time and attention to are rewiring our brains to want more stimulation.

Social Values

Technology and media are also playing a big role in the deterioration of traditional social values. This is a big topic that I will cover in another note. For now, what we need to consider is what are the values being displayed to us through the content we engage with? When we scroll, what is most of the content saying to us? Is it prioritizing what matters most in life? Or is it reshaping our view of reality through an algorithm-driven lie and telling us we should believe it is real?

Cultural Narcissism

The new digital world is constantly influencing our expectations and desires. Technology is designed to help us create our own reality, built around our needs and desires. Our digital world lulls us into thinking we are the center of our universe and meeting our needs and satisfying our desires is the purpose of our life… Narcissism is when a person's attention turns in only on themselves and their ego. Our new digital world is breeding narcissism in all of us.

Cultural Lies Amplified

Western culture tells us bigger and more is better. We define success by scale, not quality. We compare ourselves to everybody else and decide what matters to us is based on what other people have and want. Our sense of identity is tied up in what other people think about us and what we can accomplish. We attach our purpose to what we can accumulate, not what and who we love. But this is true on a smaller scale as well. Our culture informs our thinking and validates that we should care what people think about us and that we are a failure if we don't have the right clothes, cars, toys, and trips. So much of this happens on a subconscious level. We are not aware of the things around us that shape our thinking and worldview because we have been marinated in them for so long.

Our addiction to content amplifies the influence these lies have on us. Our social and news feeds usually reinforce the lies that we need more, we need better, and quite simply… we are not enough. Then we are offered ads and promotions promising to help us feel successful, fulfilled, happy, peaceful, attractive, or loved. Everywhere we look, our culture is selling us lies and if we aren't careful, we will likely start to believe them in one way or another.

My experience

When I first started meeting with Scott, he would always say to me, "Remember you have been baked in the world's way of thinking your entire life, and it takes time to un-bake your mind." At the time I cared a lot about achieving success as the world defines it. I wanted to make hundreds of millions, have a private plane, and work with world leaders. My heart desired something real, though, and I couldn't see at the time that those things were just noise and distraction. Most people who chase that kind of wealth and influence trade their health, families, and peace in order to achieve it. Then they want to buy those things back, but it's too late because health, love and family can’t be bought.

It wasn't just my desire for wealth and influence that had been shaped by the modern world's way of thinking. I also felt I should work too much, constantly be in a hurry and always have a clear plan for where I am going with my career. Scott helped me to let go of those lies. Usually, overworking and stress-filled hurry distract us from focusing on what matters. When I learned to slow down and let go of control, my mind became clearer. When we hurry, we do not have time to think and real growth requires lots of deep thinking. I am now convinced that the best way to limit a person's effectiveness in life is to take away their ability and time to think deeply.

"Thinking deeply must be the hardest thing in the world because so few people do it." - Scott Dohner

When you go on a transformation journey, you begin to realize that many of your desires are largely not your own. They have subconsciously been shaped by the culture around you and reinforced constantly through the content we engage with. Look at the houses people live in, the cars they buy, the clothes they wear, the trips they go on. Is it really their desires, or are they often giving their life energy to pursue what their culture tells them they should want? I used to think I wanted houses all over the world that I could jet to whenever I wanted. Un-baking my mind helped me to recognize that what I crave isn't luxury, it is wilderness. Give me mountains and I don't care where I sleep. Excessive wealth and luxury feed the ego, but the wilderness feeds the sole.

When I unplugged from the world of addictive content and technology, I had significantly less people to compare myself to. I became way more content with my life. I started to get clearer on what I really wanted instead of just wanting what others had and made look so awesome. It became so much easier for me to let go of my unhealthy desire for success. But I think, most importantly, I have had more time to strengthen my ability to focus on meaningful things, think deeply, and learn. I have given my time and energy to growing in my craft, learning new things and being with my family.

Now, I have a clearer picture of what is actually happening when we stare into our palms and participate in the new digital world. It is not the world we were made for. It will not help us become who we were created to be, regardless of how many motivational videos we watch or podcasts we listen to. Real growth requires time, mental clarity and deep thinking.

- John Walt

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