Best of Week 4/18

During this past week, we have discussed many different subjects in class. Whether it was during this week or a couple weeks previous, the discussion on how technology is running our lives really stuck with and impacted me. How we are practically attached to our cell phones and how we get dopamine rushes in the brain each time that little red one pops on Facebook or each time you receive a text message. We have become addicted to this dopamine and depend on it to make us happy and to feel a sense of self-worth. Without it, we become antsy, impatient, unable to sit through a 10 minute Youtube video or unable to read an interesting newspaper article or disinterested in class lectures. Our minds are always focused on getting this dopamine that we are always checking our phones and other mobile devices for signs of activity to get us excited. I notice this in myself, actually quite often unfortunately. The other day, I decided to watch one of my favorite childhood movies, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, the one with Ivan Ooze (aka, the best one) and all throughout watching, I was constantly checking the internet and alternating between the many websites I am hooked on. Before I knew it, the film was over and I did not remember even watching it.  Sad? I know. But this isn't the only case. When reading books assigned from English at home, I catch myself checking my phone during each chapter break or even pauses in the page. Why can't I just sit through a full chapter, say 20 pages, without feeling cut off from the lives of friends or the internet world?