In the past decade, we’ve come to a new reality: What’s on your phone is almost certain to be more immediately engaging than any person or situation in front of you. And when you’re on your phone, you’re elsewhere.
Your craving for distraction grows as you indulge it. Distractedness leads to more negligent indulgence, and on and on. When you’re caught in a stimulation loop, you’re less capable of doing the good shit you want to do — good shit being listening, learning, connecting, playing, solving, etc.
The more distracted you are, the less you’ll feel the big, meaningful life happening right in front of you (the messiness of which is often why you seek distraction in the first place).
To maintain agency, you must constantly interrogate the triggers and addictions that disrupt your presence.
“Being online is equivalent to living in the past.”
Ling Ma