Derek Thompson

And rather than feeling rejuvenated by what is definitionally leisure time, They're actually dopaminergically exhausted. So when their friends say, hey, do you want to come out? Do you want to hang out with me? They think, no, hell no. That requires an adventure in the unknown. I have to get dressed. I have to put on my makeup. I have to do my hair. I have to leave my house.

I have to get in the car. I have to take the subway. That sounds like a bunch of potential misadventures. And I don't have the, what does dopamine do? Gives you drive. I don't have the available biochemical drive to hang out with you right now. So I'm going to say no. I'm actually going to feel great about saying no. And what am I going to do instead? Probably just hang out with my phone.

I have to get in the car. I have to take the subway. That sounds like a bunch of potential misadventures. And I don't have the, what does dopamine do? Gives you drive. I don't have the available biochemical drive to hang out with you right now. So I'm going to say no. I'm actually going to feel great about saying no. And what am I going to do instead? Probably just hang out with my phone.

I have to get in the car. I have to take the subway. That sounds like a bunch of potential misadventures. And I don't have the, what does dopamine do? Gives you drive. I don't have the available biochemical drive to hang out with you right now. So I'm going to say no. I'm actually going to feel great about saying no. And what am I going to do instead? Probably just hang out with my phone.

So in a way, I worry that, and again, this is not fully tested, or maybe it is. I hope people can flush it out.

So in a way, I worry that, and again, this is not fully tested, or maybe it is. I hope people can flush it out.

So in a way, I worry that, and again, this is not fully tested, or maybe it is. I hope people can flush it out.

This is the hypothesis that I hope they respond to. I wonder if we are essentially donating our dopamine to our screens, donating dopamine to the parasocial relationships we have with people through our phone. And as a result, we have less drive to invest in the actual social relationships in our lives, that the dopamine is flowing toward parasociality rather than toward actual sociality.

This is the hypothesis that I hope they respond to. I wonder if we are essentially donating our dopamine to our screens, donating dopamine to the parasocial relationships we have with people through our phone. And as a result, we have less drive to invest in the actual social relationships in our lives, that the dopamine is flowing toward parasociality rather than toward actual sociality.

This is the hypothesis that I hope they respond to. I wonder if we are essentially donating our dopamine to our screens, donating dopamine to the parasocial relationships we have with people through our phone. And as a result, we have less drive to invest in the actual social relationships in our lives, that the dopamine is flowing toward parasociality rather than toward actual sociality.

I don't mean to keep saying to every prompt, I have two thoughts. But I, again, have exactly two thoughts. The first thought is that we know for a fact that the amount of time that teens spend on their phones has gone from, definitionally, something close to zero 30 years ago, to today, about a third of their waking hour. So the typical...

I don't mean to keep saying to every prompt, I have two thoughts. But I, again, have exactly two thoughts. The first thought is that we know for a fact that the amount of time that teens spend on their phones has gone from, definitionally, something close to zero 30 years ago, to today, about a third of their waking hour. So the typical...

I don't mean to keep saying to every prompt, I have two thoughts. But I, again, have exactly two thoughts. The first thought is that we know for a fact that the amount of time that teens spend on their phones has gone from, definitionally, something close to zero 30 years ago, to today, about a third of their waking hour. So the typical...

person, teenager, adult is consciously awake for about a thousand minutes a day. That's kind of interesting. You can think to yourself like every 10 minutes that you spend is therefore 1% of your waking day. And you can say, well, how do I want to spend the next percent? Well, over 300 minutes is is how much the typical teen spends in front of a screen, so a third of their waking life.

person, teenager, adult is consciously awake for about a thousand minutes a day. That's kind of interesting. You can think to yourself like every 10 minutes that you spend is therefore 1% of your waking day. And you can say, well, how do I want to spend the next percent? Well, over 300 minutes is is how much the typical teen spends in front of a screen, so a third of their waking life.

person, teenager, adult is consciously awake for about a thousand minutes a day. That's kind of interesting. You can think to yourself like every 10 minutes that you spend is therefore 1% of your waking day. And you can say, well, how do I want to spend the next percent? Well, over 300 minutes is is how much the typical teen spends in front of a screen, so a third of their waking life.

Just mathematically, it's inevitable that if teens are going to be spending a third of their waking life in front of a screen, the vast majority of that screen time is alone and often at home. And so they're not spending that time with friends in person. Some people could argue that that activity is social after a fashion.

Just mathematically, it's inevitable that if teens are going to be spending a third of their waking life in front of a screen, the vast majority of that screen time is alone and often at home. And so they're not spending that time with friends in person. Some people could argue that that activity is social after a fashion.

Just mathematically, it's inevitable that if teens are going to be spending a third of their waking life in front of a screen, the vast majority of that screen time is alone and often at home. And so they're not spending that time with friends in person. Some people could argue that that activity is social after a fashion.

If they're texting with their friends or calling their friends, but you and I both know, and anyone who's a parent in this show knows, a lot of that time is really just spent, as you said, using the thumb to flick, flick, flick, flick. The second thing I would say is that you've pointed out that...