Faster and faster

We’re tethered to our smartphones, tablets and computers. We leave our phones in plain sight during bedtime stories, holiday gatherings with relatives, you name it – ignoring the fact that there is a human being spending time with us. But it is 2014, and your everyday life involves technology – for work, for social life, for school. But how do we know when we’ve gone too far- and if we are indeed addicted? How does this technology change us- and how much?

We will speak to Dr. Michael Rich and Dr. Stephanie Brown. Dr. Rich is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and Associate Professor of Society, Human Development, and Health at Harvard School of Public Health. His current areas of health research and clinical work bring together his experience and expertise in medicine and media, making him the world’s first “Mediatrician.” In this role, he uses scientific evidence about the powerful positive and negative effects of media to advise children and those who care for them, on how to use media in ways that optimize their development.

Dr. Stephanie Brown is an addictions therapist who directs the Addictions Institute in Silicon valley. She has been studying addiction behavior for 35 years, and theorizes that we must treat our addiction to speed and technology the same way we treat drug and alcohol addiction: by taking it one day at a time. She is the author of Speed: Facing Our Addictions to Fast and Faster and Overcoming Our Fear of Slowing Down.

NY Times article referenced in the show »

“I forgot my phone” — Charlene deGuzman / YouTube