We are continuing our Blog series on Digital Addiction. In this blog article I specifically want to draw attention to the reality of being “ADDICTED.” To show you the magnitude of this industry understand that companies are spending approximately $7 trillion annually on studying how to attract you deeper and deeper into the digital world. That is a staggering amount of money. For additional insight I am linking the 60 Minutes program on Brain Hacking. Take the time to review this program.

I find it interesting that only Silicon Valley and Drug Dealers refer to other people as “USERS.” Tristan Harris, a former Google Ethicist stated of the digital engineers that they are Tabaco farmers in t-shirts not just trying to get your lungs, they want your soul. It is an understatement to say that we are literally overwhelmed by push notifications, chirps, burps, and chimes.

Is it any wonder the Millennials and Gen-Z-ers are without a doubt the most digitally connected and the loneliest of all generational groups? Perhaps we have been hacked and we are addicts. The first step of recovery is to admit that we are addicts. We regulate by age the use of Tabaco and alcohol, but not dopamine and cortisol. To my non-profit collogues who prepare weekly teaching and sermon materials, I caution to us regarding the over-worked mind that has been hit by dopamine and cortisol multiple times daily. Is our mind clear? Are we writing and delivering our thoughts from a context silence and solitude? If our message is not compelling, all of the digital technology in the world will not compensate.