collabfund-com-t6hosi.txt (16302B)
1 [1] 2 [2]Blog 3 4 • [3]About 5 • [4]Portfolio 6 • [5]Shared Future 7 • [6]SOS 8 • [7]LP 9 • [8]Blog 10 11 • [10]About 12 • [11]Portfolio 13 • [12]Shared Future 14 • [13]SOS 15 • [14]LP 16 • [15]Blog 17 18 [16]Follow @collabfund 19 20 My Month Without a Smartphone 21 22 Jun 9, 2024 23 ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 24 SHARE ↓ 25 26 by [17]Ted Lamade [18]@collabfund 27 28 • [19] 29 • [20] 30 • [21] 31 • Copy Link 32 33 Guest post by Ted Lamade, Managing Director at The Carnegie Institution for 34 Science 35 36 On a rainy morning earlier this spring, I pulled my car out of our driveway to 37 take my seven-year-old son to school. After shifting from reverse into drive, I 38 looked at my phone to listen to a podcast on Spotify. Then it happened. He said 39 it. 40 41 “Dad, why do you have to look at your phone SO much?” 42 43 Dagger. 44 45 I knew it was coming. It was only a matter of time. Whether I was texting, 46 emailing, or aimlessly flipping through Twitter, I had noticed him glaring at 47 me recently while doing so. 48 49 With my car stuck between the driveway and the street as rain pelted my front 50 windshield, I was equally stuck trying to respond. Eventually I muttered some 51 lame explanation in a pathetic attempt to defend the indefensible. 52 53 I peered into the rearview mirror to see if he had bought it. 54 55 He hadn’t. 56 57 The look on his face said it all. 58 59 I pulled the car back into the driveway, turned around, and asked him plainly, 60 61 “Does it seem like I am ALWAYS on my phone?” 62 63 He replied, 64 65 “Well, not ALL the time, but a lot of the time. Why do you have to look at it 66 so much?” 67 68 Want to know what stung the most? 69 70 It was that he didn’t seem mad. It was worse. He just seemed disappointed. 71 72 After repeatedly telling him and his brother to get off their iPads, TV, and 73 other devices, here he was telling me to do the same. 74 75 Like the dad who gets called out for using drugs himself in the 1980’s War 76 Against Drugs [22]commercial, I was the definition of a hypocrite. 77 78 The question was, what was I going to do about it? 79 80 I told him I would look at it less, keep it in my room when I was home, and not 81 bring it downstairs. I stayed true to my word….for about a week. Then this 82 discipline broke down and like someone on a crash diet, I reverted to my old 83 ways. Back to the phone, back to aimlessly flipping, back to my son glaring at 84 me. 85 86 Then I read Jonathan Haidt’s book, “The Anxious Generation”. If you haven’t 87 heard of it, here is the [23]link. Buy it. 88 89 If you don’t see yourself reading a book, try reading this article by Haidt 90 titled, “End the Phone Based Childhood Now” ([24]link). 91 92 If you’re simply not a reader, listen to this podcast by Bari Weiss, 93 “Smartphones Rewired Childhood: Here is how to fix it.” Here is that [25]link. 94 95 All three are eye opening. 96 97 In short, Haidt argues that smartphones and social media are rewiring our kids’ 98 brains, which is making them the most distracted, depressed, and fragile 99 generation in history. 100 101 This shouldn’t come as a surprise given that the companies behind smartphones 102 and apps are highly incentivized to keep us glued to them. Just look at what 103 Sean Parker, the first president at Facebook, said about the company’s 104 strategy, 105 106 “We wanted to exploit a vulnerability in human psychology. To do so, the apps 107 needed to provide a little dopamine every once and a while to keep you hooked. 108 Me, Mark Zuckerberg, Kevin Systrom (Instagram’s founder), and others knew this 109 and we did it anyway. God only knows what it’s doing to our kids.” 110 111 They knew smartphones were the perfect mechanism for delivering dopamine and 112 somehow convinced parents to willingly provide them to their kids during the 113 most formative part in their lives. 114 115 The results are more than troubling, especially considering smartphones and 116 social media arrived on the scene rough a decade-and-a-half ago. 117 118 From a mental health perspective, the correlation is hard to dispute. 119 120 Screenshot 2024-06-09 at 3.45.44 PM.png 121 122 Gen Z’s reading and math scores also began to decline around the same time ( 123 [26]Nation’s Report Card), while many reports indicate that this generation is 124 shyer, more risk averse, and less ambitious than previous generations. 125 126 Are smartphones and social media 100% to blame? 127 128 Maybe, maybe not, but it sure feels like they are at least a significant part 129 of the problem. 130 131 Knowing this, and recognizing that I have two young boys who are going to be 132 begging for smartphones in a couple years, I asked myself, 133 134 “How am I supposed to tell them that they can’t get one if I am on mine all the 135 time?” 136 137 So, I did something a bit odd — I went out and bought a flip phone. 138 139 That’s right, a flip phone. This is it. 140 141 Screenshot 2024-06-09 at 3.45.53 PM.png 142 143 Anyone over the age of 40 remembers it. Basic screen, grainy pictures, no 144 email, no apps, multiple clicks to text one letter, and most importantly, no 145 social media. 146 147 When I turned it on for the first time, it felt like traveling back in time. 148 149 I used it for a month and here are my biggest takeaways: 150 151 1. I was significantly less distracted 152 Think about the last time you were waiting in line for lunch, to catch the 153 subway, or at a stoplight. Did you reach for your phone? How about the last 154 time you were out to dinner. Did you check a text when someone you were with 155 went to the bathroom, or worse, in the middle of your conversation? You have. 156 We all have. A flip phone liberated me from this.\ 157 158 2. I could focus for longer periods of time 159 I was able to truly concentrate. This meant doing things like reading long-form 160 articles and books, working on projects, and writing without being distracted 161 by a meaningless alert. 162 163 3. I was more aware 164 Not having a smartphone myself enabled me to observe how many people walk, or 165 even drive, around with their phones eight inches from their faces – on the 166 subway, in the elevator, at red lights, on the sidewalks, and even crossing 167 busy intersections. The more I noticed this, the more I realized how bizarre it 168 is. In fact, I kept thinking to myself, if someone took a decades-long nap like 169 Rip Van Winkle and woke up today, what in the world would they make of this 170 phenomenon? 171 172 4. I was bored more often 173 I was bored a lot, but you know what? I actually enjoyed it. Being bored forces 174 you to think and to “be in your own head”, which are both incredibly 175 refreshing. As a friend reminded me, our generation used to be bored all the 176 time as kids, especially during things like long car rides and you know what we 177 did? We invented and created ways to entertain ourselves. Our kids could use 178 more of this. Hell, all of us could. 179 180 5. I found that some ignorance can be bliss 181 Humans are not meant to have instant access to so much information. Yet, due to 182 smartphones, we do, which is creating a “[27]filtering effect”. As a result, we 183 are gravitating to extremes — reading about wars in far flung places is making 184 us more fearful back home, seeing reports of rare child abductions is causing 185 parents to restrict their kids’ freedom to wander even the safest 186 neighborhoods, watching airbrushed Instagram’s and TikTok’s is convincing kids 187 their lives are miserable, and searching WebMD for generic headaches is making 188 us think we have brain tumors. My takeaway? Being a bit “in the dark” can be a 189 very healthy thing. 190 191 6. I was more engaged with people, my wife and kids in particular This was my 192 biggest takeaway. I was more engaged with everyone I came in touch with. I 193 talked to my Uber drivers more, chatted with people in the elevator, and was 194 generally friendlier. Most importantly, my wife and kids noticed. In fact, my 195 older son actually said to me recently, 196 197 “Dad, can you believe how much time other people spend on their phones?” 198 199 “Other people” — what a difference a month can make. 200 201 Now I will say, while this month without a smartphone has been liberating in 202 numerous ways, it was not without its issues or drawbacks: 203 204 For instance, managing my calendar wasn’t easy, I was forced to print out paper 205 tickets for flights and sporting events, and I had to go back to ordering my 206 morning coffee in person. 207 208 I also gained an even deeper appreciation for an app like Waze after getting 209 stuck in significant traffic driving home from my son’s practice because I 210 couldn’t see that there was an accident on the beltway. 211 212 There were some things that fell in the “mixed bag” category as well: 213 214 While I was less distracted, I missed my group texts given that my flip phone 215 only allowed up to four people on a text. 216 217 Access to emails, in moderation, is also likely a net positive of smartphones 218 as it enables us to have more flexibility in their careers and lives. 219 220 Cameras are a bit dicier. I originally thought they were a “nice to have”. 221 However, after experiencing a month without one, it made me wonder why we are 222 choosing to live life like this, 223 224 Screenshot 2024-06-09 at 3.46.02 PM.png 225 226 When we could be living like this. 227 228 Screenshot 2024-06-09 at 3.46.09 PM.png 229 230 Takeaways 231 232 I’m open to be persuaded, but after living life without a smartphone for a 233 month, the case for keeping them out of kids’ hands as long as possible is 234 pretty damn compelling. Afterall, if adults are as addicted to them as they 235 appear to be, what are the chances young and impressionable kids can fare any 236 better? 237 238 So, what would I suggest? 239 240 1. A Detox 241 Try it for a week, a month, or more. It was liberating. “Detoxing” provided a 242 great perspective on just how distracted kids must be with these things, how 243 much less distracted they would be without them, and what life used to be like 244 before we all became addicted. 245 246 2. Cut out the non-productive apps 247 It is ironic, but if the Blackberry got the nickname “Crackberry” because of 248 its addictive nature, these modern smartphones are straight up heroin. 249 250 They don’t need to be though. 251 252 This is what my iPhone used to look like: 253 254 Screenshot 2024-06-09 at 3.46.16 PM.png 255 256 This is what my iPhone looks like today. 257 258 Screenshot 2024-06-09 at 3.46.22 PM.png 259 260 Twelve apps, all of which are relatively productive. Also, I found this 261 grayscale feature that has made the phone infinitely less interesting, and yes, 262 boring…which is a good thing. 263 264 The result? 265 266 My daily usage is down more than 75%, I don’t feel myself reaching for it 267 nearly as much, and most importantly, my kids don’t see me on it very often (or 268 at least they have said anything yet…).\ 269 270 3. Incentivize Kids to Not Use Phones in School 271 I am in no place to tell anyone what to do with their kids. That said, I think 272 the evidence is pretty compelling in favor of finding ways to limit smartphone 273 usage during the school day for many of the reasons I have highlighted. Even 274 more compelling is the fact that most kids don’t even seem to want them there, 275 so long as that means NO ONE has them at school. 276 277 Look no further than a recent study led by the University of Chicago economist 278 Leonardo Bursztyn that captured the dynamics of this social-media trap. 279 280 Bustztyn recruited more than a thousand college students and asked them how 281 much they would need to be paid to deactivate their accounts on either 282 Instagram or TikTok for a month. On average, students required roughly $50 ($59 283 for TikTok, $47 for Instagram) to deactivate whichever platform they were asked 284 about. 285 286 Next, the experimenters added a wrinkle to the question. They asked, 287 288 “If we are successful in getting your classmates to deactivate as well, would 289 that change the price you would require to deactivate your phone?” 290 291 The typical response stunned the researchers. Not only did the price change, on 292 average the students said they would be willing to PAY the experimenters to 293 deactivate their Instagram and Tik Tok accounts if their classmates did as 294 well. 295 296 More recently, I spoke with someone who ran an Outward Bound trip for middle 297 school students and conducted a survey after the trip. Care to guess what the 298 kids voted was the best part about the trip? 299 300 Being in nature? Rock climbing? Sleeping in tents? Fishing? 301 302 Nope. 303 304 The top response was being away from their phones. 305 306 So, what, if any, investment implications should come from this? 307 308 That’s for a later date. 309 310 SHARE 311 312 • [28] 313 • [29] 314 • [30] 315 • Copy Link 316 317 Sign up for more Collab Fund content 318 319 Email address [31][ ] [32][Sign Up] 320 More from the blog… 321 322 [33] 323 324 by — 325 326 [34] 327 328 by — 329 330 [35] 331 332 by — 333 334 Collab Fund 335 336 Collaborative Fund is a leading source of capital for big ideas pushing the 337 world forward. 338 339 [36] 340 341 Newsletter 342 343 Sign up for updates ↗ 344 345 [37] 346 347 Twitter 348 349 Follow @collabfund ↗ 350 351 [38] 352 353 RSS 354 355 Subscribe to the blog ↗ 356 357 • [39]About 358 • [40]Shared Future 359 • [41]SOS 360 • [42]Currency 361 • [43]Public 362 • [44]Blog 363 • [45]Site Credits 364 365 Equation reading "Collab is equal to People times Stuff, plus New Technologies 366 raised to Creativity" 367 368 Collaborative Fund Management LLC, Collaborative Holdings Management LP and 369 Collab+Currency Management, LLC are distinct investment advisory entities, are 370 not a unitary enterprise and operate independently of one another. From time to 371 time Collaborative Fund Management LLC may draw on its relationship with 372 Collaborative Holdings Management LP and/or Collab+Currency Management, LLC, 373 but only to the extent consistent with its status as a separate investment 374 adviser. 375 376 377 References: 378 379 [1] https://collabfund.com/ 380 [2] https://collabfund.com/blog 381 [3] https://collabfund.com/about/ 382 [4] https://collabfund.com/portfolio 383 [5] https://collabfund.com/shared-future/ 384 [6] https://collabfund.com/sos/ 385 [7] https://collabfund.com/investorportal/ 386 [8] https://collabfund.com/blog/ 387 [10] https://collabfund.com/about/ 388 [11] https://collabfund.com/portfolio 389 [12] https://collabfund.com/shared-future/ 390 [13] https://collabfund.com/sos/ 391 [14] https://collabfund.com/investorportal/ 392 [15] https://collabfund.com/blog/ 393 [16] https://twitter.com/collabfund 394 [17] https://collabfund.com/blog/authors/ted-lamade-managing-director-at-the-carnegie-institution-for-science/ 395 [18] https://www.twitter.com/collabfund 396 [19] http://www.twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=My%20Month%20Without%20a%20Smartphone+https://collabfund.com/blog/my-month-without-a-smartphone/+via+@collabfund 397 [20] https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https://collabfund.com/blog/my-month-without-a-smartphone/ 398 [21] mailto:?subject=My%20Month%20Without%20a%20Smartphone%20on%20Collaborative%20Fund&body=You%20should%20read%20this:%20https://collabfund.com/blog/my-month-without-a-smartphone/ 399 [22] https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=rfj3dPkeaqI&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fm.vk.com%2F&feature=emb_imp_woyt 400 [23] https://www.amazon.com/Anxious-Generation-Rewiring-Childhood-Epidemic/dp/0593655036 401 [24] https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2024/03/teen-childhood-smartphone-use-mental-health-effects/677722/ 402 [25] https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/smartphones-rewired-childhood-heres-how-to-fix-it/id1570872415?i=1000650431219 403 [26] https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/highlights/ltt/2023/ 404 [27] https://tedlamade.substack.com/p/safer-yet-more-afraid-than-ever 405 [28] http://www.twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=My%20Month%20Without%20a%20Smartphone+https://collabfund.com/blog/my-month-without-a-smartphone/+via+@collabfund 406 [29] https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https://collabfund.com/blog/my-month-without-a-smartphone/ 407 [30] mailto:?subject=My%20Month%20Without%20a%20Smartphone%20on%20Collaborative%20Fund&body=You%20should%20read%20this:%20https://collabfund.com/blog/my-month-without-a-smartphone/ 408 [33] https://collabfund.com/blog/my-month-without-a-smartphone/ 409 [34] https://collabfund.com/blog/my-month-without-a-smartphone/ 410 [35] https://collabfund.com/blog/my-month-without-a-smartphone/ 411 [36] http://eepurl.com/cgCbcz 412 [37] https://twitter.com/collabfund 413 [38] http://feeds.feedburner.com/collabfund 414 [39] https://collabfund.com/about/ 415 [40] https://collabfund.com/shared-future/ 416 [41] https://collabfund.com/sos/ 417 [42] https://collabcurrency.com/?_source=collabfund.com 418 [43] https://collaborativeholdings.com/?_source=collabfund.com 419 [44] https://collabfund.com/blog/ 420 [45] https://collabfund.com/credits/