Beyond Digital Detox and Singularity - How to stay Human in the Digital?

How to stay  
Human in the
Digital?
Alexander Steinhart
Psychologist, Co-Founder & CEO ( OFFTIME )

About ( OFFTIME ) - Trainings, Workshops & Retreats
Alexander Steinhart - How to stay Human in the Digital?

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About ( OFFTIME ) - Research & Consultancy

About ( OFFTIME ) - Anti-Distraction Software as a Service
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About ( OFFTIME ) - It’s loved by the press and its users
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THE DIGITAL  
REVOLUTION
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THE BENEFITS
ARE OBVIOUS
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THE BENEFITS
ARE OBVIOUS
Productivity
Efficiency
Accuracy
Speed
Performance
Satisfaction
Pleasure
Desire
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WE ARE ALL
CONNECTED
94% of the 12-19 old have an smartphone that can connect to the internet 
Source: KIM & JIM-Studies, 2015
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WE ALL WANT
TO UNPLUG, 
BUT CANNOT.
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We all want to unplug. But cannot.
▪ 55% of the teens and 66% of the adults are sometimes annoyed by their smartphone
▪ 86% of Americans say they have difficulty unplugging from at least one device
▪ 60% of Americans say they wish their family members would unplug more often
JIM-Studie, 2015; Bitkom, 2013; The Harris Poll, 2016

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Where does this lead to?
 
Picture Source: unknown

Information Affluence
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Information Scarcity

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Phase 2: Control & Balance
Phase 1: Access
Democracy, Eﬃciency
What? When? How? Why?

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Phase 2: Control & Balance
Phase 1: Access
Democracy, Eﬃciency
What? When? How? Why?
Still in large parts mainly about  
more access, engagement & consumption! :-/

IT’S NOT THE FIRST  
REVOLUTION
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Image Source: OFFTIME, CC BY 2.0

WHY IS THE
DIGITAL FOR US
A CHALLENGE?
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Because we’re human

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We love new information

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We’re social

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Image Source: OFFTIME, CC BY 2.0

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We create identities
Image Source:

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We develop (strong) habits
 
Overview: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinforcement#Intermittent_reinforcements

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Effortless access - Self-control cost us energy the we lack elsewhere
Baumeister, Bratslavsky, Muraven, & Tice, 1998; 
Overview: http://www.psych-it.com.au/Psychlopedia/article.asp?id=61
Image Source:

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Designed for engagement + multifunctional & omnichannel

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Very addictive mix - an unprecedented challenge

Hofmann, Baumeister & Vohs, 2012
The need with the highest self-control failure (42%): Media Use
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WE HUMANS HAVE
MORE NEEDS
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( )PRIVACY
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( )SOLITUDE
 
Conley, D. (2012); Akrivou, K., Bourantas, D., Mo, S., & Papalois, E. (2011)
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( )BOREDOM
 
Conley, D. (2012); Akrivou, K., Bourantas, D., Mo, S., & Papalois, E. (2011)
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( )CONVERSATION
 
Sherry Turkle, 2011 & 2015
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( )UNPLUG,  
TO RECOVER
 
Meijman & Mulder, 1998; Fritz, C. & Sonnentag, S., 2006
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Lemola & Co., 2015; Saeb & Co (2015); Markowetz,2015; Lanaj, Johnson, & Barnes, 2014; Dettmers & Bamberg, 2014
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Holistic Recreation: MRCC
 
Meijman & Mulder, 1998; Fritz, C. & Sonnentag, S., 2006
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1 week with 2 hours of OFFTIME a day
( )  
Curtaz, Hoppe & Nachtwei (2015)
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FOCUS/ 
ATTENTION
König, Kleinmann, & Höhmann, 2013; Pashler, 1994; Thornton, Faires, Robbins, & Rollins, 2014
( )
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( )AUTONOMY
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Kant, Foucault

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Very addictive mix - an unprecedented challenge

Hofmann, Baumeister & Vohs, 2012
The need with the highest self-control failure (42%): Media Use
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HOW WILL THE
FUTURE LOOK LIKE?
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Internet of Things
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Raymond Kurzweil, Photo by Michael Lutch. Courtesy of Kurzweil Technologies, Inc.; CC BY 1.0
Singularity
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Neil Harbisson, cyborg activist and president of the Cyborg Foundation; October 2012; CC BY 2.0 
H+ Magazine
Cyborgs & Transhumanism
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Neil Harbisson, cyborg activist and president of the Cyborg Foundation; October 2012; CC BY 2.0 
H+ Magazine
Virtual Reality / Mixed Reality
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Magic Leap; Forbes

A BRIGHT FUTURE?
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“My iPhone has 2 million times the storage of the 1969 Apollo 11 spacecraft
computer. They went to the moon. I throw birds at pig houses.” ~Bill Murray, 2013

WE WILL USE THIS
TECHNOLOGY - IT WILL BE
THE NEW CRYSTAL METH
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WE NEED MORE.
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PEOPLE WHO SHARE A
HEALTHY & DIGITAL
LIFESTYLE
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PERSONAL STRATEGIES

MEDIA ASCETICISM / LOTS - Lifestyle of technological simplicity
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A lifestyle characterized by the comprehension of the technologies and digital services
operation, how they are linked to politics and economy, and their smart use (but not their
abandonment). Digital technology is the new architecture of the present. Media asceticism
pursues the goal to shape your life as you see it the it the world of modern technologies.
 
digitalvocabulary.com

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DIGITAL DETOX & UNPLUGGING

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ANALOG IS THE NEW ORGANIC
 
Image Source: OFFTIME, CC BY 2.0 ; Book Wilkens/Metrolit

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NUTURE ANALOG AND OFFLINE PLACES
Collection: http://offtime.co/blog/en/offline-orte-offline-places/

TECHNOLOGY THAT SUPPORT US WITH TECHNOLOGY
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MOVE BEYOND THE  
ONLINE-OFFLINE 
DIGITAL DUALISM
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NEW TECHNOLOGIES &
SERVICES WITH KPIs WHO
SUPPORT US & ALLOW
DIGITAL BALANCE
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Digital Manifesto - Digital Democracy instead of Data Dictatorship
Big Data, nudging, behavioral control:
Threatens us the automation of society
through algorithms and artificial
intelligence? A joint appeal to secure
freedom and democracy.
Dirk Helbing, Bruno S. Frey, Gerd Gigerenzer, Ernst
Hafen, Michael Hagner, Yvonne Hofstetter, Jeroen van
den Hoven, Roberto V. Zicari and Andrej Zwitter
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Image Source: © iStock / KrulUA; Bearbeitung: Spektrum der Wissenschaft

Liberation Technology - “Liberationtech”
Liberation Technology at Stanford's Center
on Democracy, Development, and the Rule
of Law seeks to understand how
information technology can be used to
improve governance, empower the poor,
defend human rights, promote economic
development, and pursue a variety of other
social goods.
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Calm Technology/Computing
Technology should be designed to be a
tool and operate in the background
without taking a toll on people’s attention.
Technology should require the smallest
amount of our attention, it should inform,
and should be designed for people first.
Mark Weiser, John Seeley Brown
Technology shouldn't require all of our
attention, just some of it, and only when
necessary.
Amber Case
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Positive Computing/Technology/Design
Positive Computing is the design and
development of technology to support
psychological well-being and human
potential.
Rafael A. Calvo, Dorian Peters
Positive Design is technology that supports,
rather than exploits, our irrational, emotional
selves.
Pamela Pavliscak
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Design for Time Well Spent
Technology that cares about helping us
spend our time, and our lives, well – not
seducing us into the most screen time,
always-on interruptions or distractions.
Tristan Harris
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Slow Design
Slow Design is a branch of the Slow
Movement, which began with the concept
of Slow Food, a term coined in contrast to
fast food. As with every branch of the
Slow Movement, the overarching goal of
Slow Design is to promote well being for
individuals, society, and the natural
environment.
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Post-Tech / Postdigital
Post-tech (or post-technology, post-digital-
technology) describes technology that has as
centre the human and supports directly our focus
and intend, well-being and independence (from
technology) instead of exploiting us, increasing
mere efficacy and time spent with digital devices
and technology only.
Alexander Steinhart/OFFTIME
Postdigital is a term in the discourse of digital
artistic practice. This term points significantly to our
rapidly changed and changing relationships with
digital technologies and art forms. It points to an
attitude that is more concerned with being human,
than with being digital.
Ian Andrews, Kim Cascone
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How to stay  
Human in the
Digital?
Alexander Steinhart
Psychologist, Co-Founder & CEO ( OFFTIME )
alex@offtime.co, @quanders
www.offtime.co

Beyond Digital Detox and Singularity - How to stay Human in the Digital?

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