Archive Episode #24: Reclaim Control over Technology w/ Giancarlo Pitocco

How does pleasure distract us from our own unhappiness?
How is social media designed to control our minds and behaviors?
What is the formula for good digital health and well-being?

Learn the answers to these and many other essential question when digital wellbeing expert Giancarlo Pitocco joins The Rabbi and the Shrink in this episode from the archives.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/gcpofnyc/
purposeful.co

1:00 We need to reclaim control of our lives from technology

Shift your attention from being hijacked by our devices

FB has been exploited and misused by unethical players to manipulate and serve their own agendas

Do you know how much time you’re spending in front of a screen?

4:30 We don’t know what happiness is.

Pleasure often distracts us from our own unhappiness.

If you’re not dependent on external factors for happiness, you’re in control of your life and live more fully

7:00  Is it good to be easily amused?

Being delighted by simple pleasures makes the experience of living richer.

Social media is designed to keep us consuming, almost but never quite satisfied.

11:00 Are you making your future self proud by what you’re doing now?

What happens when our lives become all about comfort, convenience, and stimulation?

The purpose of the game is to play the game; the purpose is the process

We’re living in the Roman Empire

14:00 What are you doing with your life if you don’t have aspirations and values?

Pushing the boundaries of comfort and familiarity keeps us growing and truly alive

“The obstacle is the way”

We can be navigators of our lives, or we can be carried on the current.

Prioritization give us control

19:00 The five stages of digital well being

1. Attention -- you want to be the DJ of your life by placing the needle where it should be

2. Values -- Evaluate how new technology affects your relationships, your work, and your attitudes

1. we can’t eliminate technology from our lives, but we can choose how to allow it in.
2. Google “dark patterns” to learn the dangers
3. Social media is designed to make you addicted; they are selling your time and attention, turning you from a consumer into a commodity.
4. “The Attention Merchants” by Tim Wu

35:00

3. Boundaries -- without priorities, you never get to the important stuff

1. Don’t plug in your phone next to your bed
2. Buy an alarm clock

37:30

4. High quality leisure time

1. Unwind doing something projective and creative
2. Spend time with people

39:00

5. Solitude -- learn to be with yourself

The fundamental value of self-discipline.

Easy and fun entertainment seduces us from doing what we know is in our best interest.

No one changes behavior without incentive.  That’s why a clear WHY is critical to our digital health.

44:45 The word of the day: dissilient -- bursting open or springing apart (Yiddish: plotz)

We should be living with so much enthusiasm welling up inside us that we don’t seek or respond to external distraction. 

47:00 Education can be merely a form of entertainment if it doesn’t lead to action.

Go into your phone and look at screen time or digital wellbeing and see how much time you’re spending on your device.

49:00  How would your life and relationships be healthier if you spent less time on technology?

What will you do or have you done to make a positive change in your life?