Science proved what we probably suspected all along: you can get addicted to information in the same way you can get addicted to junk food.
ScienceDaily reports:
"A new study by researchers at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business has found that information acts on the brain's dopamine-producing reward system in the same way as money or food.
'To the brain, information is its own reward, above and beyond whether it's useful,' said Assoc. Prof. Ming Hsu, 'And just as our brains like empty calories from junk food, they can overvalue information that makes us feel good but may not be useful -- what some may call idle curiosity.'
''The way our brains respond to the anticipation of a pleasurable reward is an important reason why people are susceptible to clickbait,' he said. 'Just like junk food, this might be a situation where previously adaptive mechanisms get exploited now that we have unprecedented access to novel curiosities.'
I've read articles about people going on a digital diet and recently I was forced to go on a digital semi-diet for a couple of weeks. The place I was staying didn't have wi-fi, you had to go to a clubhouse to access the internet. It wasn't a far walk, but a lot more effort than picking up a close-at-hand iPhone or iPad.
Now it made more sense to actually finish the task I was doing before going to the clubhouse to check email and headlines.
I didn't have withdrawal symptoms, but I did notice one big effect: I got more writing done.
Lots more.
When I was able to get back on the internet there was a definite "Ahhh!" once I was able to snack on all the unimportant information featured on my favorite sites.
Yep, it's time for me to consider one of those apps that lets you shut down your access to the internet for a length of time you set.
What about you?
