似曾相識的戒網(wǎng)癮方案

The other evening, while in a dash to finish my work, I made the mistake of glancing at my smartphone. To my horror I discovered I had been added to four new WhatsApp groups.

前不久的一個晚上，在我匆忙完成工作的時候，我錯誤地掃了一眼智能手機，結果驚恐地發(fā)現(xiàn)自己被拉到了四個新的WhatsApp群里面。

The messaging was frantic. It felt like being dropped into a children’s party with a group of three-year-olds all clamouring for my attention.

消息多得讓人發(fā)狂。我感覺就像是被扔進一個兒童聚會中，一群三歲的孩子鼓噪著，希望引起我的注意。

To say this was disappointing is an understatement. I had added WhatsApp to my phone in the hope that it would become a discrete channel, diverting messages away from my overloaded email in-tray. Instead, like Mickey Mouse in the Disney cartoon Fantasia, commanding a broom to do his work, my shortcut did the reverse — instigating a deluge, in my case, of information.

說這有些令人失望都是輕的。我將WhatsApp裝到手機中，是希望它能成為一個獨立的渠道，將信息從過載的電子郵件收件箱分流出去。結果，就像迪士尼(Disney)動畫片《幻想曲》(Fantasia)中的“米老鼠”(Mickey Mouse)指揮一把掃帚來干活一樣，我的捷徑也事與愿違——為我引發(fā)了一場信息洪水。

So it seemed like a blessing when I was handed a copy of How to Break up with your Phone, a book by Catherine Price. Do you find yourself spending more time on your phone than you realise, the author asks? Yes. Do you wish you could be a little less involved with your phone? Yes, yes, yes. Price recounts the dopamine-fuelled excitement that comes from receiving a “like” on Instagram, or even just the anticipation of a new message in our email inbox.

因此，當有人遞給我一本凱瑟琳•普賴斯(Catherine Price)所著的《如何與你的手機分手》(How to Break up with your Phone)的時候，真是正中下懷。作者問道，你覺得自己在手機上花費的時間比你想象得多嗎?是的。你是否希望花在手機上的時間少一些?太對了。普賴斯描述了我們在Instagram上收到“贊”、甚至只是期待郵箱里會收到的一條新消息時，多巴胺帶來的興奮。

On the one hand people complain about being deluged, but on the other they can’t allow themselves to be bored. Price cites research by the University of Virginia and Harvard University that, in 2014, found participants in an experiment would rather give themselves a small electric shock than be alone with their own thoughts for 15 minutes.

人們一方面抱怨被信息洪水淹沒，另一方面又不允許自己感到無聊。普賴斯引用了弗吉尼亞大學(University of Virginia)和哈佛大學(Harvard University)在2014年的研究——該研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，實驗對象寧愿讓自己受到輕微電擊，也不愿花15分鐘獨處思考。

Yet the cumulative effect of riding the app merry-go-round is an inability to focus, poor memory and mental fatigue. Her solution? A four-week regime to change our dependency on our smartphones. Ditching them entirely would not be in our best interests — what about all the useful stuff? The camera, the books and encyclopedias on tap.

然而，沉溺于各類應用的結果是無法集中精力、記憶力差和精神倦怠。普賴斯的解決辦法是什么?她給出了一套為期四周、目標是改變我們對智能手機依賴的方案。完全拋棄智能手機不符合我們的最佳利益——否則那些有用的東西怎么辦?那些一點即用的相機、圖書和百科全書。

Price’s book is not the only product on the market to help people deal with their supposed “tech addiction”. There are now apps that block other apps, such as BreakFree, Flipd, or AppDetox. Dumbphones — those stripped back mobiles that only handle calls and messages — are experiencing a resurgence on the back of fears over our impending digital degeneracy. Then there are detox weekenders and festivals that claim to help you unplug and recharge.

普賴斯的書并非市場上唯一幫助人們應對所謂的“技術上癮”的產(chǎn)品。現(xiàn)在已有可以阻止其他應用的應用，例如BreakFree、Flipd或者AppDetox。由于擔心自己即將墮入對應用的沉迷，那些功能簡單、只能接打電話和收發(fā)短信的非智能手機正在復蘇。此外，還有聲稱幫助你拔掉電源和養(yǎng)精蓄銳的戒網(wǎng)癮周末度假包和節(jié)日。

But hold on, haven’t we seen this before? The tech detox programmes mirror previous dieting regimes. Want to lose excess pounds? Fast two days a week, as with the 5:2 diet. Or stay off carbs and feast on meat, as recommended by Dr Atkins.

但是等一等，這一切有沒有覺得眼熟?這些戒網(wǎng)癮療法借鑒了以前的節(jié)食療法。想要減掉多余的磅數(shù)?一周禁食兩天，這就是5：2禁食法。或者按照艾特金斯醫(yī)生(Dr Atkins)的建議，不要吃碳水化合物，大量食肉。

The language used in programmes to curb our digital excesses is similar to that employed by diet gurus. We “graze” or “snack” on unsatisfying apps, ruining our appetites for nourishing literature.

那些旨在遏制我們過度使用手機的療法所使用的語言，與節(jié)食大師所使用的語言十分相似。我們把不那么令人滿意的應用當做“零食”，破壞了我們對富含營養(yǎng)的文學的胃口。

I worry about my inability to focus. After bingeing on Instagram or Twitter, I have chastised myself for the time I have wasted.

我擔心自己無法集中注意力。在Instagram或Twitter上流連忘返之后，我對自己浪費的時間感到自責。

Yet there is a new feeling that nags: that smartphones are the latest target for the self-improvement movement (which is ironic, as so many apps exist that help you count calories and measure your steps).

然而，還有一種縈繞不去的新感覺是：智能手機成了健身運動的最新目標(這有些諷刺，因為有很多應用可以幫助你計算卡路里和統(tǒng)計步數(shù))。

Just as the diet industry has repeatedly reinvented itself, so this next wave of self-help, dealing with digital addiction, will probably do the same, making consumers feel guilty about their lack of self-restraint (a charge which Price denied when I put it to her in the latest FT Business Book podcast).

就像節(jié)食業(yè)一再重塑自己一樣，下一波針對網(wǎng)癮的自救浪潮很可能同樣如此，讓消費者自己對缺乏自律感到內疚(當我在最新的英國《金融時報》商業(yè)圖書播客節(jié)目中提出這個觀點的時候，普賴斯予以了否認)。

Surely some of the blame lies with Big Tech, just as it does with food companies?

當然，一些責任是否應歸咎于大型科技公司，就像節(jié)食業(yè)歸咎于食品公司一樣?

Last year, Sean Parker, the founding president of Facebook, said: “It’s a social-validation feedback loop . . . exactly the kind of thing that a hacker like myself would come up with, because you’re exploiting a vulnerability in human psychology.”

去年，F(xiàn)acebook的創(chuàng)始總裁肖恩•帕克(Sean Parker)表示：“這是一個社交認可反饋循環(huán)……正是像我這樣的黑客會想出的那種東西，因為你正在利用人類心理上的一個弱點。”

There are glimmers of hope. At a recent conference, The Truth about Tech: How Kids get Hooked, Tristan Harris, a former in-house ethicist at Google, implored tech companies to “change course”, according to Quartz magazine. “We have to redesign all of it with a more compassionate view of human nature,” he says.

還有一線希望。根據(jù)《Quartz》雜志的報道，在最近一次以“關于科技的真相：孩子們是如何上癮的”為主題的會議上，谷歌前內部倫理學家特里斯坦•哈里斯(Tristan Harris)懇請科技公司“改變航向”。他說：“我們必須用更有同情心的人性觀來重新設計一切。”

Until that day comes, I will probably continue to swing between guilt over tech blowouts and delight with my new digital treats.

在這一天來臨之前，我可能會繼續(xù)在因沉溺科技產(chǎn)品而產(chǎn)生的負罪感，與我的新數(shù)字產(chǎn)品帶來的愉悅感之間搖擺。