Når man fjerner mobiler falder angsten

En engelsk tv-station har i samarbejde med en række eksperter lavet et eksperiment på en skole. Eleverne skulle klare sig uden deres smartphones i 21 dage, eksperterne målte på elevernes trivsel imens og resultaterne var overraskende. Angst-symptomer faldt 17 procent og børnene sov pludselig en time mere hver dag. Symptomer på depression faldt med 18 procent!

‘”There was a 17% drop in anxiety symptoms in students. The impact was really quick,” he said.
“They slept on average an extra hour a day, which is going to have a huge impact on mental health.
“There was an 18% reduction in symptoms relating to depression and a 3% improvement in working memory in just 21 days.”‘
“Jessica had not believed she was addicted to her phone before she took part.
“But actually I think everyone who has a phone is probably addicted, especially as it’s such a big part of daily life, so hard to get rid of it,” she said.
“At first I was really, really excited and felt like it’d be a weight off my shoulders – in the early days I kept reaching for it.”
She did miss talking to friends online, but soon realised she did not miss apps like TikTok and Instagram, and she was “definitely talking to my mum more and being more focused”.
She did point out: “Even our homework is all set online and nothing is written out on paper… maybe we should have our homework on paper?”
En af elevene, Jessica, konstaterer at ‘alle er afhængige’ af deres smartphones, men gjorde også opmærksom på et sted, hvor tingene ikke hænger sammen: Alt hjemmearbejde skal laves online.
‘Måske vi skulle gøre det på papir’, foreslår hun.

Undoing Networks

I slutningen af bogen “Undoing Networks” fra 2021, om at frakoble sig det digitale, er der en brugbar ordforklaring (s. 79). Den kalder på at vi opdaterer analopædien. Begreber de har med, som vi mangler, er:

Analog Nostalgia:

Analog nostalgists feel that disconnecting from digital media and
engaging with analog media enhances their lives. They experience
the elaborate process of analog photography as rewarding; they
like the “authentic” sound of vinyl. Analog nostalgists feel that trav-
eling without Google Maps encourages them to talk to strangers
and enhances their knowledge of foreign places. Ironically, there
are digital apps like Hipstamatic, which aim to apply the aesthetics
of analog photography to digital pictures taken with smartphones.
Thus, analog nostalgia is hardly restricted to “old media” and can
also be lived out via “new media.” Significantly, the category of an-
alog media was only created with the emergence of digital media,
since it was not previously necessary to differentiate between the
two modes.

Break (Analog pause)

In popular discourses on disconnection, it is often argued that
we need to take a break, whether it be from constantly looking at
our phones, from refreshing our feeds on social media, or from
following the news. While digital detox holidays promise a break
from ubiquitous connectivity, the pursuit of analog hobbies claims
to create a break from our digitally organized everyday lives. In this
sense, digital connectivity is a state from which we need to take
a break, whereas the break itself is a state that is necessarily free
from digital media.

Dead Zones

Steder hvor der ikke er internet (som appen “White Spots” fx, hjælper en med at finde).

Digital Detox

The term “digital detox” describes a trend that seems to be insep-
arable from other current movements in support of mindfulness
and healthism. People who take good care of themselves not only
eat superfoods and practice yoga and meditation; they must also
“unplug” from time to time in order to “recharge.” Digital Detox®
is the name of a company “focused on helping people be more
present and improve the balance with technology use in their lives”

Digital Minimalism

Digital minimalists are people who are able to enjoy “offline” activities like reading a book, listening to other people or taking a walk without feeling the constant urge to check their phones. They can enjoy social events without needing to document them on Instagram and keep track of the news without suffering from information overload.

Digital Suicide

At lukke en konto på sociale medier. Det var der engang en tjeneste der kunne hjælpe med, nemlig “The Web 2.0. suicide machine

Faraday Cage

Faraday Cages were originally invented for the military and other
organizations as a means of protecting vital IT or delicate electrical
equipment from electromagnetic pulse attacks or lightning strikes.
They are also used to shield from eavesdropping rooms where
sensitive topics are being discussed. Because they block signals
only passively, Faraday Cages are legal and there is a range of
devices available for purchase on the open market. One look at
Amazon reveals the most popular ways in which Faraday Cages
are used: for shielding car keys, phones, and credit cards; or the
blackout-privacy protection security 6 pieces ultra-thick prepping
kit” for more extensive protection.

Information Overload

Today, the discourse of information overload does not refer to
general societal change but rather to literally having too much
information. One argument made in popular discourse in favor
of disconnecting holds that individuals are overwhelmed by the
constant flow of information to which they are exposed in a world
of ubiquitous online news, social media, and commercial screens.
In “pre-digital times,” people would apparently watch the news
on public-service television once a day; they could trust that this
newscast contained everything important that they needed to
know and that public-service broadcasting was a reliable source.

Jamming

Originating in the military, the practice of jamming was (and partly
still is) used to prevent the reception of foreign signals, such as BBC
broadcasts in Nazi Germany or Western broadcasts in the Soviet
Union during the Cold War. Today, jamming used as an electronic
counterstrategy remains a form of censorship, but it is also used to
prevent the activation of bombs or for drone defense.

Right to disconnect

The “right to disconnect” is intended to protect employees from con-
stant availability by assuring them that they do not have to check
their e-mails or answer phone calls during nonworking hours. “Le
droit à la déconnexion,” as this right is called in the country where
it originated, is a response to the dissolving of boundaries between
work time and free time. The right to disconnect emerged in France
in 2001 as a means of assuring employees they are not obliged to
work at home or to take home their files and office equipment.

Karppi, T., Stäheli, U., Wieghorst, C., & Zierott, L. P. (2021). Undoing networks. Meson press.

Ud under åben himmel?

Analog klagesang

Er du det analoges elsker?

Rejsekortstandere skal skiftes: Gigantisk potentiale for lyn-analogisering

klippekort til salg på på Kirpu (foto: Marie Kæmpe)

Her er et historisk klippekort til salg på på brugtmarkedet ‘Kirpu’ – kan vi ikke få det igen? (foto: Marie Kæmpe)

I 2026, kun 13 år efter de blev sat op, skal 19.000 rejsekort-standere pilles ned igen. De er nemlig slidt ned og i mellemtiden er der kommet en meget omdiskuteret app, der forventes at kunne overtage dele af billetteringen – ihvertfald for de, der har opdateret smartphone, hvilket styrelsen synes er endnu et massivt tilbageskridt på de skrå digitale brædder. Appen har i øvrigt kostet en halv milliard at udvikle.

Rejsekortet er også dødt
Der kommer altså nye standere, men rejsekortet som koncept er fortid. For udover den der app, så det meningen at  det er dit kreditkort, der skal bruges som rejsekort og det kræver så helt ny teknologi, der denne gang forventes at ville koste 125 millioner kroner bare for selve teknikken. Og så skal de enkelte trafikselskaber selv betale for at få de nye standere sat op. Det er med garanti ikke noget, der giver billigere billetter.
Analogiseringsstyrelsen foreslår derfor, at man tænker sig rigtig godt om denne gang, og ikke kaster gode penge efter dårlige.

Giv os klippekort
Klippekortet, det fysiske, som man kunne købe overalt til to eller flere zoner og som havde en landsdækkende infrastruktur, det fungerede upåklageligt gennem 36 år og det hele kostede 1/3 del af hvad rejsekortet har beløbet sig til. De allerførste rejsekortstandere blev taget i brug i 2011, og dermed når de en alder på 15 år men de nyeste er kun få år gamle, og skal altså pilles ned om lidt. Rent spild og dårlig planlægning.

Vi ved, at klippekortet virker. At det er meget billigere. Det skal ikke opgraderes. Alle kan finde ud af at bruge det, uanset om de har mobiletelefon eller kreditkort. Og det samler ikke data op, der fylder på servere og som kræver strøm og internet. Vi ser et enormt potentiale for analogisering her. Og så bør det selvfølgelig kunne købes for kontanter, så vi ikke belaster elnettet yderligere.
Det er bare at komme i gang. Klip!

 

Dyret med de nervøse hænder

Afskrift

Bogklub #12 – Det underlegne menneske af Armin Grunwald

Fremlagt af Marie Møller Kristensen.
Der unterlegene Mensch – Die Zukunft der Menschheit im Angesicht von Algorithmen, künstlicher Intelligenz und Robotern er skrevet af fysiker, filosof mm Armin Grundwald, der forsker i og rådgiver den tyske Bundestag om ‘Technikfolgenabschätzung”, teknologikonsekvensvurdering.  På engelsk findes bl.a. Grunwalds Technology Assessment in Practice and Theory. “Der unterlegene Mensch” handler om risikoen for samfundsmæssig afhængighed af digitale teknologier, om teknologiparadokset (er mennesker teknologiernes herre eller tjener, hvem tilpasser sig til hvem), om teknomyter og om digital myndighed.

Bogklub #11 – The Digital Backlash redigeret af Kristoffer Albris m.fl.

Fremlagt af Jesper Balslev. The Digital Backlash and the Paradoxes of Disconnection undersøger, hvordan folk søger autenticitet og tilpasser sig eller tager afstand fra det digitale, hvordan de udforsker de negative konsekvenser af konstant opkobling og beskriver kreative bud på hvordan man genvinder kontrollen over digitale vaner. Bogen, der er en samling af forskningsartikler, introducerer begrebet »digital backlash«, der handler om den voksende sociale og kulturelle bevægelse, der sætter spørgsmålstegn ved de digitale teknologiers gennemgribende indflydelse på det moderne liv. Redigeret af Kristoffer Albris, Karin Fast, Faltin Karlsen, Anne Kaun, Stine Lomborg, og Trine Syvertsen.

I podcastet nævnes også Maries “Fra Billeder til Bits” og Jespers “Digitaliseringens Brudte Løfter“.