The modern technology plateau has officially run its course, and the people are craving monoculture again.
Have you seen a growth in “dumb phones”, CDs and DVDs and thought to yourself, “I miss those”?, You are not alone. So have many others.
Technology has advanced in ways that the average mind couldn’t have comprehended years ago. And with it, huge strides in medical and communication industries. But we are lonelier than we have ever been, and our third places are getting fewer and farther between. So what’s going on right now?
Well, I hate to say this, but our parents were right. It really is those phones.
The phone addictions are so bad, we end up scrolling through the same three apps for hours because we can’t stay away from it. We are all so connected to everyone, and no one, through these algorithmic bubbles that are keeping us in our niches and away from anything new.
A major issue is ads. They are absolutely everywhere. If you pause a video or walk down the street or find someone interesting online, you will soon see an ad. Everyone is sick of being sold to and owning nothing, and why wouldn’t they be when it seems like your very being is something that can be commodified.
No one knows who they are. We are all collectively in a personality deficit due to conformity. Having something in common with the next person instead of being yourself has taken over our brains and is suffocating who we actually are. How many times have you heard that the 2020s don’t actually have a sound like the 2000s dance-pop or the 70s disco.
In a University of Texas study, “The Psychology of Smartphone Addiction,” the general consensus on smartphones is, “It’s your constant companion, a magical gateway granting access to near-infinite distractions, opportunities for engagement, and stores of information.”
Our phones can be all these things because people crave content, community, consumption and ownership.
How do we plan on fixing this? Bring back the old.
In a New York Times article about the 2023 Miffy craze, Debra Joester, the president and chief executive of the agency that licenses Miffy in North America, explains why Gen-Z felt so gravitated to the rabbit mascot.
“I think part of what Gen Z does love is that act of discovery — when they see something that isn’t broadly out there and they can start making it their own,” Joester said.
This is what monoculture and past technology had right. If there is a mainstream, then you can find a distributary for yourself. The less you have, the more you need to create. It’s the reason I see older technology coming back in style.
We miss physical items that advanced in ways that were practical, but also flashy, and everything not being particularly catered towards us and our dying attention spans.
We could customize and personalize ourselves without an algorithm doing that for us, therefore creating our own style in the midst of what is popular and what isn’t.
Michaiah Stephens is a 22-year-old english major from Durham, N.C.
