Dr. Angus Fletcher: Excessive tech use fuels loneliness, dissociation, and negative thinking
Dr. Angus Fletcher, in a conversation with Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta, added, "Excessive tech use also decreases our commonsense, imagination, and ability to understand our own emotions. So, in addition to reducing our mental wellbeing, too much tech makes us less mentally competent."
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We’re inside an AI-heavy moment that will pass
In the second of this two-part series titled, ‘Are you really using your brain’, we present an exclusive interview with Dr. Angus Fletcher, a leading figure in the emerging science of storytelling and cognitive neuroscience.
In his trademark style, Dr Angus Fletcher shares that even this interview made him anxious! We wonder why, even as we marvel at his immense body of work that brings together neuroscience and literature.
There's a lot of 'new stuff' in the book. It’s like you've created a new sporting category in the Olympics and called it 'brain race.' Was there any anxiety as you were writing this book?
I had so much anxiety! Anxiety, as I discuss in the book, evolved in the brain to detect ‘unknown’ unknowns. It’s how our neurons measure the amount of novelty in our surroundings, telling us when it’s time to ditch old plans and innovate.
And a major ‘unknown’ unknown is other people! Their heads are full of secrets we can’t begin to guess. (That’s why we experience social anxiety. The instant we enter a room of strangers, our brain is flooded with the alert: Massive amounts of mystery here! There’s no way to know what will happen next!)
When you imagine thousands of people reading the book that you’re writing, you therefore start to get worried about every word you put down on the page. And when you have lots of new stuff to put in your book, that requires lots of words, so soon your consciousness is blitzed with anxiety.
Luckily, I had a fantastic editor who reminded me of a Primal technique—Now plus one—that you can use to tune your anxiety to a healthy level, giving you the upside of vigilant concern without the downside of manic apprehension. The technique works by focusing your attention on the next step up the mountain, rather than trying to summit the whole mountain at once.
In my case, the next step was a first draft of the book. Which was followed by a second draft. Then a third. And a fourth. Finally, my editor said: It’s done! And I had no more anxiety. In the case of this interview, I converted my anxiety, 'What if everyone who reads this interview thinks I’m an idiot?’ to a 'Now plus one’, which translates into ‘what question is coming next?’
There is an entire generation that is feeling 'smarter' by using tech, while actually numbing themselves to any real interaction with the potential of their own brain. How bad is this scenario? If we project this into the future, what are we looking at in terms of the decline in mental health?
Well, it could be very unfortunate. As a great deal of research has shown that excessive tech use increases loneliness, dissociation, and negative thoughts. And as I document in the book, excessive tech use also decreases our commonsense, imagination, and ability to understand our own emotions. So, in addition to reducing our mental wellbeing, too much tech makes us less mentally competent.
However, I am optimistic about the future, for two reasons.
First, people are wising up to the detrimental effects of cell phones, social media, and AI. So, I think that tech use will be like cigarettes. For a while, in the twentieth century, cigarettes were everywhere. Then people realized: Smoking makes me feel crummy, drains my finances, and shortens my life. And pretty quickly, we banded together to tamp down on cigarettes. That’s a motivating precedent, because nicotine hooks our brain more powerfully than social media.
If we can kick tobacco, we can definitely kick cell phones. So, even though tech use now feels ubiquitous, I believe that we’re inside an AI-heavy moment that will pass—once our collective intelligence reasserts itself.
Second, because my own background is in neuroscience, I don’t think that tech use literally “rewires” the brain. I believe that all the original wiring is there, intact. Instead, the danger of tech use is that it stops us from exercising our brain, like watching a screen all day stops us from exercising our body.
So, the problem with using AI isn’t that we’re doing permanent damage to our neuroanatomy. It’s that we’re not taking advantage of the opportunity to grow our intelligence for when we need it. As a result, our brain is unnaturally weak, but just like getting our body in shape, we can correct that with consistent daily effort, no matter how much tech we’ve used in the past. How has the development of these theories changed your life personally and professionally?
It’s made me less dumb! In the grand tradition of modern education, I was raised to think like a computer: standardized tests, critical thinking, textual interpretation. And I was brilliant at it! I became a whiz at school. That’s how I ended up as a professor.
But gradually, I realized: Even though we professors like to think of ourselves as tremendously smart, we’re inept at real life. In my own case, I had zero commonsense. That was a personal bummer—it made me excessively risk averse except on random occasions when I did bonkers things like try to pet wild buffalos (true story). And even worse, it meant that I gave terrible life advice to my children and to my students.
By discovering how commonsense evolved in the brain, I’ve learned to increase my own ability to act sensibly. Even though I still have a long way to go, I’ve become a better parent and mentor—and have radically reduced the likelihood that I will die while walking in nature. In India, I run a training program, which is called 'THE READING COACH' program. In it, I talk about how you activate your vital intelligence. It’s very close to how you describe 'PRIMAL INTELLIGENCE.' I devoured every word in your book from that point of view- because the neural pathways created by reading become information highways to absorb all kinds of skills. The resultant aerobic exercise in the brain activates your intuition, imagination etc; You've taken this to a whole new level. How important is the 'offline reading of books' to you, to activate the brain? (Yes, I did read the chapter on MOTO :))
I need to come to India and take your program! Yes, to your point, there’s nothing better for your brain than reading books—especially books that challenge you: Memoirs by people who think unexpectedly; histories of distant cultures; novels that your eccentric friend recommends.
I could explain this at length with science. But to keep it brief, here’s a story. When I worked with US Army Special Operations, I got a tour of the secret building where they train up intuition, decision-making, leadership, and other mental powers.
First, I visited a room with a big computer. The US Army paid for the very first computer, ENIAC, back in World War 2. Since then, Army Special Operations has invested heavily in AI, and they’d programmed the big computer to cogitate like the best generals in history, from Caesar to Napoleon. When I saw the big computer, I thought: Oh, so this is how Special Operators hone their smarts—by wargaming against AI. But in fact, the room was deserted. Because, as I was told, the computer isn’t really that smart. The more that Special Operators trained against it, the more shallow, fragile, and predictable their own plans and strategies became.
Then, I was escorted to another room. It was a vast library, crammed with books. And it was also crammed with Special Operators, reading. This, I was told, is how Special Operators actually get smart. By reading books. Loads and loads of books!
The bunch of people who have activated their primal intelligence do seem endowed with 'mystical assistance'- eg; Wayne Gretzky. Any current day examples of this you see around you that can serve as genuine inspirations as opposed to 'celebrity culture inspirations'?
Primal intelligence produces self-reliance, which means that wise people don’t go around broadcasting their accomplishments on the internet. You will find them in the real world, quietly doing the smart thing without needing public affirmation.
If you want to boost your chances of meeting one of those individuals, I’d recommend hanging out with nurses. (Every day, they have to solve a thousand human problems). Or, elementary school teachers. (They spend their lives immersed in the primal intelligence of children). Or, one of your grandparents. (They were born before cell phones!) Summing up, Dr Fletcher says that the best inspiration that you can find is your childhood self. Rewind your memory and you will uncover many, many instances when you acted with a creative independence that amazes you now. You were born primal, and by rediscovering who you once were, you can become your own hero again.
Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta is a columnist and bestselling biographer. She is credited with the internationally acclaimed Red Dot Experiment, a decadal six-nation study on how ‘culture impacts communication.’ Asia's first reading coach, you can find her on Instagram @OfficialReetaGupta.
