How Technology Is Negatively Affecting You 

As a kid of the 90s I would get jealous at the thought of kids who would come later in the future when technology would be incredible and now that we’re here I no longer feel jealousy, but sadness for future generations.

I’m in my 60s and of that generation that grew up pre computers, pre mobile phones, and pre internet, so I have always held the belief that real life and face to face relationships are of primary importance. A couple of years ago I had a wake up call when I met a woman half my age, who grew up in the age of computers, mobile phones, and the internet. She talked with me about a ‘relationship’ she was in with a man. The way that she spoke about him and her relationship seemed so normal until I asked her how they met. It transpired that they hadn’t met. He was someone she ‘met’ online. No amount of talking could convince her that this wasn’t a real relationship. In her mind, what happened in the virtual world was real. Not even when she tried to meet with him face to face and found out that he didn’t want to see her because he had no idea that she felt that way about him, did she change her mind. She’s not the only younger person that I’ve spoken with who considers the online world to be real. I’m a retired child and adolescent mental health nurse. The online world was and remains very real to the younger generations coming through. I think we underestimate the dangers of technology on the human mind and its development.

At my local gym people watch their phones while working out, and also in the shower. These are people in their 40’s…please let the power go out for years

“When the power goes out we’re all reduced to our biological selves”

"There is more on the internet, of me, than there is of me." -Jordan Peterson on an accurate representation of the internet reality vs base reality vs underlying singularity reality.

"It is like living in a dictionnary" - gave me chills

Jack white not having phones allowed at his shows and his mindset on technology is great and more people need to follow that trend. As a parent with a young child, its up to my wife and I to set good examples for him in terms of technology- so I’m getting off here and going to hang out with them! This is an important video

My father was laid off at 55 yrs old after working the same job for 32 years. He ended up qualifying for disability and sat on his ass watching TV for the next 15 years as his health slowly deteriorated. It’s incredible how addicting living inside of a TV is compared to facing the real world.

Convos like these being shared with the masses is one of the best parts of the internet.

I'm a millennial and the older I get the more disgusted I am with how much power technology has had over me. Obviously when you are a teenager you just want to be cool so I forgive myself for that but now that I am older I just want to get away from it. I've deleted all of my social media (yes I am aware that RU-vid is social media but it's not in the same way Instagram and Facebook are). The phone annoys me now even, I hate getting text and calls especially when it's not something I need to be concerned about. Hate living in the city, feels like we are being funnelled into living like rats. I want to buy a piece of woodland with perhaps a somewhat rundown old house on it and then slowly over time renovate it.

The thing I resent and worry for, is the complete absence of family rituals.

We are as a culture/society increasingly falling into love and prefer our own inventions and creations over that which was created for us. In a sense, many, both individually and societally have fallen in love with ourselves. As JP recently pointed out on Twitter which banned him for it, we use to have a word for that, and it was a vice, not a virtue.

One criticism I would give to Jordan Peterson is that he needs to learn when not to interrupt. I don't understand how a person of high intellect such as himself doesn't have a feel when to talk and when to listen. Some guests, noticing that, would even start their sentence with ''this is important, let me finish'' - you would think he would learn by now.

"Glasses that are illegal to take off and show you what others want you to see". What an awesome idea for a dystopian (not so)sci-fi novel! Someone needs to write it

As a 4 year old in 1990 in Oklahoma my mom would take me to the river behind our house and show me how tadpoles became frogs. I was amazed. We had four channels on TV and I wasn't allowed to watch, nor did I care to. I was always too busy taking in the natural environment around us. I hated being indoors. My heart mourns for younger folks who are addicted to the overstimulation of the online landscape. The internet is great, but the natural world has primacy. It always will and it always should.

This could be partly why people are looking for a safe space as well in university and other places. The reason why I say this is because children need to feel safe in order to play and experiment. If they dont feel safe they don't play. I heard JP talk about this in another episode. I experience this on occasion now. I want people to leave me alone so i can experiment

Jordan, I love you to pieces, and I understand you've been trying to interrupt guests less (I heard you mention this in a podcast), but please let your guests finish articulating their point. Sometimes they're explaining a thought which I - and I imagine others - would really like to hear in full, and they seldom return to it once interrupted. I'll also mention I have noticed you've been interrupting less in recent episodes I've listened to, so I commend you for that, and I appreciate you're efforts to improve your podcasts for all our benefit.

When my son was tiny, he was a Transformer. After his bath one night, he curled up on the floor and I was supposed to know what machine he had become! I had no idea. That little emperor had no clothes.

Addiction to tech and social media has ruined humanity. Especially the prospect for finding a wife and starting a family now. I'm in my 30s, and I haven't had a girlfriend since 2012. The same year tinder came out. Nothing. At all. No one.

i'll argue there is no 'homeless' crisis as we can't fight 'homelessness.' A person couch surfing is considering homeless. A person who is a renter, while does have shelter, can also fall into the same category. What we, as a western society, should really do is define what the actual issue is and ensure we fight that - and that's an unemployed addict epidemic that's tied to a mental health crisis we're fighting as a society as well...

Go outside, smell the air , Watch nature and understand, this is reality and its hard and it hurts and there is no reset button

Some people look for reasons and some people look for excuses .

3:36 they already did something like that in a tv show called “black mirror” Peoples computers were in their contact lenses

A civil war between those for whom the digital vs physical world has primacy is a fascinating way to look at modern social issues. It nicely fits the rejoinder "Twitter isn't the real world" that's come into being recently.

Marvelous insight boys.😊

I worked at a job where the majority of people were 17-18. They all sat/walked around with their phones up to their heads listening to podcasts and anime the whole shift

Genius point about consequences of not engaging in fantasy play! Spot on!!!

I absolutely love this stuff. Brilliant and so simple to the norm. Cheers guy's

It’s so difficult especially as a content creator because you’re always interacting with your audience and working to grow your brand. For me the best solution it’s to actually leave my phone at home and put it completely out of reach.

I'm glad my childhood was one where Internet use wasn't as ubiquitous as it is today. Can't imagine being at that critical developmental stage and constantly connected, wondering how many likes a certain social media post got. The psychological consequences will be terrible as a young person enters into their adolescence and adulthood.

3:30 Metavetse AR and VR is exactly that!

That’s really fascinating

Great clip! -Dave the clips guy

It's almost as though we are at the beginning of creating a living simulation. With advancements in AI and the internet it's becoming harder to differentiate between what is real and what isn't.

Two great minds!!!!

All of the internet is not your social media presence guys. Not everyone has your goal of spreading messages. So much training takes place that no word goes out of. Hell, world of Warcraft trained a 12 year old me on how to engage with adults, groups, build an application for a job(guild) and apply, be rejected, correct mistakes, network, succeed, work with 39 others to complete tasks down to the second. Most of my guild road tripped to meet later in life, PEOPLE DRIVE EVERYTHING.

I've had a short break from my addiction in the past 10 days or so not intending but it has been a bit of an opener & mind opener i have sat with less distraction and have noticed deeper thoughts poking through giving me a better understanding of certain like what it means to be a vegan much more than just abstaining. .i can see connections to freud ..jung ..Shakespeare. ..lines in some poems ..its way deeper than i can imagine & this happened within a few short days off the inernet ..scary

It's not the technology itself, it's the way people have decided to use it.

I've always maintained that a lot of the social changes people seem to want are premature and only make sense in an environment where the physical is sufficiently malleable through technology, essentially a posthuman environment. Seeing these changes as being caused by essentially an overreliance or addiction to being in the reality you choose to be in, rather than accepting that you have little control of how reality actually is, is an interesting way to view that.

Where is the full video?

This is an incredible postulation from Brett. "The online landscape is postmodern." It's unfortunate that I think he's almost certainly correct.

A treat to listen to these two great thinkers having a discussion.

There is an element of fear and frustration to the irrational mindset due to the the over abundance of information and the lack of reliability of the source of information that forces people to trust whatever identity group they prioritise .The lack of objectivity leads to more extremism and intolerance .

Where is the full discussion between these two?

Fascinating.

Social media destroys the weak and weakens the strong.

How can be people have a real life if they’re living a fantasy life on social media? It’s sad that people can’t find joy in the real world with its flaws. The struggle and overcoming the struggle gives us meaning and fulfillment.

I didn’t have enough play being young. I would say it is necessary. Is that a time of open freedom? No judgement?

I've decided to reject modernity some time ago. My vehicles are mechanically controlled; no computers. RU-vid is as close to social media as I get. Land line telephone only! If I'm out, I'm busy. Leave a message. No television! I have a good size home library. No GPS, I know my way around a map. I live much as we did before the turn of the century. Nobody is going to turn me into a product. I'm not livestock. I much rather interact with the real world and maintain the capacity to recognize reality and observe it as it is.

Great work, btw.

8:00 was maybe the most important bit in this conversation. Seems Brett was making a sort of analogy with the aircraft that people whose only flight experience is in a video game now think that experience qualifies them to become the pilot of a real airplane, and their lack of understanding between the virtual and physical is potentially fatal to civilization. How can we hope to maintain any grounding in our material world of consequences when we are producing a massive population of people whose judgements are increasingly informed by the digital world? The rules of digital reality are not the same as the 'real' world, and failing to address that distinction is dangerous. Brett is brilliant as usual.

Do you guys remember the Butlerian Jihad from Dune? That's why Herbert was such a great author

the part at 3:40 would make for an amazing movie or TV series.

Both points spot on, "a problem we'll explained is half solved"

It's funny, I've been waiting for JP to have this conversation with someone like Bret. As a man born in the 90s, I was around social media like Bebo Facebook etc. I'm more aware now of how social media works because of documentaries about how our data is shared and profited off. I've stayed away from new generations of social media, I stick strictly to facebook if any at all but alot of my old friends have deleted their accounts. I would say I have distanced myself from my "online" prescence, it's maybe 10% of who I really am.

I'm so glad I grew up in the 90s / early 2000s before smart phones were ubiquitous. I remember skateboarding down the street to knock on my friend's door to see if they were home and could come skate. We'd coordinate sleepovers via land line phones. Sure we'd engage in "digital" activities such as watching movies and playing N64, but that seems so harmless compared to the addicting algos of Tik Tok and other social media.

best part about the internet is broadcasting 16 different versions of yourself as an experiment in breaking yourself into small pieces without affecting your day to day life, it's wonderful and it's art

We're being taught to see the online world the way the Avatar character, Jake Sully, saw life via his Na'vi meat puppet: the restrictions of our nature are left behind and we are suddenly given a brighter, more fun, more meaningful world to inhabit, one that is so much better than the one our bodies inhabit that it's actually worth ditching your very body to merge into. The old saying, "if it seems too good to be true, it probably is" comes to mind.

The internet has made things far more convenient, but I think it’s benefits are outweighed by the drawbacks one of which in my opinion is that it encourages this narcissism especially amongst our youth that have never before been seen.

3:50 technically, that's considered stealing, which is definitionally illegal to take from them

So wouldn't it be better to title the video, how the internet and more importantly social media is negatively effecting you. Couldn't agree more with everything said. As a adult who grew up in the time when social media wasn't so prevailent. I watched as a teenager as friends and peers became absorbed in it. I wasn't so absorbed because I didn't own a smartphone until I was 21 years old, and if I wanted to go on the internet I had to be sitting in front of a desktop so my time there was limited as I had to share that with my parents and siblings. For nearly a decade of my life I sat in rooms with people who talked about another world I had no idea about, and that world seemed to be more important than the physical one we were sitting in. At the first instance of becoming more active in social media I was overwhelmed. Overwhelmed by trying to manage two lives, two personas, two worlds. Eventually I came to a fork and that was, which world is more important. My physical life, or my digital. I chose physical, and quickly I was outcasted. The person that I became as an adult was very apparently different from those around me. To the extent that I began to feel a disconnection between me and other humans. In truth I had never felt more alone. In a world of billions of people I felt alone, ironic really. I still feel that disconnect to this day. Thank you Jordan, you have brought me a lot of peace and stability mentally, where I was failing to make sense of myself.

I love you Jordan and I wish you would interrupt your guests less.

I don't play the pronoun game, but if someone is so silly as to ask for my personal pronoun, I will say: "Call me 'your Highness' or 'your Majesty.'" Everybody else can call me "Jim" or whatever else they might think of. "Hey you" works just as well.

I saw this coming a long time ago, hence this handle I've gone by online for more than a decade. It helps me distinguish me from my web presence, which isn't very remarkable or different, but it has its own history, and developed parallel to me. It's a record that could be used in the future in my defense, or to condemn me to death, and everything inbetween. Are you consistent in your personal interactions, in your interactions with officials, and in your online contributions? Our identities may be molded and influenced by what we take in, but who we are is interpreted by others on our output. For some, this means how they look and sound, what fashions they wear, or what football team they support, but the true measures of character still stand. By their fruits ye shall know them, and where their hearts are, that is where they shall be also. This all applies to our web presences too, and for many, the internet has been their chance to express some of the shallowest, most poisonous, nihilistic and narcissistic aspects of themselves. I don't actually think this is even necessarily a bad thing for society, so long as those who aim higher than the lowest common denominator these social media platforms so often degenerate into, have the ability to discern who is who. Good fruit grows on good trees and bad fruit grows on bad trees, and we need to discern the two. I'm so glad that content creators like these can help people gain the skills and knowledge they need to apply this to all the other content they are exposed to. What I'm seeing now is that while all the shallow people are still congregating towards these online swamps, there are more and more characters striving towards the higher ground, followed by people for whom the shallows no longer hold any attraction. I seriously hope that there's enough of us.

Bret clearly has it. And DAMN is it scary. Really really scary. The generational divide is going to soon be beyond what we can even find words to converse in.

So all of us that grew up in the 80s, 90s and young enough to be fairly tech savvy are still rooted in the physical world. As a middle aged guy, I am fairly savvy but I don't dwell in the online environment, my innate understanding is that it's unhealthy. I do my work (online as most people do) during the day and then go to my physical life in the evening, I disconnect though... This is a crucial step as it helps me navigate life's obstacles with greater clarity and emotional balance than people half my age as I am rooted in base reality. This all makes sense now, the fragility and emotional displays have become a norm in our society that are becoming very concerning. Great discussion, thanks!

lol I love listening to dr Peterson talk but this was the one time I wanted to hear the other speaker more. wish he didn't interrupt him so much

I've been thinking about this a lot over the past day or so, and on and off for quite some time. A clash between objective and subjective realities. Amongst people close to you in the objective/real world allowance for subjective preferences seems quite workable. It doesn't seem at all reasonable to impose those subjective preferences upon the broader online community, especially when you're not being directly interacted with in that community. That is, spoken of and not spoken to. Hard to envisage anything other than a myopic downward spiral of randomly pointless emotive nonsense negating the potential of the internet in a dangerous and harmful way.

Negotiations are special to certain class of people by the internet.

This is literally the theme of an anime from the 90's. Serial Experiments Lain.

I would pay too watch Jordan Peterson watch "Serial Experiments Lain." The psychological elements of Avatars in an online space surpassing the individuals themselves was articulated in this anime back in 1998.

"It's like living in a dictionary." - that sums it up nicely

This is blowing my mind, because for me it got turned up to 11 during covid. I now have zero interest in the world outside my apartment.

It all started with online multiplayer games. Where you could choose your nick name. Once that became “normal”, game over was just over the horizon.

Human beings need experiences to be physical, social, and present to be shared and recognized as real.

Who is the person that Dr Peterson is talking with?

There's two podcasts that I watch almost every episode of since 2019, and if those two join, I am right here.

The real problem is that online, you can be erased: If your online existence is more powerful than your real existence, you can be psychologically dismantled and made to technologically disappear by the whims of some idiot content monitor or even by algorithms, and that is arguably dangerous. Play at your own risk. Be real.

Imagine that the internet goes out (entirely), and you cease to exist because all you are is online, and there is no real you in the material world. The internet is what keeps you alive and existing. Isn't this basically the plot of "Ready Player 1"?

Fascinating. The online realm IS descriptively postmodern, because it's abstracted from the environment. And that does seem to be where we could increasingly head, the human race. What with AI, brain to computer interfacing, virtual/augmented reality . . . . we could end up existing in a manner defined or sustained by a primarily or fundamentally digital framework, controlled by little more than conception (vs biology/nature)

Petersons points about identity are interesting, but beware to confuse *who or what you think you are* with *you* - consciousness having a brief experience called "human life"

2 minds I respect the most in terms of analysis

I said months ago to a friend that people can create any character and be who they want online or in video games and that this is the reason you see that phenomenon now bleeding out into the real world and causing chaos. Social media has created a parallel world all of its own that transcends national boundaries and local communities. It has also formed a quasi-religion and disseminated it across the social media world. The problem is this made up world of escapism is now bleeding out into the real world. People aren't building social media, social media is building them and using them to alter the reality of the real physical world to bring it into line with the "utopia" that is online existence.

One massive electro magnetic pulse and we're back to hunter gatherers.

There’s a man sitting in Florence, CO that tried warning us about this.

When our family went on vacations I made my kids leave their electronics at home. Yea they had to watch the scenery out the window. So cruel.

I think a great and funny part of Peterson's online presence is a YTP channel called "Very Tall Bart" Cracks me right up.

The amount of narcissistic psychopaths(really hate using psychopath cause it gives them too much credit, really)out there with countless different numbers and accounts, and made up personas; that are willing and get down right giddy over using these to wreak havoc in our lives is quite impressive. They are everywhere. We're only just beginning. If you're somewhat sensitive about your privacy and value your freedom to choose what you will and won't be a part of, my prayers are with you! Be safe

I remember that before personal computers even existed the same things were being said about the "Boob Tube". Even a book informs and corrupts the mind.

I think you could argue, very strongly, that the device-ridden 3-4 year old settle into their identity as a digital avatar instead of a figure that they imitate in the real world.

I like how this ends suddenly mid-word. Like the editor is trying to point out that there is no point.

I have moved my phone to a separate room at night and am weening myself off earbuds.

Before the internet, people were more closed-minded and insular. The internet just allows you to see everyone, not just the mainstream.

When has anyone read the 98 page 'Terms of Agreement' presented by tech companies? Young people need to understand that these platforms are businesses. Businesses serve to make money, oftentimes by nefarious means. Never take this for granted, kiddos.

Tell us Jordan, how is one negatively affected by benzodiazapan?

Please tell Jordan to go on Beckett Cook’s podcast. It wd be significant.

I let you know

Evolutionary pressures have placed technology ahead of humanity to the point where humanity’s only worthwhile pursuit is novelty.

Here's something you might find interesting in a few different ways. Here is a Gen Z band, a rock trio of sisters from Monterrey Mexico called The Warning. Here's a song that they released in 2017 called XXI Century Blood, the title track of that album. It is about technology, and how it blinds us from the real outside world. They were 17, 15 and 12 years old, respectively!! 🤯 They've been writing music about the human condition ever since. Here is the Official Music Video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-syTyga3lVL0.html

I'd disagree with the "transition" analogy. It's not that you can transition - and people online must adhere to that, that's not quite how it works - I think the rules are more nuanced, a closer analogy is that that it's rules to a game, and to participate - you automatically adopt those rules. ie. Your identity online is a placard holder, the rules of the game is - you can put whatever identity you want in there: A name/pseudonym, photo (real or manufacturered) and list your explicit gender / present as a gendered avatar and people will simply "play along". For example - in many games you choose to present however you want, my 11yo son chooses to present as a bimbo girl in roblox - and many of my 30-something yo friends alternate between choosing to play as a female character, but I tend to always present as male. All this is meaningless for the purpose of playing. The interactions therein (of the games we play) completely disregard the players actual age and sex OR how they present their identity within - we just play the game according to how each of us enjoy doing so. It doesn't matter if your battling dragons as a bimbo blonde or an avatar that looks like the caricature of He-Man... If someone is not playing by the rules (be that accepting your identity, or even the game rules itself, or just being a jerk) - you can often have them kicked (removed from the session), banned (temporary or permanently removed from that environment) or you can just leave and go elsewhere (join another session). So it's not that GenZ believes they can take an identity and have others adhere to it, it's that the default mode of operation of that environment is to just accept it - enforcement of that is RARELY required; and this is where the discontinuity occurs between the online world and reality - Where in reality, identity is very much socially negotiated, so trying to "play" reality by treating your identity like an online one (as a placard holder) very much runs up against how it operates socially; and that's where a portion of the malcontent comes from - because of the "I choose my identity for today, and you are failing to play by the rules I'm used to" fallacy.