Why our screens make us less happy | Adam Alter

Translator: 潘 可儿 Reviewer: Sylvia He

So, a few years ago I heard an interesting rumor.

幾年前，我聽過一個好有趣嘅傳言：

Apparently, the head of a large pet food company

一間大型寵物食品公司嘅老總

would go into the annual shareholder's meeting

會喺年度股東大會度

with can of dog food.

And he would eat the can of dog food.

當眾食一罐狗糧

And this was his way of convincing them that if it was good enough for him,

佢想通過呢種方式嚟說服股東 既然佢敢食狗糧

咁股東啲寵物就更加可以放心食

it was good enough for their pets.

This strategy is now known as "dogfooding,"

呢種依家畀稱為「內部測試」嘅策略

and it's a common strategy in the business world.

已經成為商界嘅一種常用策略

It doesn't mean everyone goes in and eats dog food,

佢唔係叫大家都去食狗糧

but businesspeople will use their own products

係指商人會通過使用自己嘅產品

to demonstrate that they feel --

去證明同表明

that they're confident in them.

佢哋對自己嘅產品有信心

Now, this is a widespread practice,

依家，呢種策略已經得到廣泛嘅應用

but I think what's really interesting is when you find exceptions

但係我覺得真正有趣嘅係

呢個策略唔係萬能嘅

to this rule,

因為有啲生意或者有啲商人

when you find cases of businesses or people in businesses

係唔用自己嘅產品

who don't use their own products.

而且呢種情況仲喺一個產業中比比皆是

Turns out there's one industry where this happens in a common way,

甚至形成咗一種常態

in a pretty regular way,

and that is the screen-based tech industry.

講嘅就係以屏幕為基礎嘅科技產業

So, in 2010, Steve Jobs, when he was releasing the iPad,

2010 年蘋果發佈會，喬佈斯 將 iPad 稱為一款「超凡」產品

described the iPad as a device that was "extraordinary."

"The best browsing experience you've ever had;

「你將體驗前所未有嘅

way better than a laptop, way better than a smartphone.

比手提、智能手機仲要好嘅瀏覽經歷

It's an incredible experience."

暢快到令你難以置信。」

A couple of months later, he was approached by a journalist

幾個月之後

一名來自紐約時報嘅記者去採訪佢

from the New York Times,

佢哋講咗好長嘅一通電話

and they had a long phone call.

At the end of the call,

電話結束之前

the journalist threw in a question that seemed like a sort of softball.

記者問咗啲一個好似放水嘅問題

He said to him, "Your kids must love the iPad."

「你嘅細路仔一定好鍾意 iPad。」

There's an obvious answer to this,

答案似乎必然係肯定嘅

but what Jobs said really staggered the journalist.

但喬佈斯嘅回答就令人大跌眼鏡

He was very surprised,

佢反而覺得好意外

because he said, "They haven't used it.

佢話「佢哋仲未用 iPad。

We limit how much technology our kids use at home."

我哋屋企限制細路仔 接觸科技嘅時間。」

This is a very common thing in the tech world.

呢種情況喺科技界好常見

In fact, there's a school quite near Silicon Valley

事實上，矽谷附近有間

叫做 Waldorf School of the Peninsula 嘅學校

called the Waldorf School of the Peninsula,

and they don't introduce screens until the eighth grade.

學生直到八年級先至用觸屏產品

What's really interesting about the school

有趣嘅係

is that 75 percent of the kids who go there

其中有 75% 嘅學生家長 都係矽谷嘅技術高管

have parents who are high-level Silicon Valley tech execs.

So when I heard about this, I thought it was interesting and surprising,

所以當我聽聞呢件事之後 我覺得既有趣又驚奇

and it pushed me to consider what screens were doing to me

而佢又促使我去思考 到底觸屏產品對我

and to my family and the people I loved,

對我家人、我愛嘅人

and to people at large.

對大部份嘅人到底有乜影響

So for the last five years,

所以喺過去五年間

as a professor of business and psychology,

作為一名商業同心理學教授

I've been studying the effect of screens on our lives.

我一直喺度研究 觸屏產品對我哋生活嘅影響

And I want to start by just focusing on how much time they take from us,

我先計下佢哋消耗咗我哋幾多時間

and then we can talk about what that time looks like.

然後再討論我哋用呢段時間做咗咩

What I'm showing you here is the average 24-hour workday

我哋就揀一個平常嘅工作日 按佢有 24 小時噉計

at three different points in history:

2007 -- 10 years ago --

我哋揾咗三個嘅時間點 2007 年， 即係 10 年前

2015

2015 年

and then data that I collected, actually, only last week.

同我上個星期啱收集咗數據嘅 2017 年

And a lot of things haven't changed

好多嘢都冇點變

all that much.

我哋仲係每日瞓大概 7 個半到 8 個鐘

We sleep roughly seven-and-a-half to eight hours a day;

some people say that's declined slightly, but it hasn't changed much.

有人話，睡眠時間輕微減少咗 但實際冇好大變化

我哋每日做 8 個半到 9 個鐘嘅工

We work eight-and-a-half to nine hours a day.

We engage in survival activities --

仲有啲日常活動

these are things like eating and bathing and looking after kids --

譬如食飯、沖涼、湊細路仔

about three hours a day.

每日要花費三個鐘

That leaves this white space.

咁仲剩低一啲空間

That's our personal time.

我哋嘅個人時間

That space is incredibly important to us.

呢段時間對我哋非常重要

That's the space where we do things that make us individuals.

因為我哋可以做一啲個人嘅嘢

我哋可以因此培養興趣 發展親密關係

That's where hobbies happen, where we have close relationships,

where we really think about our lives, where we get creative,

真正思考人生，變得富有創造力

where we zoom back and try to work out

自我反省，完善自身，解決問題

whether our lives have been meaningful.

令我哋嘅人生變得有意義

We get some of that from work as well,

當然，工作都有咁嘅作用

but when people look back on their lives

但係當人喺生命嘅盡頭

and wonder what their lives have been like

回顧自己嘅一生個時

at the end of their lives,

you look at the last things they say --

佢哋臨終所講嘅 都同個人時間有關

they are talking about those moments that happen in that white personal space.

So it's sacred; it's important to us.

所以個人時間係好神聖嘅 對我哋好重要

Now, what I'm going to do is show you

依家，我要做嘅就係話畀你哋知

how much of that space is taken up by screens across time.

隨著時間嘅推移 觸屏產品佔用咗我哋幾多個人時間

In 2007,

2007 年

this much.

係咁多

That was the year that Apple introduced the first iPhone.

呢年蘋果公司發佈咗第一部 iPhone

Eight years later,

八年之後

this much.

係咁多

Now, this much.

依家，係咁多

That's how much time we spend of that free time in front of our screens.

呢啲就係我哋對住屏幕嘅時間

This yellow area, this thin sliver, is where the magic happens.

呢個黃色區域，條細銀線 係魔法發生嘅地方

That's where your humanity lives.

代表住你本人嘅特質

And right now, it's in a very small box.

依家，呢個區域好細

So what do we do about this?

咁我哋要點做？

Well, the first question is:

第一個問題就係：

個紅色區域似咩？

What does that red space look like?

Now, of course, screens are miraculous

當然，觸屏產品宜家喺好多方面

in a lot of ways.

都創造咗奇跡

I live in New York,

我喺紐約生活

a lot of my family lives in Australia,

而我有好多親戚喺澳洲

and I have a one-year-old son.

我有個一歲大嘅仔

The way I've been able to introduce them to him is with screens.

佢通過屏幕嚟識得啲親戚

I couldn't have done that 15 or 20 years ago

呢個係我 15 或者 20 年前

in quite the same way.

冇辦法做到嘅

So there's a lot of good that comes from them.

觸屏產品確實帶來咗好多好處

One thing you can do is ask yourself:

你能夠做嘅一件事就係問自己：

What goes on during that time?

喺嗰段時間到底發生咗咩？

How enriching are the apps that we're using?

嗰啲應用程式到底 令我哋嘅生活豐富咗幾多？

And some are enriching.

而有啲確實係嘅

If you stop people while they're using them and say,

如果你喺人們用緊應用程式陣時 叫停佢哋，問

"Tell us how you feel right now,"

「話畀我知你依家覺得點啊？」

they say they feel pretty good about these apps --

如果用緊有關放鬆、 鍛煉、天氣 閱讀、教育、健康嘅應用程式

those that focus on relaxation, exercise, weather, reading,

佢哋會話感覺良好

education and health.

They spend an average of nine minutes a day on each of these.

佢哋平均每日每個應用程式用九分鐘

These apps make them much less happy.

而有啲應用程式就會令到佢哋冇咁開心

About half the people, when you interrupt them and say, "How do you feel?"

大概一半嘅人，當你打斷佢哋問： 「你覺得點啊？」

say they don't feel good about using them.

佢哋會講唔係咁開心

What's interesting about these --

有趣嘅係，呢啲應用程式係有關 約會、社交網絡、遊戲

dating, social networking, gaming,

entertainment, news, web browsing --

娛樂、新聞、網頁瀏覽

people spend 27 minutes a day on each of these.

人們每日平均每個應用程式 用二十七分鐘

We're spending three times longer on the apps that don't make us happy.

我哋用多兩倍嘅時間嚟令到自己唔開心

That doesn't seem very wise.

咁似乎唔係咁明智

One of the reasons we spend so much time on these apps

我哋之所以用咁多時間喺 令自己唔開心嘅應用程式

that make us unhappy

係因為佢哋令我哋停唔落嚟

is they rob us of stopping cues.

Stopping cues were everywhere in the 20th century.

停止信號遍佈 20 世紀嘅每一個角落

They were baked into everything we did.

A stopping cue is basically a signal that it's time to move on,

一個停止信號主要就係叫我哋 去做一啲新嘅、唔同嘅嘢喇

to do something new, to do something different.

And -- think about newspapers; eventually you get to the end,

你諗下，將份報紙睇到尾

you fold the newspaper away, you put it aside.

你就折好份報紙，放埋一邊

The same with magazines, books -- you get to the end of a chapter,

雜誌、書本都係咁

當你睇完一章內容 你就會去諗跟住要做啲乜

prompts you to consider whether you want to continue.

You watched a show on TV, eventually the show would end,

你去睇電視，個節目會結束

and then you'd have a week until the next one came.

你就要等成個星期先至有下一集

There were stopping cues everywhere.

停止信號無處不在

But the way we consume media today is such that there are no stopping cues.

但係我哋今日接觸嘅媒體 係冇停止信號嘅

The news feed just rolls on,

動態消息不斷湧入

and everything's bottomless: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram,

一切都變得無窮無盡： Twitter、Facebook、Instagram

郵件、短信、新聞

email, text messaging, the news.

And when you do check all sorts of other sources,

當你真係要睇曬全部來源嘅信息

you can just keep going on and on and on.

你就會一直一直睇下去

So, we can get a cue about what to do from Western Europe,

至於要點應對 我哋可以從西歐得到一啲啟示

where they seem to have a number of pretty good ideas in the workplace.

佢哋似乎喺工作方面有一啲成效

Here's one example. This is a Dutch design firm.

舉一個例子 呢個係一間荷蘭設計公司

And what they've done is rigged the desks to the ceiling.

佢哋嘅做法就係

每日下午六點準時將辦公台升到天花板

And at 6pm every day,

it doesn't matter who you're emailing or what you're doing,

無論你係發緊郵件或者咩

the desks rise to the ceiling.

張辦公檯都會畀升到天花板

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

(Applause)

（掌聲）

Four days a week, the space turns into a yoga studio,

每個星期有四日 辦公室變成一個瑜伽館

one day a week, into a dance club.

每個星期有一日，辦公室變成舞吧

It's really up to you which ones you stick around for.

由你嚟決定放工後參加咩活動

But this is a great stopping rule,

但呢個真係一個好好嘅停止信號

because it means at the end of the day,

因為咁意味住喺每日嘅結尾

everything stops, there's no way to work.

一切都要停止，無辦法再去工作

At Daimler, the German car company, they've got another great strategy.

一間叫 Daimler 嘅德國汽車公司 採用咗另一種策略

When you go on vacation,

喺你度假個時

instead of saying, "This person's on vacation,

佢哋唔講「呢個人度緊假，

they'll get back to you eventually,"

等佢返嚟就會回覆你。」

而係講「呢個人度緊假， 所以我哋刪咗你份郵件，

they say, "This person's on vacation, so we've deleted your email.

This person will never see the email you just sent."

佢永遠都唔會睇到你啱發嗰份郵件。」

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

"You can email back in a couple of weeks,

「你可以幾個星期后再發一次，

or you can email someone else."

或者乾脆發郵件畀其他人。」

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

And so --

咁所以

(Applause)

（掌聲）

You can imagine what that's like.

你可以想像一下呢種情況

You go on vacation, and you're actually on vacation.

你去度假，咁你就係真真正正咁度假

The people who work at this company feel

呢間公司嘅員工覺得

that they actually get a break from work.

佢哋係真正放低工作，得到休息

But of course, that doesn't tell us much

當然，我哋仲唔係好清楚 平時喺屋企要點做

about what we should do at home in our own lives,

我想畀大家一啲建議

so I want to make some suggestions.

It's easy to say, between 5 and 6pm, I'm going to not use my phone.

好簡單，就係我打算下午五點到六點 都唔掂我部手機

The problem is, 5 and 6pm looks different on different days.

問題係，每日嘅下午五點到六點都唔同

I think a far better strategy is to say,

我諗咗一個更好嘅策略

I do certain things every day,

我每日都會做一啲嘢

there are certain occasions that happen every day,

而其中一啲係每日固定嘅

like eating dinner.

譬如食晚餐

Sometimes I'll be alone,

有時我一個人食

sometimes with other people,

有時同其他人一齊食

sometimes in a restaurant,

有時喺餐館食

sometimes at home,

有時喺屋企食

but the rule that I've adopted is: I will never use my phone at the table.

但係我嘅原則唔變： 絕對唔喺食飯時睇手機

It's far away,

要將部手機放遠啲

as far away as possible.

越遠越好

Because we're really bad at resisting temptation.

因為我哋真係對誘惑毫無抵抗力

但係你知要停低

But when you have a stopping cue that, every time dinner begins,

所以每次晚飯開餐 我都會將部手機放到好遠

my phone goes far away,

you avoid temptation all together.

避免曬所有誘惑

At first, it hurts.

一開始好痛苦

I had massive FOMO.

因為我有好嚴重嘅「錯失恐懼癥」

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

I struggled.

我掙扎過

But what happens is, you get used to it.

但最後我竟然習慣咗

You overcome the withdrawal the same way you would from a drug,

就好似戒毒時克服毒癮咁

and what happens is, life becomes more colorful, richer,

然之後，生活就變得更加豐富多彩

more interesting --

更加有趣

you have better conversations.

你可以更加好咁溝通

You really connect with the people who are there with you.

你真正同你身邊嘅人聯繫起來

I think it's a fantastic strategy,

我覺得呢個係一個絕佳嘅策略

and we know it works, because when people do this --

我哋知道咁樣有用，我追蹤過好多人

and I've tracked a lot of people who have tried this --

當佢哋咁做時——

it expands.

呢種作用仲放大咗

They feel so good about it,

佢哋感覺非常良好

從每日早晨嘅第一粒鐘開始自律

they start doing it for the first hour of the day in the morning.

佢哋開始喺週末將手機調到飛行模式

They start putting their phones on airplane mode on the weekend.

That way, your phone remains a camera, but it's no longer a phone.

嗰時，你部手機就唔再係一部手機 而係一部相機

It's a really powerful idea,

咁真係一個好好嘅方法

and we know people feel much better about their lives when they do this.

我哋清楚大家會因此覺得生活更加美好

So what's the take home here?

咁到底重點係咩呢？

Screens are miraculous; I've already said that,

我講過，觸屏產品係好神奇嘅

and I feel that it's true.

我都覺得確實係咁

But the way we use them is a lot like driving down a really fast, long road,

但係我哋依家嘅處境就好似

and you're in a car where the accelerator is mashed to the floor,

開著一架車喺一條無盡頭嘅路上狂奔

it's kind of hard to reach the brake pedal.

似乎好難踩到刹車

You've got a choice.

你面前有兩種選擇

You can either glide by, past, say, the beautiful ocean scenes

你可以任由美景喺眼前飛逝 剩係講句「好靚嘅海景啊」

and take snaps out the window -- that's the easy thing to do --

再透過車窗匆匆影幾張相 咁好容易

or you can go out of your way to move the car to the side of the road,

或者你可以離開公路，泊車埋邊

to push that brake pedal,

踩腳刹車

to get out,

落車

take off your shoes and socks,

除低鞋襪

take a couple of steps onto the sand,

喺沙灘上漫步

feel what the sand feels like under your feet,

感受沙粒帶來嘅觸覺

walk to the ocean,

走向大海

and let the ocean lap at your ankles.

等海水纏繞你嘅腳踝

Your life will be richer and more meaningful

你嘅生活會變得更加豐富、有意義

because you breathe in that experience,

因為你體驗咗新嘅經歷

and because you've left your phone in the car.

因為你將部手機留喺架車度

Thank you.

多謝！

(Applause)

（掌聲）