“Your Attention Is the Most Valuable Thing You Have” | Jonathan Haidt, Social Psychologist

Aprendemos Juntos, a BBVA initiative for a better world. Jonathan Haig Jonathan Haig is one of the most influential voices in contemporary thought and one of the world's leading intellectuals in the study of human behavior, morality, education, and society. A profesor a New York University and the author of some of the most influential books on recent decades, Hyde has transformed our understanding of why we think the way we do, how our beliefs are formed, and which psychological forces drive polarization, cultural conflict, and the growing well-being crisis affecting younger generations. His books have become essential reading for educators, business leaders, policy makers, and millions of readers around the world. Imagine if you were trying to work whatever your work is, and there was always a clown standing next to you saying, hey, do you want some bubblegum? Play this game. Hey, look over there. Okay, how much work would you get done? Imagine if you're trying to read a novel or a book for homework, and there's always a clown standing next to you saying, hey, look over here, read this, watch this. That's our life nowadays. There's always a clown in our pocket. There's always an entertainment system. There has never been anything as entertaining as an iPhone. Raise your hand if you have ever ridden a bicycle. Raise your hand if you've ever ridden a bicycle. Okay, a lot of, most of you. Raise your hand if you ever got hurt on a bicycle, you ever fell down. Raise your hand. So everybody, okay. Now, raise your hand if you wish that bicycles were never invented, that we had a world with no bicycles. Raise your hand if you want that. Anyone? Nobody. Okay, so everyone was hurt by a bicycle. Nobody wishes that they were not invented. Raise your hand if you've ever posted anything on social media. Raise your hand if you've ever posted anything on social media. Okay, so a lot of you. Raise your hand if you've ever been hurt on social media. Raise your hand if anything bad has happened to you on social media. Raise your hand. Many fewer, some of you, but many less than bicycles. Now, how many of you wish that social media was never invented, that we lived in a world with no social media? Raise your hand. Okay, so that's about a third of you, but about half of the ones who've used social media. So my point is that a bicycle is a normal consumer product. We use it. We enjoy it. We sometimes get hurt on it. We're glad it exists. Social media is not a normal consumer product. Everyone feels they have to use it because everybody else is using it. But when you give people, including young people, when you give people the option, what if it was never invented? Would that be good or bad? Most young adults say, that would be really good. I wish it didn't exist when I was a teenager. And so this is what we're here to talk about. What has social media done to childhood? And I'm glad there's so many young people here. Because some of you may be on social media. Some of you, you're mad at your parents because they don't let you on social media. Pero todos todos todos todos todos todos todos todos todos todos todos todos todos todos todos todos todos todos todos todos todos todos todos Hola, Jonathan. Yo soy Silvia Álava, soy psicóloga y te traslado una duda que nos hacen muchas veces los padres en consulta. Y es que ellos consideran que sus hijos lo están haciendo relativamente bien porque practican deporte, tienen ocio al aire libre, además quedan con amigos y luego, sin embargo, en casa también es verdad que les están viendo mucho tiempo en las redes sociales. ¿Crees que existe evidencia de si ese equilibrio entre la vida offline y online es posible? Yes, it is certainly possible to have a balance between offline and online. But that's because online life includes many good activities. Watching a movie is a good thing. There's no problem watching a movie. But what we're talking about here isn't online.