vices

The news apocalypse

A type of content that is less commonly known to provoke dependency is news. By news, I mean not just the regular news bulletins in the media (TV, radio, social media, Internet) but also any kind of media content about current issues – social, political, cultural, sports, entertainment, etc. One might ask, what harm is there in watching or reading news? The answer is that, like many other forms of content addiction, news addiction leads to serious consequences in the psychological life of those impacted by it. This is not about the occasional, dispassionate consumption of news, but about a full life-altering dependency that changes the way you view yourself and the world.

Imagine for a second how a techalcoholic with a news addiction leads their life. They watch news on the TV while simultaneously reading an article on the Internet. They also check out posts and comments on multiple social media platforms, then revert back to watching talk shows or listening to podcasts on the same topic. They perform these activities almost concurrently, going back and forth from one device to another, from one channel to another, from one piece of content to another. They absorb internally whatever the algorithms and the daily trends and ratings decide is important for that day, like a drug addict consuming the drugs they are addicted to. They are in an informational whirlwind, which takes them mentally from one place to another in an erratic, forced, unstable way. They get a diabolical enjoyment and sense of satisfaction from watching and seeing all the confrontation, misery, and tragedy of the world from their comfortable armchair at home, but this enjoyment doesn’t last very long and is always replaced by an inner emptiness that they cannot hide. They feel satisfied that they are a modern, evolved person belonging to the civilized modern world, unlike those primitive savages in exotic places who are incurring all sorts of catastrophes.

The psychological effects of news dependency are manifold:

  • Superficiality and egotism
  • Overrating and overtrusting their own reasoning abilities
  • Inclination to judge others negatively
  • Seeing evil in everything, including themselves
  • Starting to believe the most ludicrous ideas and theories
  • Being easy to manipulate while considering themselves very smart and educated
  • Experiencing depression, despair, and an apocalyptic state of mind

The problem that techalcoholics have with the news deluge is essentially a matter of perspective. They believe that the more information they have from the outside, the better off they are. But they don’t know what someone like St. John Chrysostom said a long time ago: “Happiness can only be achieved by looking inward [not outward] and this requires transforming greed [incl. greed for information and knowledge] into gratitude”.

Porn – a spiritual atomic bomb

One of the significant achievements of modern technological advancements is the widespread access to content that, from any traditional or classical perspective, would be considered obscene, pornographic, or spiritually harmful. In the past, there was a socially-approved conduct that individuals had to follow to be part of society, which largely prevented the spread of obscenities and pornography among the masses. While it is true that the enforcement of this behavior sometimes went to extremes, modernity has shattered these norms and swung to the opposite extreme, turning obscenity and pornography into a perceived human right.

Obscene and pornographic content can now be accessed by anyone, including children, on any device, at any time. Pornography is perhaps the most accessed type of content on the internet and has become a major cultural trait of our times. Many view it as a legitimate business and a normal form of leisure. What are some of the effects of this on psychological, spiritual, and social levels?

  • Porn is addictive, and addictions are always detrimental in the long run.
  • Porn gradually changes the way you think, often without you realizing it, and affects how you view yourself, others, and the world around you.
  • Porn often impacts you in very tangible ways: you may become fickle, unstable, nervous, impatient, unreliable, moody, weak, and unable to function both mentally and physically.
  • Consumption of porn leads to other sexual deviations and prevents you from living a normal family life.
  • Porn has negative consequences on your social life and how you interact with family, friends, coworkers, and, in the long term, is a major contributor to failure and disappointment.
  • Porn, along with the string of other sexually deviant behaviors it generates, leads to a decline in birth rates and demographic trends, which can be viewed as a form of collective social suicide. If you can fulfill your sexual desires and fantasies independently, without any real connection or relationship, and without any higher goal attached to it, why would you go through the hassle of starting and maintaining a family and perpetuating the species?

An atomic bomb is known for its destructive power in the physical realm, as it destroys everything within its blast range, and the surroundings remain contaminated for many years to come. Porn has similar effects at the spiritual level and leads to the same kind of destruction at the social level in the long term.

Introduction au techalcoolisme

À l’exception de quelques tribus isolées et populations marginales, nous sommes tous plus ou moins dépendants de la technologie. Notre essence en tant que personnes modernes, notre appartenance au monde moderne, est définie par l’utilisation à grande échelle de la technologie, qui nous permet de réaliser des choses qui n’étaient pas possibles auparavant ou l’étaient dans une bien moindre mesure. Cependant, c’est précisément ce caractère essentiel que la technologie a pour la personne moderne, ce sentiment d’être indispensable, qui fait que certains d’entre nous ignorent les risques et dangers qu’un usage imprudent de la technologie entraîne. C’est ainsi que naissent les addictions à la technologie avec tous leurs effets négatifs, c’est ainsi que certains d’entre nous deviennent des techalcoolique.

Humbleness and programmatic effort as key remedial methods

Addictions of all kinds do a lot of damage to the human being in its entirety. So does tech alcoholism. Your mind, your thinking, your heart, your feelings, your willpower, your body, all of them are affected in numerous negative ways. When you’ve reached the point where you realize you just can’t control yourself and do things that you don’t want to do, the damage you’ve incurred is already quite serious. At both psychological and physical levels.

There are 2 ways to get out of the chains and break the cycle:

  • Humbleness as a spiritual attitude toward yourself and the world. You need to recognize the state in which you are, you need to recognize that it is your own mistakes and deficiencies that brought you there, and you need to recognize that you need outside help. Humbleness in practice means, for instance, seeking out help in those wiser than you, asking others when you have questions, doubts, not relying too much on your own opinions and ideas.
  • Programmatic effort to tame the impulses of your body, to enable the mind to become purer and regain control of itself, to increase your willpower. Examples of this are fasting, physical work, sports to some extent, prayer and meditation, assisting religious service, occasional refraining from sleep, etc.

A lot of these ideas can be found in a more developed form in the Philokalia, a collection of texts about spiritual warfare and how to grow spiritually. A good intro to Philokalia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lR-lI425KqE

Examples of techalcoholism

Techalcoholism is a kind of addiction (also known as dependence or vice) that is very common these days. In contrast to other kinds of more traditional addictions (alcohol, drugs, smoking, sex, etc.), which are very well known by most people and recognized as damaging to the human being, techalcoholism is fairly new in the addictions market and many are quite clueless to its existence and potential harming effects.

You only need to have a deeper look at yourself and around you to see all kinds of techalcoholism: phone addiction, social media addictions, porn addiction, gaming addiction, different movie genres addiction, news addiction, etc. Techalcoholism is present everywhere and its consequences, just like the consequences of traditional addictions, can also be felt everywhere.