Here’s your ONE drop:
University of Virginia tried a cruel little game.
Put people in a room. Alone. Fifteen minutes. No phone, no book, no music. Just… sit and think.
On the table: one button. Push it, get an electric shock.
Beforehand, everyone swore they hated it. They’d even pay to avoid it ($1.87 on average, college kid economics).
Then the silence started.
67% of men shocked themselves
25% of women joined in
One man went for gold, 190 shocks in 15 minutes. That’s every 4.7 seconds (some people train for marathons. He trained for masochism).
We say we want peace and quiet. We brag about mindfulness, digital detox. But when faced with actual silence, we panic.
The researchers called it “the pain of doing nothing.” Turns out your brain would rather process pain than process… nothing.
Think about the last time you sat in a waiting room, coffee shop, or even at a red light without grabbing your phone. How long before you twitched?
We're not addicted to our devices. We're terrified of our own minds.
//Ann