In this episode, Terrence welcomes Emmy-nominated filmmaker, speaker and Webby Awards Founder Tiffany Shlain to the podcast. Terrence and Tiffany discuss her career path, the societal impact of technology, and the inspiration for her book, 24/6: The Power of Unplugging One Day a Week. They share their thoughts on how the digital age has impacted not just the way we live our lives, but how we think, feel and communicate with one another. Tiffany expounds on her family’s decade-long transformative practice of turning off screens one day each week for what she calls her Technology Shabbat. Finally, Terrence and Tiffany explore what the future could look like for our world if we act swiftly and resist the addiction that technology has inflicted on us as a people.
What We Covered
- 03:05 – Introducing today’s guest, Tiffany Shlain
- 05:52 – Tiffany’s career path
- 09:10 – Two seminal events that shaped Tiffany’s life
- 10:29 – The origin of the Webby Awards
- 13:02 – A simple practice Tiffany has implemented in her life
- 15:27 – Is technology our doom or deliverance?
- 21:00 – Character Day
- 23:51 – Breaking down the relationship between technology and society
- 26:11 – How screens have become a 24/7 addiction
- 30:49 – The stress that smart phones induce
- 32:59 – The Five-Minute Journal
- 34:20 – Brain science
- 35:55 – Terrence speaks to his own usage of technology
- 38:04 – Tiffany encourages the audience to participate in unplugging for a full 24 hours for four straight weeks
- 40:52 – The beauty of the text Shabbat
- 43:17 – Terrence and Tiffany speak to the newness of this technological phenomenon
- 46:45 – Terrence poses an interesting thought experiment to Tiffany
- 55:01 – Terrence leaves the audience with one big idea
Tweetables
You could say that I’ve really been focused on this issue of technology – what does it mean to be human, when does technology amplify us and when does it amputate us? Click To Tweet When you’re this distracted, it’s really hard to do big picture thinking. Click To Tweet I never expected, I never ever expected, that everyone would be just staring at screens all the time and not being present in the real world. Click To Tweet It is clear that what was begun as a mission to connect and unite mankind has mutated into a pernicious distortion machine that has disconnected mankind and put us at each other’s throats and, in doing so, has destroyed and is… Click To Tweet It takes twenty-three minutes to regain your flow when you’ve been interrupted and just seeing someone else’s smart phone go off on the table will distract you. Click To Tweet It’s our favorite day of the week. We’re not giving up something. It’s literally our favorite day because we’re doing all things that you don’t really do anymore because you’re on your phone. Click To Tweet It’s such a liberating feeling when you realize you don’t need permission to tell everyone in your life, ‘Ya know, I’m gonna take twenty four hours completely off just to recharge.’ Click To Tweet It’s not healthy. It’s just not healthy do be this available to everything and everyone at every moment. Click To Tweet I often say that civilization is going to die by convenience. Click To TweetLinks Mentioned
Terrence’s LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/terrencemcnally/
Terrence’s Website – http://aworldthatjustmightwork.com/
Terrence’s Email – temcnally@mac.com
Tiffany’s Websites – https://www.letitripple.org/about/tiffany-shlain/ & http://24SixLife.com
Tiffany’s Twitter – @tiffanyshlain https://twitter.com/tiffanyshlain
Tiffany’s Instagram – @tiffanyshlain https://www.instagram.com/tiffanyshlain/
Tiffany’s Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=623232620
Tiffany’s Book – 24/6: The Power of Unplugging One Day a Week
Websites Mentioned:
https://www.letitripple.org/character-day/
Books Mentioned:
The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power
24/6: The Power of Unplugging One Day a Week
Documentaries Mentioned:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iX8GxLP1FHo
