Technology is a double-edged sword

Originally published by Justin Rosenstein on LinkedIn: Technology is a double-edged sword

Recently I sat down with Ted Koppel at CBS Sunday Morning to discuss the urgent problems we face with technology and what we can do about them. You can see the piece here: Overload: How technology is bringing us too much information (from 4:00 til end).

Technology is a double-edged sword. Social media, for example, has had profoundly positive effects on the world–from helping loved ones stay connected, to helping spread important social movements like #MeToo. It has also had real negative consequences–including continual distraction, screen addiction, political polarization, and misinformation.

We as technologists need to be a part of the solution, not part of the problem, and good intentions aren't enough. We have a core responsibility to mindfully design tools to help align people's attention with their intention . And we as users of technology must learn to use technology mindfully, rather than allow the technology to use us.

This moment is a wake-up call for all of us. If we do not take it, we put at risk our ability to be present–the capacity to show up to our own lives–and to engage in the critical thinking required for functioning workplaces, democracies, or selves. We risk being the last generation that can remember what life was like before permanent distraction; we risk walking off civilization's cliff while staring at our phones.

Instead, we can collectively choose to re/design these technologies and our relationship to them. Done mindfully, software and hardware can be tools for achieving life goals, verifying information, and developing empathy for other perspectives. Put another way, social technology can help us become history's most informed and compassionate citizenry.

I don't profess to have all the answers for how to do this, but I believe in our collective capacity and responsibility to do so, as both creators and users of technology. This is why I've been working with other technology leaders (including at Facebook) who are engaging passionately in developing solutions, and why we've taken a mindful approach to product design at Asana. There is much more work to be done, and I am committed to doing whatever I can in service to our cognitive freedom and social evolution.

Thank you to Ted Koppel for taking time to bring more awareness to this topic. If you like this post, follow me on LinkedIn and Twitter . You can also subscribe to Wavelength , Asana's publication for teams who aspire to do great things together—through a mindful, purposeful approach.