The negative effects of technology are widely known, yet we refuse to acknowledge them.

Instead of just relying on research to understand the effects of technology, such as addiction to our devices and decreased face-to-face interaction, we must also use our own wits to identify these effects in ourselves.

The realities of how technology changes us should be evident with or without scientific research.

We are training our brains to never completely focus on a given task due to impending notifications from our ever-present phones. Our attention spans have dwindled down to a mere eight seconds, according to a 2015 Time Magazine article. This is hardly enough time for a brief scroll through Instagram.

Many of my family members and UVM friends have said how dangerous and all-consuming technology is and agree that its effects are changing us.

Some said they were addicted to technology, yet seemed unconcerned about the issue. Many admitted to an addiction to technology, yet do not find it alarming and instead laugh it off as if it were inevitable.

Imagine how this affects the classroom, university, human interaction and everything else. According to a poll conducted on May 3, by Common Sense Media, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping kids in a world of technology, 50 percent of high school students feel addicted to their smartphones.

We are the rushed generation, a generation lost and distracted because of constant connectedness to technology.  Information overload and increased rapid exchange of information are leaving us confused and lost.

I suggest that technology is clogging our thinking and keeping us from productive introspection.

We must slow down and detach ourselves from constant connection.

Stop. Think. Reflect.

When we engage in introspection, we start to grasp how we are chained to technology.

Google can’t help us, YouTube can’t either. Alone, maybe with a pen in hand, we all need to think about how deep and far-reaching addictive technological habits can be.