Natalie Luderman

I have, from a young age, been diagnosed with a variety of mental health problems. Some were more accurate than others. All were symptomatic of the life I live and the society we exist in. I think my first screen addiction was TV, followed by my phone when I was a teenager. It was easier to numb and distract myself from the pain I was in, and the pain I could feel from the world, than to do anything about it. This coping mechanism lasted into my mid twenties and I still have to fight myself to just put my phone down. Every time I do though, I am better for it. Happier and healthier. That is one of the many reasons I signed up for the 20Talk challenge. I cannot go back in time to help my younger self, but I can help to raise money for the youth of today who - with the creation of AI - are facing emerging challenges of unprecedented severity. The neurological damage from overreliance on AI technology is a terrifying indictment of the direction our society is currently headed in. Besides the damage to mental and physical health, AI technology is also being prioritised over human lives - where some people in the world die from dehydration, more and more AI data centres are cooled with what precious water we have left on the planet, because a bunch of psychotic billionaires would rather keep us stupid/complacent/distracted/suicidal than risk us thinking about what the real problems of the world are (hint; it's the greed and narcissism of billionaires!). I will take great joy in reclaiming 20 hours of my life that would otherwise likely contribute to their data mining (though I'm sure my participation alone will unfortunately generate some data for them anyway). I will take even greater joy in the donations I raise - the earlier youth realise that phones are designed to be addictive, the sooner they can manage their relationships with them. It is possible to use phones as tools for good, so long as YOU use the phone and don't let the phone use you.

I am signing up for 20Talk to prove to myself that I CAN go 20 hours without screen time, and SO CAN YOU. We do not need phones. We need a connection with ourselves! We need each other!

Any and all reduction in the overconsumption of technology is a win for people and planet. So please, donate if you can. The mental health of our youth is the wellness of the future of people and planet. 

A poignant (paraphrased) quote I read recently - "do not pity the moth for believing a lamp is the sun, when you search for the world through a screen". For a long time, I was miserable looking at the world through a screen and thought and felt my life was not worth living. Really though, it was a life of screen time that was not - and is not - worth living. Life and human connection happens when I get off my phone, not onto it. So get yourself offline more, so we can all be in life together!

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I hope we all are able to use technology with more mindfulness and intention, and less compulsion and coersion, going forward. 

How many hours can you go without technology?

Natalie x