It’s the summer of 1985, and the wind dances to the rhythm of Everybody Wants to Rule the World by Tears for Fears. Josu just rang my doorbell, and after asking my ama for permission, I head down to the street to see what the day has in store. Maybe we’ll play football, maybe we’ll buy a pack of sunflower seeds, or maybe we’ll hide behind a bush to see if Ane and Andoni finally kiss; it’s about time. One thing’s for sure: when night falls, we’ll be looking at the stars. We only know how to find the Big Dipper, but it doesn’t matter; it’s the best moment of the day.

Even though it’s now the summer of 2025, Josu and I are still friends. In fact, he just messaged me on WhatsApp to grab a drink at our usual bar; we’re meeting at five. We love doing the crosswords in the newspaper that’s always lying around at the bar, but we always end up looking something up on Google, otherwise, there’s no way to finish it. We’re still super nosy, too: the hours we spend stalking people we used to know on Instagram! But even with all the time that’s passed, one thing hasn’t changed: we still love watching the stars. Now, though, thanks to an app, we know where to find Orion, Lyra, and Taurus. Sometimes we even spot Venus, which amazes us. Seems like the Big Dipper isn’t enough for us anymore.

LIVING ON AUTOPILOT

As time went on, technology slowly crept into our lives: first through radio and television, then mobile phones, later home Internet, and with smartphones and laptops, our daily routines were completely turned upside down. Our alarms go off on our phones, we eat breakfast while watching the news, we drive to work with the GPS on to check for traffic, we work on a computer while listening to music on Spotify, search everything on Google and ChatGPT, and when we want to relax in the evening, we throw on a movie while playing a game on our phones. And the next day, we go back and do the exact same thing all over again.

There’s no doubt technology has brought us amazing things; no one’s denying that. But is it really necessary to use as much tech as we do every single day? Could we be overusing it?

TELL ME ABOUT YOU

The global average screen time is nearly seven hours. A day has 24. That means we spend almost 30% of the day staring at a screen or a device. And if we subtract sleep time, the day suddenly feels very short.

Spending that much time looking at a glowing rectangle takes a toll in many ways (not to mention the obvious toll on the environment, as we talked about in our previous issue), and not just the obvious things like eye strain, social isolation, or anxiety and depression, among many others.

The first thing that comes to mind is our thinking ability. Do you remember the last time you argued with someone for more than two minutes? The instant access to information is cutting short our capacity for discussion and meaningful conversation. Are you debating whether the killer in The Silence of the Lambs (1991) was played by Anthony Hopkins or Anthony Perkins? One quick Google search and you’ve got your answer. And then, onto the next thing.

In her book Reclaiming Conversation (2015), MIT professor and author Sherry Turkle argues that having meaningful conversations with our family, friends, classmates, and coworkers helps us develop self-awareness, empathy, and intellectual skills. As she puts it: “This is not an anti-technology book; it’s a book in favor of conversation. We can enjoy and benefit from technology without giving up conversation. I’d go even further: this is what we need to learn to do, because conversation is essential to our humanity, our creativity, our work, and our ability to live as a family.”

THE LAW OF MINIMAL EFFORT

Then there’s the issue of laziness. What a topic, huh? Having access to information in two seconds doesn’t even satisfy us anymore and that’s why there’s a growing trend of replacing search engines with generative artificial intelligence.

According to Search Engine Land, Google’s organic and paid CTR (Click Through Rate, a metric that measures how many clicks your content/ad gets divided by how many times it’s shown) is at a historic low. One reason for this is Google’s AI Overviews, which gives you instant answers to your questions. On top of that, more and more people are using generative AI (like ChatGPT, for example) to find answers without digging through dozens of links on a search engine.

And why is this a problem? Because when we do that, we’re not working on improving our digital literacy, which is the ability to locate, analyze, organize, understand, and evaluate information using digital tools. Being able to tell good sources from questionable ones, reading different viewpoints, and strengthening our critical thinking skills is worth way more than a quick answer. And let’s be honest: it’s really not that hard.

LOOK UP

The thing is that if technology controls our whole life, then life stops truly being ours. It’s up to us to make the effort to search, analyze, and dig through the tools we have available and make the best possible use of them to live a full life, filled with opinions, conversations, and thoughtful critique.

Because even though technology is an essential ally in our lives, we can absolutely choose to do without it when it comes to connecting with people and the world around us. Let’s try to find the beauty of the Big Dipper again.

And now that I’m old enough to go outside without asking my ama for permission, the next time I want to hang out with Josu, I won’t message him on WhatsApp; I’ll go to his house and ring his doorbell.