Netflix Brain Drain - too much of a good thing?

“God I’m bored, what time is it?”

*phone out*

“Mmm, might as well have a go on Instagram.”

*scrolls through mindlessly for a minute or two*

“Fuck this, what am I doing?"

*phone away*

“Can’t even remember what the time said."

*phone out*

I’m can only speak for myself, but my primary recourse when boredom reaches a moderate level normally lies in accessing my phone for a hit of dopamine from an amusing post or gif from WhatsApp.

Just like you're normally hungry again a mere few hours after a McDonalds, these sources of entertainment (as enjoyable as a YouTube compilation session might be) don’t often leave me feeling sufficiently enriched. More often than not, they feel like a distraction as I leap constantly from one readily available pastime to the other like a toddler on Christmas morning.

In a world where we have access to so much entertainment, it often feels like you should never ever feel bored. But maybe thats wherein lies the issue.

When we look at advancements in entertainment as a means of whiling away the hours, we can see that it can actually have impairing effects on us. Reduced attention spans can also be attributed to the prevalence of instantly gratifying digital landscapes. Whether it be Facebook, Netflix, Xbox or ASOS, we’re hooked on being able to access entertainment or purchase products whenever we want to. Similar to an addictive substance, when its not there we’re a little edgy and lost without it (anyone who’s ever binge watched will be familiar with the strange emotionally drained hangover after the season finale).

It would be foolish to resist technology, as we know that sadly those who refuse to keep up with the modern world inevitably get left behind. But similarly, being so reliant on it to the point of it impacting our interactions with the real world then surely it might be time to take a step back now and then.

Just as an example, its already known that as good as Google Maps allows us easily to find our way to places easily, studies have shown that the reduced need for the hippocampus in the brain to navigate actually decreases the ability of it. I’m not suggesting for a moment that we stop using maps, but it highlights a point that technology can have the power to physiologically dumb us down.

As a malleable organ, our brains learn to adapt to the environments around us. And when they don’t have to work too hard to stimulate themselves through imagination, its worrying to think about the stifling effect this might have on creativity and the ability to think abstractly. 

Creativity is surely an antidote to the repressive, brain-drain that technology can administer. Like the body, studies have shown that exercising the brain is important promoting health and dexterity. Art, music, sport and writing are the tools we have against the great, ever-churning lines of the mass-produced disposable entertainment.

Activities like these kick start our imaginations by encouraging our brains to formulate our own ideas through experience and discovery. They make us construct our own interpretations and allow us to express our emotions, rather than immersing ourselves in another world to escape them. 

This all might sound a miserable millennial struggling accepting the ending of a particularly time invested Netflix original, but when we consider how the world around us is changing its worth considering the potential importance that nurturing our brains can hold.

We're all aware of the impact that artificial intelligence is having on the jobs market, and how automated machines are becoming faster and more efficient at certain jobs than humans could ever be. Whether you subscribe to the doomsday foretelling of robots "taking everyones jobs" or you welcome the prospect, creativity and true art is an all very human quality that robots will never emulate. What story could a robot ever have experienced to put to music, or express through a painting or contemporary dance?

The very fact is that creativity lies behind all of these advances in technology or  in the form of a human discovery and invention. Behind every new Snapchat filter or documentary, will be someone who has dreamed it up and brought it to life.

In this way, creativity will always thrive to those who attempt to harness it. So we should always try and exercise it more.