The Future of Tech is About LESS, not MORE (and helping us BE vs. DO)

The next Nike of Wellness companies will have taglines along the lines of “Just *Don’t* Do It (Just Be)”

“Healthy” Friction in service of the end-user, will replace zero-friction.

Cognitive prophylactics will offer a new form of neural harm reduction.

That which we make convenient, by definition we lose connection to source and origin: once a chicken is in McNugget form, do you know, or even care where it came from?

The same analytics and instrumentation stack that was built for the advertising and commerce industries will instead empower end-users to understand their own behaviors, patterns and digital addiction levels. A new form of DIY neuro-hacking will arise, with early adopters installing their own cognitive filters and agents to shield them from hijacking by neuro-programming algorithms and techniques already employed by media and commerce companies.

Customers will pay these companies on subscription models to limit themselves from their own impulses, no longer tameable via willpower in the face of infinite choice. To take away choice and impulse-fueled “convenience,” and re-shaping behaviors towards their own self-chosen goals and aspirations. (“Lower your digital addiction score to 25/100 in 6 months — money-back guarantee!”)

Alexa will resemble more a personal digital nanny, and pocket Buddha/guardian angel, than a shopping concierge.

Founders, Investors, Bankers, Analysts will start using terminology like AddictionTech, CompassionTech, MindfulTech, and HumaneTech.

Phase I of mobile/social/local digital technologies ruthlessly eliminated all forms of friction with the rallying cry of “More choice! More convenience! Lower prices! Faster service!” — but now there’s a deep impedance mismatch between the firmware of our brains, wired for survival in scarcity environments, and the cornucopia of abundance that tech has helped usher in.

I hope to help usher in this next Phase of Technology, which helps us remove impulse and addiction-driven usage of technology (which is neither good not bad — but merely a tool, amplifiying whatever intentions and energy we bring harness it with).