The Impact of Technology on Behavior & Happiness

By Ocean Palmer

Behaviors are changing.
But why?

Attention spans are decreasing at a frightening pace. Patience is down. Communication skills, written and interpersonal, are eroding. Manners are lost in self-absorption, tempers run short, rudeness runs high, and cell phone dependency approaches neurosis. Frustration is relentless, with angry reactions just keystrokes away.
On-line engagement times are rising, as are cyber-crime and bullying. Social media has turned from a happy community to a dark and negative place that tracks our every move to be used for-profit against us. The web archives and analyzes where we go and what we say, building behavioral profiles to sell to advertisers and thieves.
Road rage keeps rising, digital addiction is skyrocketing, and political unrest is fracturing societies and friendships. Information inundates us but the web has erased the lines between fact and fiction. Political emotion boils in a cauldron of emotional toxins.

Young adults are struggling too, as behavioral trends on college campuses ring alarms. Stress and suicides are up, while coping and resilience skills diminish.

How and why are these things happening? More importantly, what can you do to protect yourself and those you care about?

The answers are here. This revealing, research-based behavioral dissection by popular TV and radio guest Ocean Palmer is mandatory reading for anyone who seeks to know why crowded heads are increasing and what they can do about it.

After all, if YOU don’t look out for you...who will?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ocean Palmer
• Release date: Sep 21, 2016
• ISBN: 9781370856206

Ocean Palmer

About the author: Ocean Palmer is a globally renowned life skills expert who has taught and lectured on six continents. The author or co-author of 12 books and a major motion picture currently in pre-production, Ocean has been featured in TIME magazine and appeared coast-to-coast on all four of America’s major television networks. A popular radio guest, his interviews have been broadcast on 3,500 radio stations worldwide. One of the nation's foremost teaching experts on the topic of Worry, Ocean has taught thousands of people how to better manage their heads to minimize noise and improve efficiency. His award-winning book Managing the Worry Circle (How to Improve Your Life by Worrying Less) is a globally respected text. Ocean has written professional comedy throughout his career and for several years performed standup. Having opened for some of the nation’s top touring comedians, Ocean’s career lowlight and highlight occurred in the exact same ten minutes: He lost a Washington, D. C. comedy competition to a 15-year-old kid. The kid was Dave Chappelle. Ocean took it like a man, saying simply, “Well, he beat me fair and square.” A prolific writer and storyteller, Ocean lives in Denver where he spends his idle time erratically driving both golf balls and automobiles, walking his dogs, wishing he were fishing, doting spring through fall over migrating hummingbirds, and inventing every lame excuse possible to duck having to do yard work. Portable Dad is Ocean's third life skills book and continues his career-long commitment to help young adults and people with crowded heads better navigate life and work.

Book preview

Introduction

On September 15 , 2008, United States financial services titan Lehman Brothers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The collapse remains, by far, the largest implosion in U. S. economic history. Lehman’s cooked books torched investors to the tune of an estimated $640 billion in assets.

To put this seismic shock in perspective, seven years prior, Enron—a Houston-based energy company—became a household dirty word when auditors discovered accounting fraud tied to $66 billion. Enron was chump change compared to Lehman Brothers. Lehman’s shenanigans were ten times worse.

Seven weeks after Lehman collapsed, Barack Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States. This was a historic for a couple reasons, one being his ethnicity. The other was Obama’s smart, strategic use of emerging technology to expand his voter base and raise money.

Obama was the first presidential candidate to parlay the effective use of the Internet to inform and persuade voters. His opponent, John McCain, eschewed the tool and relied on traditional campaign practices.

Obama’s different approach to influencing electorate behavior was lauded by sales industry professionals. In October, just weeks prior to his election, Obama was voted Advertising Age magazine’s Marketer of the Year. Among those Obama trumped for the honor were Apple and Zappos.com, a pair of indisputable marketing powerhouses.

Soon after the election, Advertising Age ran an analysis of the Obama advertising and outreach campaign. The magazine lauded the president’s team for their understanding of ground-level marketing strategies and tactics, everything from audience segmentation and database management to the creation and maintenance of online communities.

When Obama took office in January, two things were apparent: The world was in a financial mess, and technology’s role in shaping opinion and behaviors was indisputable. In many regards, the Obama campaign dawned of a new era.

The Impact of Technology on Behaviors & Happiness is segmented into four sections:

Where We Were, which frames recession and technology’s impact on behavior and life since 2008.

Where We Are. As the slow economic recovery continues, and technology expands throughout our daily lives, we examine specific behaviors that have decreased and increased in frequency, and analyze what these changes mean to self-image, self-esteem, happiness, and contentment. We also discuss technology’s role in 2016 politics, which I call The Summer of Discontent.

Where We Are Headed looks forward at future trends and their impact on interactive communities of tomorrow.

What to Do Today. This section shares a comprehensive life skills coaching guide for those struggling with happiness, frustration, or the pursuit of contentment in an increasingly digital world.

The book links the explosion of technology since Barack Obama’s first presidential election to how and why technology has so radically changed behavior, and will continue to exert its muscles for more change for better and worse.

For those feeling squeezed by technology’s ever-lengthening tentacles, also included are tips for easily doable techniques to help manage these changing behaviors and increase happiness.

I often say that the more gadgets we invent to simplify our lives, the more complicated it seems to become. Life need not be that way. If you feel sometimes that your tools are managing you, instead of you managing them, there are specific behavioral reasons you feel that way.

The book shares solutions, so embrace and share what you learn. Fix or change what’s required and pay it forward by coaching those you care about.

Too many crowded heads perch upon the shoulders of unhappy and discontent people walking among us. Their numbers are increasing, as is digital addiction.

When we understand the impact of technology on behavior and happiness, we are better prepared to protect ourselves and remain in a happier, more positive place. Insight and understanding also deliver a bonus: We become far better coaches when assisting those in need.

Navigating life is a personal pursuit that, at times, is very much a team sport. Take care of yourself, and help others along the way.

The Old Days

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Modern Days

1

Where We Were

Prior to the economic collapse of 2008, life was pretty good. People were working, money was flowing, and phantom equity in home ownership kept rising. People were dining out, buying cars, shopping, and traveling. Our thoughts focused more on wealth accumulation than job security. We had jobs; we wanted more