The Tamagotchi is one of the more curious phenomena of the 90’s: A keychain with a virtual digital pet, which had to be nurtured, fed and played with. Otherwise it would die.
Peak Tamagotchi was finally achieved when the toys were forbidden at school, because the children skipped lessons in order to feed their pets.
We now laugh at the fact that in those days real life was ignored, in order to take care of something computer generated. We think ourselves wiser.
The Tamagotchi didn’t die out however, but evolved into cell phones, tablets, and smart watches. Instead of digital pets on key chains, our fixation is now drawn by social media. Their algorithms have become the advanced weaponry to manipulate our attention.
Since focus on signal and ignoring noise is the only superpower that we truly control, the lure of the modern Tamagotchi requires that we all deploy advanced counter measures .
We need to shore up our defenses to protect our focus.
I have resolved that I will never respond to any interruption from a non-human. What’s yours?