Wake Up

Balancing Technology in a Digital World

• Season 1 • Episode 62

Share episode

Send us a text

The digital revolution has transformed how we communicate, work, and interact with the world—but at what cost to our spiritual well-being? In this thought-provoking episode, Dr. Douglas James Cottrell examines our complex relationship with technology and offers wisdom on maintaining balance in an increasingly screen-dominated world.

Dr. Douglas frames our technological evolution as an extension of human thinking rather than an external force. From historical transitions (horse-drawn carriages to automobiles, boats to airplanes) to today's smartphones and AI, each generation faces its own technological disruption. The key difference today? The unprecedented pace of information delivery has left many—especially young people—feeling perpetually behind, anxious, and spiritually disconnected.

Drawing on the biblical story of Mary and Martha, Dr. Douglas reminds us that genuine human connection should take precedence over constant digital engagement. He notes how physical touch and direct communication are fundamental human needs increasingly sacrificed for digital convenience. Our relationship with technology often mirrors addiction patterns, demanding conscious control rather than complete rejection.

For parents concerned about children's relationship with technology, Dr. Douglas advocates establishing clear boundaries before introducing devices. Rather than prohibition (which often increases desire), he suggests creating agreements about usage times while ensuring alternative activities that encourage real-world exploration and creativity.

Looking toward a future with increasingly sophisticated AI and robotics, Dr. Douglas maintains these technologies will continue developing to meet genuine needs in society. The solution isn't rejection but awareness—using these tools without becoming subservient to them.

Ready to reclaim your relationship with technology? Try simple practices like scheduled device-free time, allowing calls to go to voicemail, or consciously delaying responses to messages. These small steps help restore personal agency and spiritual balance in our hyper-connected world.

Have topics you'd like addressed in future episodes? Contact us at info@douglasjamescottrell.com. And for personal guidance through life's challenges, consider a phone consultation with Dr. Douglas, currently offered at a special rate.

Support the show

Announcer:

Welcome to Wake Up with Dr Douglas James Cottrell, your source for helpful information, advice and tips to live your life in a mindful way in this increasingly chaotic world. For over four decades, Dr Douglas has been teaching people how to develop their intuition and live their lives in a conscious way. His news and views of the world tomorrow, today, are always informative and revealing. To learn more about Dr Douglas, be sure to visit his website, douglasjamescottrellcom, where you can download self-help exercises you can do right in the comfort of your own home. And now here's your host, Dr Douglas James Cottrell.

Douglas James Cottrell:

Welcome everyone. This is Douglas James Cottrell speaking. Welcome to the Wake Up. And this is Les Hubert. Hello, Les, how are you doing tonight, my friend?

Les Hubert:

Good Dr Douglas and yourself. How are you doing tonight?

Douglas James Cottrell:

I'm doing very well for the week that technology is having on our society especially the kids.

Les Hubert:

We see a lot of times I hear from parents in my own practice where things I don't want to mention any specific apps, but some of these apps are causing these kids to have very little patience. We have wonderful types of technology and you see on the news and when people are traveling they go to Tokyo. I have some clients that actually go to Tokyo and it's amazing, the technologies and yet they call it the loneliest city in the world. Because you're bathed in this technology and it seems to be that people are almost suffering spiritually because of it. What's your take on technology? Is it a good thing, a bad thing? Should we keep it at bay? What's going on?

Douglas James Cottrell:

Well, the short answer on that is we cannot stop technology. It's here, it makes life easier for people, it's the life we live in and every generation has had their technological improvements. It wasn't too long ago when my father was born, in 1910. It was amazing that the Model T car was coming out and the society was become mechanized. And so the automobile, if you will, was a revelation. It was a technological breakthrough and of course everybody was you know, get a horse. You know the horseless carriage and the conflict. Then came the Wright brothers with their aeroplane and everybody sort of God-intended men to fly, give them wings and things like that. So look at technology as an expansion of our mind and the limits of understanding that technology is a demonstration of the limits of our own thinking or mental capabilities. So we are saturated with technology.

Douglas James Cottrell:

My father, back in the day, but middle 60s, I showed him a handheld calculator which was just a simple, you know, arithmetic kind of calculator and I said here, dad, you can use this in your business. No, I don't want to know about it. No, I don't want to know. And I was astounded. I thought, dad, this is going to be able to add up figures and see a little thing in your hand. It was amazing.

Douglas James Cottrell:

And well, I'm at that point now where somebody comes along and says hey, papa, here's a new app you can get this to do. Blah, blah, blah, and I go no, thank you, I got enough, I don't want to know about that app, that's all right. And so it's a matter of keeping up with the accelerated thinking and understanding that we live in our minds all our lives. We need to communicate with other people. There are certain things that you must have in life you have to breathe, you have to eat, you have to do bodily functions, you have to have sex, you have to be warm, you have to be, uh, loved, okay, so there are certain basic needs to feel human and to live your life right. To understand technology is to understand that we're beyond the physical uh relief of, uh you know, labor saving devices, and we've now moved into a world that is more informationally uh driven.

Douglas James Cottrell:

and the thirst for that information is ingrained in the younger generations, because right now, anybody who is younger has always had the Internet and even children in their you know, when I say children, I could be under five, between five and ten, ten and twenty. They all have their own mindset and they embrace the technology of the internet apps, handheld devices, cell phones, ipods or iPads, I should say. And it doesn't stop with when the 5G with the information is coming at us faster. One of the big revelations of technology was CNN. When Ted Turner decided that you would be able to get news from anywhere in the world 24 hours a day, that was a breakthrough.

Douglas James Cottrell:

People thought he was going to fail, but instead he opened up the news, talk show, talk, tv media, and lo and behold, we were seeing things in the far corners of the world as if we were right there. The camera was there. We were watching somebody in a cave somewhere being rescued, we were looking at some conflict somewhere, we were looking at politicians engaged in their political debates and decisions being made, and we were right there there was a disaster, the cameras were there and we could see in real time. So this information has just, it's always been there, but the technological achievements have sped up the process to make us aware of it and humans being humans, we just want to know. We have to know. Well, we're at a point now where the pendulum has swung from the agricultural part of our lives, which was peaceful and slow. Life has sped up movements through the automobile and jet, plane inventions and other modes of travel, fast trains going three and four and 500 kilometers an hour. Uh, we've, we've. Now we're accelerated, and that that pendulum has swung into this acceleration need to know, right, and what we've lost is the quiet times, the simple communication with each other.

Douglas James Cottrell:

I'm reminded of this story where the, I think was the two marys, or mary and martha pardon me for not being exact sitting on the steps. One was sitting with Jesus and the other was in the background sweeping up the house and she if it was Martha admonishing Mary or vice versa was saying come on, you, lazy girl, you know we've got company coming. You know we've got to clean the house up. And Jesus turned around and admonished the lady sweeping and said no, no, what we're doing, sitting here, talking, is more important than cleaning the house. Now, when you hear that story, you say, yeah, that makes sense. Jesus is there. After all, he's the Messiah or he's the, the prophet, and he's talking to this lady. And why sweeping the house or cleaning the house? That's not as important talking to Jesus? But that's not really what he was saying.

Douglas James Cottrell:

In addition to the words, the meaning behind that would be simply no, what we are doing is talking. We are sharing a moment that is never going to happen again. This is a precious time and we need to enjoy each other's company because it goes back to the basic needs to communicate with somebody. The reason we hug people and we touch people is it's part of our nature. We need touch and so far as we go in society, we're coming into a point where we're isolated Again. We're in our minds, but now we're wearing equipment on our body that further isolate us, like those little things you put in your ears to communicate with your computer, or you have a microphone in your plugs, that you now are on a phone talking to somebody. So you're constantly, constantly coming, condensing down, condensing down and being more isolated. And physical touch is now almost frowned upon. Somebody touches you. There's a risk that that person you touch may misunderstand and think that you're somewhat doing something inappropriate.

Douglas James Cottrell:

So the pendulum is swinging and swinging towards this point of isolation and I don't think we can really blame technology. We can look at it as a more, like a temptation. It's like people who smoke cigarettes and couldn't quit. It's like people who overeat they can't stop. It's like any kind of activity or vice that humans have. You can't quit, we can't quit technology. We thirst for it.

Douglas James Cottrell:

People look, and the first thing they do in the morning is turn on their phone. Look what happens on the news. Look on Twitter, what's going across their Twitter feeds. Maybe they go to YouTube, maybe they go to their news stories. Why? Because in their mind, something they need to know I'm missing out on something. Well, what they're sacrificing is that calmness or that peace of mind and, like all addictions, there has to be some sort of balance or control. So what is the answer? Well, every Saturday, take your cell phone and turn it off. See how far you get through the day without turning it back off. Okay, if you get through half the day, that's half a day to your success.

Douglas James Cottrell:

When the phone rings, you don't have to drop what you're doing to answer that call. Let it go to answer or let it go to text. When things come at you, you do not have to respond, and this is when you're in the wake up, like we're attempting to make people aware. When you wake up, you realize that your telephone's not your master, the internet's not your master. You don't have to respond just because something comes at you. You don't have to be emotionally triggered because of some horrendous story or some wonderful story. You are calm and balanced and looking to achieve. That is awareness, is self-mastery, is ascension to the greater understanding of this is your life.

Douglas James Cottrell:

You think you have lots of time, and that is the big deceit. You do not have lots of time. You spend your time frivolously. Looking at back in the day, we had computer games and we had video games and we had those arcades and everybody was putting a quarter in and they were saying, oh my God, you're wasting your time on these things. And before that there was the pool halls and and there was always something right. So what's the control, what's the, the mechanism here to gain self-preservation? I'll let you know right after this.

Advertisement:

Oh, what's up? I'm just not sure what to do with my health issues and I keep having this recurring scary dream. What's that about? And I just don't know if my instincts are right, about my business ideas or anything right now. Maybe it's all past life issues.

Announcer:

Have you thought about a phone consultation with Dr Cottrell? A 45-minute chat should help you out. It's not a deep trance meditation and you'll find it's just as helpful. Plus, with COVID going on, they're discounted from $375 to just $275. $100 off.

Advertisement:

Great idea. I love talking to him like chatting with a long-lost friend. He's like tapped into a ton of wisdom, loads of spiritual insight, and he's on point. Oh, Now what? I can't find his number.

Announcer:

Seriously In this day and age. Ready Mm-hmm. 519-471-1110. Call from anywhere in the country If you need more info. I found his website too. It's douglasjamescotrellstorecom.

Les Hubert:

So we're back with Dr Douglas. So, dr Douglas, you're saying pretty much that it's up to us to achieve a balance with our technology. Is that what you're saying to us right now?

Douglas James Cottrell:

It's a balance within your own mind. The technology is going to continue. It's already there. Now, learning how to come to that resolution, that self-control, that self-mastery. Wake up is to realize you don't need the technology, you don't need to be on edge, you don't need to allow all this bombardment of information to trigger your mind. And so the secret is being able to, like any addiction is set it back, set it aside and say, okay, I don't need to answer my phone. You know what I think? I'm going to go outside, I'm going to go for a walk, I'm going to go and look at the birds that are at my bird feeder. I'm going to do something and, like I said a moment ago, the pendulum is swinging to the extreme. It will turn around and swing to the opposite extreme, where it is now.

Douglas James Cottrell:

People are realizing that there's so much information out there that they feel enslaved to it. Well, take back the night, take back your self-control, Take back who you are by saying no, I don't live to obey technology, I use technology to make me live in a better way. And that, basically, is coming to the point, as you do when you get older. You don't need to be accepted, you don't need to be talking to people all the time. It's okay to be alone, it's okay to make up your own mind and not need to people, please, because a lot of this communication is back and forth. I mean, people are horrendously affected if somebody doesn't answer that email right away. Oh yeah, you send them a tweet and they and my god, you didn't reply and for an hour later what happened to you? Yeah, yeah, right, so taking back to the control of your life is is basically it's not that you don't care, is that you're disinterested in responding to stimuli coming towards you. You can take control of your life, control the technology, because it's always going to be there and every generation has had its earth shattering, uh changes, you know.

Douglas James Cottrell:

Think about what it went from from being a horse-driven society to an automobile one, then a nice one, and then airplanes, and then tanks and boats and and supersonic this or that, and and all these things that we, looking back, now say of course, of course. Submarines, yeah, that's fine. Back in the war there were submersibles. They weren't really submarines, they just sank down a little bit in the water so you couldn't see them. Well, now we have submarines that go around the world for months at end, nuclear-powered, you know, etc. So the point is that computers the information overload that's existing now. This isn't technology beating us up, it's us being subservient to technology. So the way out of it is to say like I don't need to listen to my cell phone for a whole day.

Douglas James Cottrell:

Right right, it's an addiction and so, if you can control the pleasurable influences of it, I mean, it's amazing. When you look at some of the features, like TikTok, it's demonstrating people's lifestyles all over the world, how people are doing things. There are two things to that. One is people want to show other people how to do things to benefit and improve their lives how to grow vegetables, how to cut wood, how to do things Amazing, amazing information there. And then on the other side of the coin is like, yeah, there's amazing addiction to seeing what other people are doing, and part of success is those people that you're watching are making a living, they're doing something, they're making money. You're watching them, you're wasting your time, you're wasting your life. You're wasting your life, so to speak.

Douglas James Cottrell:

There's a difference between being entertained and being absorbed into some fantasy or some activity of people watching to the extreme. Remember, we all need touch, we all like people, we like to see beautiful people, we like to see unusual people, we like to see people doing amazing types of dances and acrobatics, and you name it, it's out there. We love to see it because it's titillating, it's exciting, it's new and we love it. Okay, that's the creative force that we're observing, and that is the power of God, almighty, the creative force. Okay, so we're attracted that way, but we're being seduced into this enslavement of got to have my computer on, I have everybody at the dinner table. You've seen this in restaurants. Everybody's, the family's out there. They have the meal, they finish the meal and then all their faces go blue.

Douglas James Cottrell:

They're looking at the cell phones the iPads, the kids, the parents, and they're not talking to one another.

Les Hubert:

That's true, I've seen it myself, yeah.

Douglas James Cottrell:

So the answer is to talk to each other. And then when you talk to one another, you don't end up arguing about something. You are interested in the other person for the simple things. You're fascinated by their personality, by the way they look, how they present themselves, how they talk. You're fascinated because they're talking to you and all of a sudden, that moment stretches into a longer moment, stretches into a visit, and maybe you decide say, well, listen, we're having such a good time, let's go get a bite to eat. And then, maybe after the bite to eat, say, well, why don't we go have a drink or come over to my house for coffee or something? Let's do this tomorrow.

Les Hubert:

It's so strange how the technology has brought us together and yet it's also kind of divided us at the same time. Where's the balancing there? Now you're a grandfather and a dad, and so I hear again over and over they are worried about their little kids getting a hold. I've seen parents give their kids very young children an iPhone and they're off and running and before you know it, within days the kid knows more about the phone than the parent. How would you address that? Do you think there should be a certain age where they're not allowed to use a phone? Or it's just like parents that I know they say when my kid was very small, I did not introduce him to candy, and as they get older they didn't crave the candy. Could we apply the same thing to technology?

Douglas James Cottrell:

Well, there's one thing I've come to believe, and as you tell people you can't have that, that's the first thing they go get. That that's the first thing they go get, oh, uh-huh. So when, uh, um, you give kids a cell phone and you, you've now given them, if you will, the keys to the car. They've gotten in the car and they've taken off with the car. Up until the moment you gave them the keys, you have 100 of control. As soon as you gave them the keys, you have no control control. So the answer to that is that there is some agreement. My family, my daughter, says to her kids okay, you can't go on the computer after seven o'clock at night or while you're at school. You can't be on the computer or on the cell phone. There's certain rules. You have to substitute something in an activity that's going to let the child live a fuller life. But can you tell them no, don't do that.

Announcer:

I don't allow it.

Douglas James Cottrell:

We all know the answer to that one. They're going to be yeah, yeah, right, yeah, no. No, I'm not going to do that. As soon as mommy or daddy go out the door, click on comes a cell phone. So to be realistic about it is to say I'm going to give you a cell phone, but I want you to promise me that when I give you this cell phone or this iPad, that you're going to go out and play and that every once a day we're going to have ride your bicycle time or we're going to have some other time.

Douglas James Cottrell:

You make up the rules before you give it to them and then you reinforce the rules. I'm not talking about the so-called denial times. You know you're grounded, whatever. That doesn't make sense. You go to the child and you say you know you promised me we have rules and you were disobeying the rules. Now you know I'm going to take that away from you if you do it again. So the kid understands there's consequences. Now, every family does what they do, but the one thing in dealing with a child is when you say no, mean no, and when you say yes, mean yes. Don't say no and then give in later, because then the child goes ha-ha, I just have to hold out here and I'm going to get my way.

Douglas James Cottrell:

So, in answering the question about when you give somebody an iPad, which I gave both my grandchildren, iPads and I see how they use them.

Les Hubert:

I have to stand back as the grandparents and say this is their world.

Douglas James Cottrell:

Oh, okay, all right, no-transcript. My daughter and her husband make up the rules. I can suggest things. This is their world.

Douglas James Cottrell:

So, like all addictions and all extremes, there are consequences. And in order to come to the proper way of that, of dealing with it, is to have balance. And in order to have balance, you have to have rules and you have to understand the situation or circumstance. And then a discipline not to overeat, not to smoke too much, not to drink too much, not to overexercise too much, not to do anything to an extreme, because extremes are incorrect. That's how you get in trouble.

Douglas James Cottrell:

Moderation in all things is the way to do it, no matter what. It is moderation. But we need physical touch. And to substitute technology means touching people, because when those people are looking in those video games or those apps and those artistic apps and all the other I guess stimulus that's going on with technology, they're living in a fantasy world. So how do we get out of the fantasy world into the real world? Well, we take a trip to marine land, or we go down to the river and look for the tadpoles swimming in the shore, just like I did when I was a kid, or we go out and try to catch a butterfly in a glass jar, you do something.

Douglas James Cottrell:

Now I can't live without my cell phone. Nobody can. So I resigned to the fact that my cell phone is a very valuable thing. It knows exactly where I am. It tells people way beyond me where I am I am. It tells people way beyond me where I am. It's a spy, but I put up with it. But if I'm taking a drive and I'm looking at the map and I can see the blue line or the red line telling me that traffic's okay ahead or that the red line is that the traffic's slowing down, I just accept that and say this is really valuable information. I just accept that and say this is really valuable information, not realizing that everybody's cell phone in front of me is being tapped into by some in the cloud source and it's relating that information back to me that all those people ahead of me are moving slower or faster, indicating that the traffic is moving at proper speed or slowing down. And so is my phone for the people behind me.

Douglas James Cottrell:

So there's advantage to technology, but living with it and understanding it, as opposed to being dependent upon it. Wake up.

Les Hubert:

So, in wrapping this up, we see now that there's tremendous amounts of robotics coming out. Some of these robots look very human and they're saying that this is almost a solution for the elderly who are alone. They could assign them a robot. What's your take?

Douglas James Cottrell:

on that, Dr Douglas. That's the way it's going to be. There's a need, and remember business people don't do something that they can't sell or that there's no need.

Douglas James Cottrell:

So, like all things you're saying to me, what do I think about fire? What do I think about electricity, any power that's out there? Because we live in a world of duality. Some are living with it, some are dealing with it, but not being seduced by it or overusing it. Put limits on desires, learn to live with it and control the technology, as opposed to becoming dependent upon it.

Douglas James Cottrell:

So respect it as well, yeah, you have to respect it, but it's not going to go away. So the debates can be out there, the opinions to respect it, but it's not going to go away. So the debates can be out there, the opinions can be strong, but the solution is to say, yep, it's my cell phone, I can turn it on or not, and that's it, I can use it or not. Let's see, I'm going to take a trip. You know what? I'm going to look at some maps to see the route before I start out on my job and ask Google on my cell phone, or Siri or whatever, to show me the route. I'm actually going to plan the route just like we used to do in the old days, and we had a mutual friend, dr Grunsell, and he was very much against technology.

Les Hubert:

But when I explained to him, I gave him an old cell phone and I said you know, keep it charged, you can dial 911 for free. It's great. If you have a breakdown, you can call for emergencies and they will find you. And he was like, oh okay, I'll keep it in my glove compartment. And he was able to compromise because he didn't realize that it was something that could give him protection from danger. Well, thank you again, dr Douglas, for another great podcast and we'll be back soon.

Douglas James Cottrell:

Okay, everybody, just remember. What we're talking about today is a new form of information coming at us. This is called technology. You can call it the computer world, the guru of Google, but it's up to you to understand that you have control and don't allow the social media or the information coming at you to fix your mind on a circumstance, a situation or an opinion that you think whatever is coming at you is the truth. It is not. It's only in part. Learning how to handle that power that you have, like any great power, is part of your awareness and as you understand how to use it and you don't become subservient to it, you don't become addicted to it and you can then gain control over it. It's always your choice. Thank you to all the listeners out there in the Wake Up audience. If you have any suggestions for a future or upcoming podcast you'd like to have Les and I address, drop us a line at info at douglasjamescottrellcom. Until next time, it's great to see you in the wake-up class. Take care, my friends. God bless.

Les Hubert:

If you've enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe so you will be notified when a new episode is posted, and we'd greatly appreciate your review of our show on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. Let others know about the great content we're producing here. Your host tonight was Dr Douglas James Cottrell, co-hosted by Les Hubert and produced by Douglas Matthew Cottrell. For more information about Dr Douglas' self-improvement classes, books and other related products, please visit his website at douglasjamescottrellcom. The Wake Up is copyrighted by Douglas James Cottrell 2021, all Rights Reserved.