I am currently filming a video, and since the stock market is open, I want to check the stock prices. However, I think there's no need to check them because it's a mechanical habit of mine. Therefore, I plan to check them in five minutes. Even after five minutes, there probably won't be any significant changes in the stock prices. So, I decided not to check the prices and just wait for five minutes. If I have made up my mind like this, I am going through a very good process of habit adjustment, as mentioned in the book. My account might drop suddenly, but since my habit has been reset, it's okay; it could also go up. Hello, I'm Chae Sang-wook. I've been thinking a lot about how I'm reading good books these days, and I feel like I'm receiving appropriate feedback for the channel. Recently, I introduced a book, and you can see it in this video.

This video has garnered quite a number of views, and many comments mentioned that the book incites fear regarding smartphones. I also felt that sense of fear while reading it, and I've shared those feelings frequently. Today, in a way, I naturally came to read this book as feedback from that video came in. After reading this book, the fear I had almost dissipated. So, I thought I really should introduce this book. It might seem like it incites fear about smartphones again, but it contained exactly the opposite message. So today, I will start the discussion with this surprising feeling. First, let me introduce the author of the book, Fay Beghetti. She has an impressive background; she is a neuroscientist at Oxford University Hospital.

The author is someone who majored in medicine at Cambridge and has conducted extensive research in the field of neuroscience. Therefore, when you read the book, you can see that the author is both a doctor and a scientist, which provides insights that are not found in other books. In particular, the author has focused on research regarding dopamine, which is why there are many case studies included. The understanding of the brain and nervous system presented is on a different level. However, that does not mean the book is purely a medical textbook. Rather, it starts with a striking episode, introducing the case of Kira, a drug addict. Kira is a patient who underwent surgery to replace three out of four heart valves with metal ones due to inflammation caused by the aftermath of addiction. However, despite being discharged after the surgery, Kira eventually returned to drug use and tragically lost her life at a young age.

In fact, because it is a metal valve, it created an environment where infections could occur more easily, and problems arose because I couldn't quit drugs. So the author poses a question here: We talk about smartphone addiction, but as a doctor, can you really understand addiction? Have you ever seen a true addiction patient? Then, they question whether it is appropriate to use the term addiction when referring to smartphones. They mention that since we keep looking at screens, we refer to it as screen time and call it screen addiction, but these things are actually not addictions. According to the disease classification (ICD), excessive gaming can be diagnosed as gaming disorder, but smartphones cannot be diagnosed as a disorder. In fact, from a doctor's perspective, many of these behavioral addictions are not true addictions. As someone who also enjoys gaming, I applauded this viewpoint.

However, things like smartphones and games can lead to excessive immersion and overuse, which is defined as a 'habit.' The author discusses the difference between addiction and habit, and as they elaborate on 'habits,' the content of the book expands tremendously. Being a doctor and a scientist, the explanation of habits is incredibly detailed. I've read quite a few books related to neuroscience, but this book struck me as extraordinary. After reading about a third of it, I thought, Ah, I want to create a video about this, and that's why I'm filming this now. Before discussing habits, let me briefly explain how the brain functions. The author talks about the part of the brain responsible for execution, which corresponds to the prefrontal cortex, focusing on attention and planning.

The part of the brain that is responsible for making important decisions and regulating emotions is referred to as the control tower. However, since we cannot always focus on every decision, a significant portion of our brain is equipped with an autopilot system that automatically executes tasks. This allows us to delegate certain functions. For example, when driving, the control tower is activated when we are navigating unfamiliar roads. In such cases, we need to concentrate heavily, feel fatigued, and make numerous judgments. Conversely, when driving on familiar roads near our home, we do not require high levels of concentration; we can easily engage in conversation with a passenger or think about other things. At this point, the autopilot in our brain takes over.

Ultimately, when we focus intensely, we expend a significant amount of energy, but when the autopilot is activated, we can do things comfortably without consuming much energy. If you understand this, then using your smartphone before bed, always having it in your hand, carrying it around while walking, and frequently scrolling are not actions we concentrate on; they are automatic behaviors, similar to autopilot. This is exactly what we call a habit, and when these habits occur excessively, we refer to it as smartphone addiction. However, the author argues from a medical perspective that this is not an addiction at all; it is a habit, and neurologically, they are completely different. So, let’s thoroughly examine this aspect of habits. The author, as a scientist, even discusses how habits are formed.

To explain scientifically, habits are formed from the perspective of the four Rs. The first R is Remind, which refers to the process of associating something with a memory. When we see objects, people, or places, it often triggers associations. For example, if we visit a dating spot we went to in the past with someone, that person comes to mind. This is a form of spatial association. Similarly, when we listen to music, it can evoke memories of the past. Humans have experiential memories that do not fade away. Moreover, because smartphones are always by our side, simply looking at a smartphone can naturally remind us of the actions we used to take with it. The second R refers to Really small actions.

When we do something that requires a high level of action, it is difficult to form a habit. Habits are really a collection of very small things. The third component is what we call reward. This serves as the reward. The final 'R' stands for repetition. So, habits are composed of these four 'R's. Let's think about the mechanisms of platforms like Facebook, Meta, or Instagram. In the case of Instagram, or even Facebook or X, it doesn't matter. When we look at the feed, certain things come to mind. We see posts, photos, and people, and something is triggered in our memory. When that happens, we want to take some action, but instead of writing a lengthy text of 10 pages, we can simply like a post or share our own post. This encourages us to take a small action right after the memory is triggered. And once we post...

The reward system is activated when someone likes or comments on my post. Facebook's like feature was originally created by chance, but because it operates as a reward mechanism, it encourages people to habitually post content. When you experiment with these elements, the association between rewards and small actions continues to cycle and repeat, and after such repetitions, it becomes a habit. Writing on Facebook and posting photos on Instagram becomes a routine. Once it becomes a habit, it happens repeatedly. In the past, X had a 140-character limit. But what does it mean to limit to 140 characters? It made people conscious of whether their posts were within that limit, which ultimately made them realize that this restriction could not create a habit. Therefore, Twitter (X) later removed the 140-character limit. Even after it was removed, people naturally started to write shorter posts.

Because when watching X, there is no need to be conscious of the 140-character limit, and it operates under the same mechanism where really small actions become habits. So, even now, if there were 140-character or 210-character restrictions on Instagram, Twitter, or X, those services would struggle to be as popular as they are today. This is because if we have to use the centralized part of the brain, it requires energy, and in that case, we cannot continuously create those kinds of outputs. What is repeated and sustained with that energy becomes a habit, and many social media services are very aware of this. As I explained, the difference between habitual actions and conscious actions lies in the different parts of the brain being used. It’s about whether we are using the energy-intensive parts of the brain or the low-power mode that operates automatically.

So, this is why addiction and habit are different. People who spend 6 to 8 hours a day looking at their phones can only be seen as engaging in habitual behavior, as they are not consciously expending energy to do so; instead, they are unconsciously scrolling continuously. This becomes a habit. When a habit of excessive smartphone use starts to develop, what happens? If a person develops a habit of looking at their smartphone before bed, they may end up going to sleep later. Many people probably experience this: they turn on their phone before bed, scroll for a while, drop it on their face, wake up, and then fall back asleep. This isn't just my story; it applies to me as well. However, there are likely many people with this habit. The author discusses this, and other brain researchers commonly agree on this. This is why Dr. Park Moon-ho recommended this book. Our brains accumulate fatigue substances that occur during the day.

We need a period to dilute again, and that is precisely sleep. When we lack sleep, we experience chronic fatigue, like brain fog, and our minds aren't sharp. As mentioned before, the author suggested measuring the level of brain activation from 1 to 10. When our brains are not activated, the author, being a smartphone enthusiast, refers to this state as low-power mode. So, what happens when we are in low-power mode? Since attention and emotional regulation don't work well, we naturally end up engaging only in habitual behaviors. One of the most representative habitual behaviors is scrolling on our smartphones. If we stayed up late using our smartphones the night before and didn't get a good night's sleep, we will just scroll again the next day.

As this repeats, the brain moves into a stage where it doesn't operate clearly. If you have seen this far, you have understood the entire first half of the book, but the true value of the book actually comes out in the second half. Let me explain the second half. While making this video, I thought it was important for people to see how these habits can be reset, to grasp the concepts, to present theories, and to provide methods for execution. It felt like the book was feeding information directly into my mouth, which I found to be significant. Among the various examples the author mentioned, there is one point: the author stated that context is important in resetting habits. What does context mean? It refers to the people, places, tasks, and objects we regularly encounter. For instance, let's say we go on vacation. When we go on vacation, we create various associations that can lead to previous habits.

Habits start with the 4Rs, and when it comes to the aspect of association, we need to break away from it and create something new by looking at other things. The control tower must operate, which provides a strong opportunity to distance ourselves from our previous habits. Those who receive this opportunity are given a chance to reset their habits. In order to reset habits, people need to be provided with a new context, and it is essential to pursue such opportunities. The most representative example of this is travel, and particularly long-term travel can provide even more new contexts. It's not just travel; events like marriage and especially childbirth also provide opportunities for habit resetting. This is because the context of life before childbirth is completely different from that after childbirth, leading to the complete disappearance of many habits that were previously practiced.

There are many processes through which new habits are reconstructed, and I believe many people, including myself, have experienced this. The same goes for moving. When you move to a new neighborhood, the associative process is naturally reset. The same applies to changing jobs. In the beginning, setting new habits can create a burden on the brain, but I have changed jobs a few times, and after about three months, I have noticed that new habitual patterns begin to establish, reducing the burden on the brain. This indicates that the brain has created new habits. This is the first context that the author provides, highlighting the opportunity for a habit reset. The second method the author discusses for resetting habits is that habits operate unconsciously.

It is about suggesting the imposition of the opposite consciousness. For example, if you feel like picking up your smartphone, you should take a moment to think, Should I pick it up in five minutes? The moment you have this thought, your habitual action of reaching for the smartphone turns into a conscious action guided by a control tower. When you engage in this conscious behavior, you will reconsider whether you really need to pick up your smartphone or not, and you may decide not to do it. The author refers to this as the 5-minute rule, and it is the first of many rules for adjusting habits that the author discusses. In the book, in addition to the 5-minute rule, there are various concepts called building blocks for resetting habits, which is why they are referred to as building blocks 1, 2, 3, and so on.

I keep talking like this. I'm currently filming a video, and since the stock market is open during the day, I want to check the stock prices. However, checking the stock prices mechanically and habitually is my routine, so I think there's no need to do this. I plan to check it in five minutes. Even after five minutes, there won't be any significant changes in the stock prices. Therefore, I decided that if I won't check the stock prices and will just wait five minutes, I will go through a very good process of habit readjustment, as mentioned in the book. My account could possibly crash, but since my habit has been reset, it could also go up. In any case, this is how habits can be reset. I talked about how the first and second halves of the book are structured, and actually, the second half contains much deeper and more interesting content.

There are various factors we are curious about, not just habits. For example, how can we sleep well? Does blue light really have an impact when we sleep? Starting from these questions, is it better to be a morning person or a night owl? What effects does sunlight have on us, and how does it function in terms of physical and brain science? There are chronotypes like morning people and night owls, and it seems there is a tendency to categorize people as such. However, it has been suggested that we can adjust this sufficiently through sunlight. This realization struck me like a eureka moment. Personally, I have recently returned to my natural biological rhythm, but I consider myself a night owl. Being a night owl means going to bed late and waking up late, yet I have been working from 5 AM for almost 17 years.

I was wondering how this was done, and I thought that perhaps it was about spending time under sunlight and engaging in activities. While reading the book, I also found many parts that helped me understand my past. Overall, this book contains not only scientific content in both the front and back sections but also guidelines for behavior. It also sparked a change in my habits. More than anything, as I mentioned earlier, after reading it, I felt strongly that I should not let my children use social media until they turn 16. I wondered how to change such habits. At that time, I also thought about addiction. If this is truly an addiction, should it be avoided? Nowadays, along with the term addiction, the word detox is also being used. The author discusses this concept of detox as well.

This kind of talk is meaningless and unnecessary. It is said that habits, such as not looking at our phones or turning them off for three hours, do not change human behavior. The author, being a brain scientist and someone who loves smartphones, discusses how to maintain healthy smartphone habits and how to use apps in a way that enhances productivity. This book feels like a salvation to me. However, I find it disappointing that the title suggests a negative perspective on smartphones, which might lead readers to think it is just another book criticizing smartphones. In reality, it does not advocate for completely avoiding smartphones.

As an antithesis to such books, I would like to say that it clearly explains the scientific aspects. While reading this book, I took a lot of notes and kept everything, and it has led me to incorporate and habitually practice the changes in my life. Therefore, I believe that as much as I have changed, those who watch Chaebuks will also change. The book is something that you really must buy, read, and study in detail. I will only serve as a guide on the path to that. That’s all I wanted to say today. I will see you again next time with another good book. Thank you.

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