A Deadly Wandering

There is a debate in the psychology community about how similar technology addictions are to drug addictions. Dr. David Greenfield, a drug addict in recovery, maintains that “what’s happening today with technology […] is comparable to what happened in the seventies with drugs” (193). To an extent, Richtel claims, it’s a semantic argument, because “addiction” has such a broad definition.

Experiments have shown that playing video games increases the level of dopamine in the brain. To Dr. Greenfield, this is critical: Each small click of a device triggers a small dopamine rush, a reward, and is in that sense not unlike a “narcotic” (196).

Lending more credence to Dr. Greenfield’s theory, a 2012 study showed that men being treated for compulsive internet use showed “disfunctions in dopaminergic brain systems” (197) consistent with those of substance abusers.

Researchers also cite a comparison between the allure of technology and slot machines, whose power rests in the fact that they reward user’s desire only sporadically and unpredictably, a principle called “variable or intermittent reinforcement” (198).

Reggie is doing well at the mission training center in Provo. He’s become group leader, and everyone likes him. He gives power-of-attorney to his lawyer, Bunderson, who will deal with anything that comes up without having to contact Reggie on his mission.

County prosecutor Tony Baird considers what to do with the Shaw case. He has prosecuted drivers for gross negligence before (one who knowingly drove fast with faulty brakes and another who killed his wife in an accident after a night of partying), but there aren’t any real laws about texting and driving yet, only “mounting anecdotes” (203).

Reggie arrives in Winnipeg for his mission after teaching the woman sitting next to him on the plane about Mormonism. In Winnipeg, during his first outing, a driver throws an energy drink at Reggie and fellow missionary Elder Smith, who’s showing Reggie the ropes.

Nine months after Terryl approached Jackie Furfaro outside their daughters’ gymnastics class, Terryl gets a call from Jackie. Terryl takes up the case with her characteristic earnest passion. She contacts the county attorney’s office and writes long bullet-pointed memos arguing for a charge of negligent homicide in the case. Terryl contends that Reggie lied about the accident, questioning his character and the morals of those around him given that he went on a mission in the midst of the investigation. She writes in one memo: “I believe that the reason Reggie lied to Trooper Rindlisbacher and in his written statement is because he knew it was dangerous to be sending/receiving text messages while driving 55 mph in the rain with wet roads” (209).

Jackie, Leila, and Terryl meet with prosecutors in the county attorney’s office, where Leila and Jackie plead their case. Both are bothered that Reggie has not apologized and does not seem remorseful. A day later, an intern in the office determines that negligent homicide is the most likely charge they can successfully prosecute. The big caveat is that there is no precedent for anyone being charged for texting and driving.

Advancing technology is like any other tool: If out of control, it can turn against us.

Several anecdotal studies indicate that young people brought up with technology have shorter attention spans. In addition, a 1999 study showed that when our resources are taxed, our ability to make decisions we know are good for us suffers—in this case, subjects chose chocolate cake as a snack rather than veggies “when processing resources were constrained” (219).

Richtel points out that the generation of researchers interested in this stuff are tethered to technology just as much as anyone else—for instance, when Dr. Atchley goes to the wrong steakhouse, he uses Google to locate the correct one. Researchers are not arguing that we should get rid of technology; instead, they want to learn the most productive ways to balance it.