Learning to do nothing

Carlos Whittaker was spending the equivalent of 100 full days a year on his phone.

You might not be far behind.

Carlos—an author and social media influencer who has raised millions for charity online—realized he was scrolling his life away. So he tried something drastic. In his book Reconnected: How 7 Screen-Free Weeks with Monks and Amish Farmers Helped Me Recover the Lost Art of Being Human, he recounts the experiment that changed everything: seven weeks completely unplugged.

The results were startling. According to before-and-after brain scans and cognitive testing from Dr. Daniel Amen, Carlos’ cognitive performance shot from the 50th percentile to the 99th, and his cerebellum showed the equivalent of five years of healing. But the deeper transformation happened in the quiet space that screens had been drowning out.

He relearned how to wonder—at a monk’s prompting to “behold,” he climbed a mountain, then later found himself lying on the ground studying a single roly-poly. He picked up life-altering questions from Amish communities about when to embrace or reject new technology. He rediscovered the simple joy of savoring a cup of coffee.

If you feel fogged, distracted, or numb from living through a screen, this episode might be the reset you need.

Key Ideas

• How do you decide whether to adopt new technology? The Amish ask one clarifying question: “Will this bring us closer together or drive us further apart?”

• When was the last time you wondered about anything? With answers always seconds away, we’ve lost the mental and spiritual muscle of curiosity—along with the connection and clarity it creates.

• Tech isn’t neutral. It’s shaping our brains. After seven screen-free weeks, Carlos’ memory score jumped from the 50th to the 99th percentile, and his cerebellum showed dramatic healing.

⁠ ⁠⁠Show Notes, Resources and Transcript⁠⁠ for abridged episode with Carlos Whittaker

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No Small Endeavor: An award-winning podcast that asks what it means to live a good life. Through conversations with leading thinkers across theology, philosophy, psychology, politics, and the social sciences, we explore human flourishing, meaning and purpose, faith and culture, science and religion, virtue and character, community, and the practices that help shape a good life grounded in truth, beauty, and goodness.

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Host Lee C. Camp: Lee has worked as a professor of theology & ethics for more than 25 years, teaching and writing on topics of faith & politics, inter-religious dialog, and human flourishing at the intersection of theology, moral philosophy, and social sciences. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@leeccamp ⁠

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