The Internet is a Hamster Wheel
I was listening to a recent episode of The Rest is Science (fantastic Podcast, by the way - go listen), and in this particular episode Michael and Hannah were discussing boredom. At one point in the episode, Michael mentions an experiment where Dutch scientists put a hamster wheel out in the wild.
The theory goes that we humans put a wheel in the hamster cage to provide the little guy with some stimulation, as they can't go running around the woods any more. But the experiment had some interesting findings:
Not only did the wild mice play with the wheel, but frogs, rats, shrews, and even slugs also interacted with it—suggesting that running on wheels might fulfill an innate desire to play rather than being just a captive behavior.
-- ZME Science
It seems that mammals have this innate desire to constantly stimulate their mind. Ipso facto, Michael states that "the internet is a hamster wheel". With a smartphone in your pocket, and services like YouTube Shorts, it's almost impossible to be bored in this day and age.
I wholeheartedly agree with Michael on this, and it's a term I intend to steal. I'm trying to be better with my smartphone usage at the moment, so will be able to step off the hamster wheel...hopefully. So far so good, but it's only been a couple of days.
Do you see the Internet as a hamster wheel?