Originally posted by Jiri Karas on September 20, 2019.
Calm, Headspace, Stop, Breathe and Think, Insight Timer… and many others. The flood of meditation and mindfulness apps that have become available over the past 5+ years on both main mobile platforms is one of the most explicitly human-focused examples of transhumanity.
Their aim is to help users become more themselves, better versions of themselves or at least more aware versions of themselves; in essence to be more mindful (fully human) than without them. The mobile aspect of this is essential as these apps emphasize the possibility of fitting a mindful moment into a few minutes regardless of the place you’re in (though, of course, the recommendation usually it that you have a quieter place to focus).
Some of my thoughts about how transhuman these apps are:
- Ideally, one is able to learn to meditate on their own, though my suspicion is that the majority of users are able to engage in mindfulness exercises only with the help of the app even after a longer period of use.
- I would assume that for most people these apps feel and are useful, but I suspect there are also people who would really benefit from face-to-face ‘human’ support – whether through community groups or from mental health professionals (obviously, this is a small proportion of all people who download such apps).
- I wonder if there will be ways to make mindfulness and meditation practices more social using mobile technologies. While these are in principle individual activities, some apps are trying to show users how their activity relates to others (e.g. by showing where or how many other people in your area are meditating at this time/today etc.)
- In the future we will likely see such apps connected to wearables and implantable wearables which will monitor and give feedback on a range of measures showing one’s ‘state of mind’ (e.g. hormones, brain activity and other) and providing just the right kind of meditation activity to do right then…
A couple of interesting reads on the topic:
- Do meditation apps work?
- Review and Evaluation of Mindfulness-Based iPhone AppsPicture – from ‘Stop, Breathe and Think’ website.
I was drawn to this post by a prior ETEC 523 participant because 1) I have used these apps and 2) the irony of needing my mobile device to help facilitate a better connection with myself is not lost on me. Why is it ironic? One could presumably argue that the technology I am using to help better connect with myself (finding that moment of silence and focus) is the very technology that distracts me most of the day from doing so naturally. It highlights just again how powerful and diverse the design of mobile apps are i.e. they cater to a whole spectrum of human needs. It truly cements also how intertwined our lives have become with our mobile phones. Whether these apps are clever gimmicks or can fulfill their promises of helping us reach a state of mindfulness in under a minute or two in some extreme examples is besides the point, it is an example of yet another facet of daily life that millions of people just cannot see themselves engaging with sans mobile phone.