Interview: Logan Lane from the Luddite Club

How even the young are becoming suspicious of technology

Over time, we have linked technology with livelihoods, and as a result there seems to be few ways to stop it even though it is fundamentally destructive. Because most of society lacks the wisdom to moderate technology on a social level, it is moving forward at an unprecedented rate. Through complex mechanisms such as the prisoner's dilemma, it becomes entrenched, appealing to instincts that have become largely maladaptive, such as our instinct to gather information.

This traditional approach to technology has only served to further environmental destruction, and concentrate the wealth of the world into the hands of the elite. It has allowed us to create a global system of trade that allows us to offset unsavoury business practices to developing countries while the western world reaps the benefit.

The way we develop technology in modern society is incompatible with nature. Photo © Jason Polak

If we are to have any hope of adopting a new perspective of the dangers of technology on a societal level, we will need not just those who will directly fight technology, but some general support of those who recognize the dangers of technology. And perhaps, unexpectedly, that support will come from the younger generations, some of whom have started to reject the idea that technology always improves life.

In the following interview, I had the opportunity to talk with Logan Lane, founder and Chair of the Board of The Luddite Club. The Luddite Club started out as a group of teenagers in New York just wanting to have less screen time because they realized that so much technology was not always beneficial to life. They even have their own snail-mail newsletter! Over time, they attracted like-minded people and eventually became a more official thing. According to their website,

We’re a team of former screenagers turning our student-led club into a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Connecting young people to the communities and the knowledge to conquer big tech’s addictive agendas themselves.

There are two things I found remarkable about the Luddite Club. First, it is a move towards technological regression by the young, which is very encouraging as big tech companies are especially voracious in their quest to absorb younger people into their destructive sphere. And secondly, their story was covered by several significant mainstream media outlets such as the New York Times.

This itself is significant, because mainstream media typically and rapidly avoids covering anything that is anti-system. The fact that the Luddite Club was able to bring technological skepticism into view of the mainstream should also help more people question technology and support a further interrogation of its effects on our lives. So, without further ado, here is the interview!

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First, thank you very much for this interview. “The Luddite Club” suggests to me that you are wary of technology. You also say on your website that there is a “crisis of teens and technology”. What I'd like to know is, how did you and your colleagues get the notion that technology might be dangerous in the first place? And, are you worried about specific technologies more than others?

Logan: The club members each individually came to this conclusion. We all struggled with 6+ hours of screen time during and after COVID-19. We're much more worried about smartphones because they're with us ALL the time. In the bathroom, at school, on the bus. A computer is enticing but it doesn't have the same effect.

That certainly makes sense. I myself try and use my phone as little as possible except for things that really require it! Since you've started to reduce your phone usage and do other activities not based on screens, have you noticed any improvements in your quality of life?

Logan: Now, I'm an avid reader. I didn't read outside of school, which is insane to me now. But getting off the phone allowed me to read upwards of 50 books a year, an astonishing number to my screenager self. I also got more connected to nature through running. Now at college I'm studying literature and running division III cross country, two things I picked up getting offline.

It's not that you can't do these hobbies when you have a smartphone. But I couldn't. Growing up around the iPhone is a unique experience that breeds addiction. I couldn't do these hobbies without making serious changes in my life.

That's great that reducing your phone usage allowed you to do more things in the real world. But it does sound like reducing this usage of technology could be quite difficult for some. If you could give one piece of advice to others who want to spend less time with technology and especially their smartphone, what would it be?

Logan: Points of friction are helpful. An extreme version of that would be getting a flip phone or a dumb phone, but that is not the only way to create friction points. Removing social media apps that you are prone to spending large amounts of time on is helpful. Even removing these sites from view by putting them in a folder on your smartphone can create positive friction. Also, turning your phone on black and white is another strategy.

Thank you for chatting! It's great to see young people question the role of technology in their lives, especially when it comes to the influence of big tech. Let us hope that more young people start to ask basic questions about the role of technology in their life.