The topic of finding balance or equilibrium is not new. People have always sought to regulate their daily behaviour, desires and needs so that they do not consciously take advantage of all the opportunities that civilisation offers them while maintaining contentment and balance. This phenomenon has deep roots and is not linked to any particular culture - we find it in Buddhism in India, Stoicism in Greece, the Christian tradition and many other cultural contexts. We can see the emphasis on modesty and gratitude that contemporary psychology appeals to as prerequisites for a happy life.

The voluntary restriction of using the possibilities offered by culture, civilisation or technology seems to be a phenomenon that regularly occurs, especially in periods of significant change. These changes often bring new 'enticements' that are difficult to resist. The history of Christianity, for example, shows us the monastic retreats into the African desert between the 3rd and 6th centuries, the development of the mendicant orders in the 12th and 13th centuries, or, in modern times, the return of and interest in the austere Trappist monasteries.

Today's modern technologies - from computers to mobile phones - present us with similar temptations to those people knew in the past. We easily succumb to the temptation to be online all the time, communicate at any time, search for information endlessly, and stay informed through notifications. In this context, the series character of Cardinal Angelo Voiello from The New Pope says that her existence is based on a constant flow of information that also shapes her.

In his 1953 essay Science, Technology and Reflection, Martin Heidegger warned that humanity was in the grip of technology. He argued that technology and its means increasingly determine what we do and weaken our freedom to dispose of ourselves. This attitude is reminiscent of Seneca's famous statement, "Fate leads the willing, drags the unwilling." Seneca emphasised the importance of cultivating the will and acquiring the virtues that enable one to resist the "tug of war" and gain control over the influence of the surrounding culture.

James Bridle develops similar ideas in his book Dark Tomorrows, where he describes YouTube as an example of a platform that manipulates us - its algorithms are designed to keep us glued to the screen for as long as possible by making each new video more interesting than the last. This principle is the basis of how all social networks work. José van Dijck talks in this context about the 'platform society', where digital platforms seek to maximise the time users spend on them.

Václav Bělohradský points out that we live in a world where more and more actors compete for our attention. Politicians are making TikTok videos instead of solving their constituents' problems, social networks are optimising algorithms to keep our attention, and the timeliness of news is becoming a matter of hours. Our attention has been turned into an economic asset being fought over intensely. A fight that, according to Belohradsky, we have lost by resigning ourselves to regulating the big services (platforms)

This loss of attention and succumbing to technology has adverse psychological, social, and medical effects. More and more people are becoming aware of the need to do something about this condition. Possible solutions include "digital detox", measuring and regulating our behaviour through digital wellbeing apps, or adjusting our technical and social environment to suit our everyday needs.