Let’s Be Human Again.
On first reading, one might interpret the DADS™ pledge as an anti-technology statement, but this was never my intention.
I am not anti-tech; I personally use many of the wonderful tools available to enrich my life and teach my children. If I have any objection it is that children, and even adults, have unmonitored, unrestricted, and unlimited access to things that are proving harmful.
The DADS™ pledge is actually a call to remember and return to being human by…
building relationships, strengthening the body, and nurturing the attributes of love, communication, empathy, kindness, gratitude, humility, forgiveness, critical thinking, imagination, discipline, patience, integrity, resilience, courage, wisdom, and faith.
Our technology will continue to change as it has exponentially over the most recent decades; but the human condition and experience remains fundamentally unchanged.
We need close, intimate relationships where we feel connection, love, and touch. We can’t outsource developing the kind of character that brings peace and contentment to an AI.
I am human and I need other humans to thrive. Being married to my wife has its struggles, but it’s in those struggles that so much beauty, growth and development happen. This is what I want my children to know and see as they grow up.
As more people turn to AI for relationships and connection, my call and invitation is to return to being human! To laugh with loved ones, conquer problems with friends, and experience intimacy with our lovers.
Let’s be human again. Let’s sit around fires and tell stories. Let’s rediscover the stillness and majesty of nature. Let’s build friendships in the furnace of adversity. Let’s dream great visions and discipline ourselves to realize them.
From my home,
Matthew
Founder, DADS™— Dads Against Devices™
Our pledge.
I will not provide my children with a smartphone or social media access until they become adults. Nor will I allow unlimited, unrestricted or unmonitored access to the internet, streaming services, gaming, or screens in our home. Instead, I will lead my family — by example and instruction — to be present, build relationships, strengthen the body, and nurture the attributes of love, communication, empathy, kindness, gratitude, humility, forgiveness, critical thinking, imagination, discipline, patience, integrity, resilience, courage, wisdom, and faith.