In a timely conversation following the Meta verdict and rising concern about technology’s mental health impact, I sit down with Shannon Algeo to explore what we call the death of friction — how smartphones, social media, and AI are reshaping human attachment, empathy, and psychological well-being.

We discuss how social norms have shifted—largely without our awareness—since the rise of the smartphone, and why the constant tether to digital devices dysregulates the nervous system, fragments memory, and leaves many people feeling strangely empty after online connection.

We unpack why talking to AI is not therapy, how technology platforms increasingly exploit the human attachment system, and what intentional practices can restore presence, embodiment, joy, and real connection in an algorithmic world.

----------------------------------------

Shannon Algeo, AMFT, APCC is an American and Irish writer based in California. He is a psychotherapist, researcher, poet, Yoga Nidra teacher, and co-founder of We Human and the We Human Podcast (formerly SoulFeed). Shannon is the author of the books The Power in Your Hands: Liberate Yourself From Attachment to Technology and Trust Your Truth. He is on faculty at the Esalen Institute and the Kripalu Center, and leads digital liberation programs and offline retreats around the world that support people to reclaim their humanity, creativity, and attention in the digital age. Make sure to preorder his latest book: The Power in Your Hands