From Restlessness to Rest: The Hidden Cost of Constant Input

We are now in the third generation of young people who have grown up as “digital natives” - fluent in the language and practice of technology. The first group, millennials (born roughly between 1981-1996), have moved into adulthood. Gen Z (born 1997-2012) and Gen Alpha (born after 2010) are still largely in their student years. The latter two groups in particular have never experienced a world without the Internet, smartphones or social media. They are growing up in an environment of unrelenting overstimulation… and amidst the constant distraction, finding it hard to find contentment. 

This has consequences. Previously, we’ve mentioned research that shows that younger people today are not flourishing as they have in the past. Their struggle to feel contentment – to experience happiness and satisfaction – may be a significant factor. 

The always-on digital world in which younger people live often works against their search for meaning, satisfaction, and real connection. Many younger people are falling asleep and waking up to a screen. Instead of fully experiencing their lives, they’re curating them—carefully crafting posts and chasing the dopamine hit of likes and followers. They spend very little time simply being alone with their own thoughts.

At the same time, they’re constantly bombarded with algorithm-driven content telling them to buy more, do more, look different. The underlying message is loud and clear: “You don’t have enough. You’re not doing enough. You’re not enough.” That constant external pressure to measure up to impossible, moving ideals isn’t just exhausting—it’s the opposite of contentment.

And it’s not just the message—it’s the volume. College students today are exposed to a relentless stream of information, much of it emotionally charged, conflicting, or irrelevant, delivered in real time. There’s no space to process, no natural pause, no moment to breathe. This level of information overload doesn’t just create distraction; it creates stress, anxiety, and a sense of disorientation. It leaves them struggling to filter what’s true, what matters, and where they fit in the middle of it all.

Contentment is about the sufficiency of what you have, instead of what you don’t have, and to achieve it in today’s world requires a measure of cultural resistance. As we enter the AI era, we need to ensure that this powerful tool doesn’t reinforce the negative patterns college students have already developed. We must ensure that AI helps us teach college students how to rest again. How to breathe. How to feel satisfaction and self-worth without the stimuli of endless scrolling. That stillness can be sacred. 

This is not so much a tech issue as a heart issue - but one that we can do something about.