Techno Sapiens

Welcome to Techno Sapiens! I’m Jacqueline Nesi, a psychologist, professor, and mom of three whose “personal utility function” is comprised mostly of: chubby baby hands, this newsletter, and many, many large iced coffees. 6 min read I will admit: for most of my life, I didn’t spend my day-to-day considering the principles of economics. I would guess that you, too, do not generally ponder utility functions while doing the dishes or consumption smoothing while ordering groceries.

Are we doomed? Welcome back to Techno Sapiens! I’m Jacqueline Nesi, a psychologist, professor at Brown, and mom of three. Before we dive in, an announcement! This Thursday, June 4th at 4pm ET I’ll be having a live conversation and Q&A with Jay Van Bavel tackling the big question: “Is a digital detox really worth it? What tech is doing to our relationships and mental health.” All subscribers are invited! Jay is an award-winning author, social psychologist, and professor at NYU.

New Surgeon General's advisory: The good, the bad, and the weird Welcome back to Techno Sapiens! I’m Jacqueline Nesi, a psychologist, professor at Brown, and mom of three. This post is about the U.S. Surgeon General’s advisory on screen time that came out last week. The substantive analysis is available to everyone. Below the paywall, you’ll find additional musings about some parts of the report that I found puzzling.

Welcome to Techno Sapiens! I’m Jacqueline Nesi, a psychologist, professor, and mom of three who has often (until now!) lamented the lack of good books written for dads. 6 min read Happy Monday, sapiens! It’s time for this month’s Q&A, and I could not be more excited to introduce our guest, Kevin Maguire, author of the incredible new book The New Fatherhood: Why Everything They Told You About Being A Dad is Wrong, and How Embracing It Will Transform Your Life.

Hi there, How are you? Thanks so much for being a paid subscriber to Techno Sapiens. This whole endeavor wouldn’t be possible without your support, and I am so grateful. I’m always looking for new ways to say “thank you,” so I’m very excited to share some fun news with you! This month, I’m partnering with Light to give away 10 free Light Phone III’s to pai…

5 min read Hello, sapiens! Maycember1 has arrived! We’ve got graduations. We’ve got proms. We’ve got sports practices and exams and school talent shows and end-of-year parties.

Welcome back to Techno Sapiens! I’m Jacqueline Nesi, a psychology professor and mom of three young kids. 6 min read This week, I went to a presentation in my local high school auditorium called “Social Media and Your Kids.” It was open to all parents in the community and involved a speaker sharing information on the risks of social media and strategies to navigate it.

Welcome back to Techno Sapiens! I’m Jacqueline Nesi, a psychology professor and mom of three young kids who often complain about going outside until they are, actually, outside, at which point they start complaining about coming back inside. 4 min read April is Earth Month,1 and we’ve been celebrating around here. Just last week, my 4-year-old had a nature-themed show-and-tell for which he grabbed two fistfuls of grass from our lawn and dutifully stuffed them into a bag.

Welcome to Techno Sapiens! I’m Jacqueline Nesi, a psychology professor and mom of three. The most memorable stranger I talked to last week was a dad who, I learned, is from Scotland and owns a whiskey bar. I know nothing about hospitality or whiskey, butwe did find common ground on the horrors of air travel with young children.

Welcome back! I’m Jacqueline Nesi, a psychology professor and mom of three young kids who has spent many more hours learning about personal injury liability than I would have predicted when I decided to become a child psychologist 15 years ago. 8 min read (sorry! I tried to make it shorter!) Last week, a jury found Meta and YouTube liable for harm caused to a teenager from using their products. Here are answers to some of the most common questions I’ve been getting about it.