On the Power of Unplugging

Join Internet pioneer and renowned filmmaker Tiffany Shlain for a conversation tackling one of greatest collective and personal challenges of our time: reclaiming the essential dignity of being human in a digital age.

Tiffany introduces a strategy for living in our 24/7 world: turning off all screens for 24 hours each week. She and her family call it “Technology Shabbat” or “Living 24/6”. Over the past decade, this weekly practice has completely changed their lives—giving them more time, productivity, connection, and presence.

Drawn from the ancient ritual of Shabbat, living 24/6 can work for anyone from any background. Tiffany shares her research into the neuroscience, philosophy, psychology, and history of a weekly day of rest across cultures.

Join Executive Director of the Institute for the Future Marina Gorbis for a conversation with Tiffany about her family’s story and her practical advice for living your own 24/6 life. Discover how this modern ritual can work wonders on your mind, body, and soul.

Tiffany Shlain is an Emmy-nominated filmmaker and founder of the Webby Awards who has been honored by Newsweek as one of the “Women Shaping the 21st Century.” Her films and work have received more than eighty awards and distinctions, including being selected for the Albert Einstein Foundation’s Genius: 100 Visions of the Future. NPR inlcudes her UC Berkeley address on their list of best commencement speeches, and her films have premiered at top festivals, including Sundance. Find out more about Tiffany and her work on her website or follow her on Twitter.

Marina Gorbis is Executive Director of the Institute for the Future (IFTF), a 50-year old non-profit research and consulting organization based in Silicon Valley. She has brought a futures perspective to hundreds of organizations in business, education, government, philanthropy, and civic society. Marina’s current research focuses on transformations in the world of work and new forms of value creation. She launched the Workable Futures Initiative at IFTF with the aim of developing a deeper understanding of new work patterns and to prototype a generation of Positive Platforms for work. She has introduced the concept of Universal Basic Assets (UBA) as a framework for thinking about different types of assets and the role they play in economic security. The UBA framework also highlights a variety of approaches and tools we can use to achieve wider asset distribution and greater equity. 

Marina's book, The Nature of the Future: Dispatches from the Socialstructed World, explores many of these themes and draws connections between the changes in our technology infrastructure and our organizational landscape, from education to governance and health. She frequently writes and speaks on future organizational, technology, and social issues. She holds a bachelor's degree in psychology and a master’s degree in public policy from University of California, Berkeley.