Sunday, July 28, 2013

Opinion column: Are smartphones making us addicts?



I have to admit I'm pretty much at my wits end with this whole smartphone phase of life for society. It took me being out of work for a period of time in order to have the strong need to turn the damn thing off. Now I strictly use what was my iPhone 4s for home usage (with a WiFi connection) and as a music player when jogging outside. And that's it. There's finally an end to having any reason to bring it into a store, a movie, or a restaurant, even if the temptation was there. I can tell you it's a feeling of bliss once you get used to it. No longer do you feel like you're having any sort of technology withdrawal as you walk around reality, soaking up what's in front of you and around you versus what new message or email just came in on your phone. Ya know, acting like REAL people, not zombies!

It really hit me the other day as I was about to go for a run in the park as I spotted someone on their bike, clearly texting away (Yes, I'm that observant to be able to tell a distinction between texting versus simply changing songs) on this BEAUTIFUL sunny day here in Syracuse, NY (Where it's a rarity for the sun to come out at all) just how sad a sight that was. I get that there's some people that feel justified in having these devices around 24/7, almost glued to their face in some cases, but come on people, there really ought to be a happy medium somewhere with these contraptions that keep us plugged into a virtual collective at the touch of a button. Tom Green, the famous Canadian comedian recently lamented "the innocence" is gone in society during a standup routine and that things like smartphones and social media are like a virtual dopamine addiction for humans. I have to agree. It's like that instant gratification one gets the minute they send and then receive a response to a text message. Essentially the same feeling you'd get 15 years ago when you'd get home from a long day and see you received a message left on an answering machine you were hoping to get. Now, people are getting similar bursts of excitement via their smartphones at a relentless rate. How much is too much? When does it end? Or will we all eventually be walking around with microchips inside our brains that are constantly processing data like our phones do now? Some would argue that smartphones allow us to get things done due to our increasingly busy schedules, and that's true on one end of thinking. However, maybe it's just society and employers need to slow things down a pinch and stop treating people like work slaves even after the horses come home. Me thinks so, but I've been wrong before...




I can't help but feel it's eerily similar to that episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation called "The Game", where Commander Riker brings back this device you wear around your head, and every time you sink this odd shaped visual into a hole, your brain gets this instant release, no different than drugs.(oddly enough, Google glass is just around the corner) Since I brought up the Trek reference, let me just say that one thing that seemed to be consistent on the shows or the movies was the characters always tried to get away from technology when they could, i.e. shore leave, doing something that involved nature. So there was this happy medium in play that didn't make everyone so damned dependent upon having the latest and great tech device in their hands. That's a future I'd love to see society of today morph into, and one where people can still stay very connected to nature versus the virtual reality world.

And that's my point, are smartphones making virtual drug addicts out of everyone? It's hard NOT to think this when I see everything from people ignoring a sunny day outside, to frantically texting in a super market while almost ramming a cart into other patrons, to the obvious concerns of those who text while driving. You gotta be on drugs or have a DOPAMINE like effect going on in your brain to feel that incessant need to always have the phone in your hand.




I'm sure any critics of my stance on this will say I'm simply out of touch with the here and now, or I'm just old-school and can't see the fun in this new wave of technology, almost similar to how parents and authority figures back in the late 60s used to fear the effect a band like the Beatles had on their children's minds. Well riddle me this Riddler, since when does listening to music at home or in your car have the same potential cause and effect of my concerns in this column? One can still enjoy a sunny day while listening to tunes, or for that matter you can still be in the company of others say at a concert or where there's live music playing. All things that allow you to stay tapped into the physical reality around you versus the virtual reality of your smartphone device.

This isn't to say smartphones should be abandoned, and we should roll everything back to 1996. That's not my point at all. They do have their benefits, believe me they do! I remember on a few cross-country tips mine saved my ass on more than several occasions where I absolutely had to look key information up (on the side of the road) and didn't have time to go find some random computer lab. I've even found having one around while waiting for your car to be worked on, or in a dentist's office lounge can kill some time nicely. In many ways they can certainly save one's behind on the fly, but my point is they get overused. I think it's tough for some to realize society was alive and well not even ten years ago without these devices. Life went on, work got done, and emails and other messages were left to getting to a little later in the day. I know of the dangers of becoming too reliant on this form of technology because I was as abusive of the tech as anyone before being forced to switch it off. That contrast was needed for me to finally wake up, and I'll do my darnedest to NEVER go back to such a high use and reliance on such a small piece of the puzzle in life.

Seriously, take a chunk of your day where you'd normally walk into a store, a movie theater, any public place really, and leave your phone in the car. The more you do it, the more I'm willing to bet you'll feel a sense of liberation that maybe used to be there 5 to ten years ago, but certainly hasn't been in recent memory. Hell, you may even be inclined to look up and acknowledge perfect strangers you'd have never had any reason to say hello to in the past because all you were doing was saying hello to everyone in your PHONE!!! Additionally, to all the brainy people that feel they have to text and talk as they walk their dogs, seriously, have mercy on your furry friends, enjoy the moment with them versus spoiling it ad nauseam. If nothing else it's much safer that way. Soapbox over. Feel free to leave your own insight on this topic below.

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