Half of young Americans can't live without their phones
— here's why that's dangerous
According to a survey highlighted over at Business Insider, 44% of US adults have a hard time unplugging from their cell phones.
61% of millennials and 23% of Gen Xers said it was harder to live without a cell phone than a TV or computer.
The poll is pretty troubling, since it's possible that being obsessed with our smartphones is deeply affecting our relationships.
As Sherry Turkle, an MIT professor who studies the sociology of technology, details in her books "Alone Together" and "Reclaiming Conversation," using your phone all the time reduces empathy, thereby screwing with your interpersonal relationships. Anyone who's gotten into a fight with their partner over iMessage knows that texting isn't the highest-bandwidth form of communication.
But this phone preoccupation — displayed in my own life by almost walking into a range of desks and colleagues while catching up on media Twitter by day and giggling through weird Twitter by night — has a more subtle and equally unnerving effect on our intrapersonal relationships as well.
Basically, Turkle finds that human beings need solitude in order to integrate recent experiences into a larger formation of self.
It's in those quiet moments — perhaps while journaling or contemplative meditation — that I'm able to piece together how my present behaviors are manifestations of personal patterns. Like how, hypothetically, the evasive way I spoke with a friend followed a long tradition of passive aggressiveness that's part of my family's culture.
It's only in times of solitude when I can do the kind of interior surveying (helped along by spending a solid eight months in therapy and five years in mindfulness meditation practice) needed to catch the self-sabotaging behaviors that screw with my relationships — be they romantic, platonic, or professional.
And Twitter — as comfortably automatic as it's become in my life — is not a place for such introspective efforts.
"We literally turn being alone into a problem that we want technology to solve," Turkle said. "We use technology to solve it by giving us something on a screen to take our attention off ourselves."
I'm grateful that I've gained enough appreciation of my own company to find that being alone isn't a crisis situation like it might have been when I was 22. Though it might not be fun, those ventures into the murkiness of solitude are good in a deeper way — and they allow me to gain the self-awareness that will allow me to relate to people in a more authentic, open way.
So, dear iPhone, I respect you so, so much. That's why you're going to be off — or at least muzzled by airplane mode — way more often.
Article Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/when-you-cant-live-without-your-phone-2016-3
Image Source: http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/56df17d1dd089575708b4612-1200-900/20160301_devices_bi.png
VOCABULARY WORDS:
1. Preoccupation (n.) ~ the state or condition of being preoccupied or engrossed with something
2. Solitude (n.) ~ the state or situation of being alone
3. Evasive (adj.) ~ tending to avoid commitment or self-revelation, especially by responding only indirectly
4. Platonic (adj.) ~ (of love or friendship) intimate and affectionate but not sexual
5. Murkiness (n.) ~ the state of being clearly known, understood, or expressed
6. Muzzled (adj.) ~ to be restrained from making noise
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION:
1. Nowadays, most people are always online or fiddling with their phone. How does this behavior affect the person’s relationship with friends, family members and colleagues?
2. According to the article, being alone is a problem that most people expect to be solved by technology. Do you agree or disagree? Discuss your answer.
3. How would you feel about living for one month without using your phone? How would your daily life change?
