Can’t put down the mobile phone?

Where is your phone right now? I am sure it’s within arm’s reach and if it is not the panic of where it is has set in.

Was your mobile phone the last thing you saw before you fell asleep and the first thing that greeted you when you woke up?  If it was, have you scrolled Facebook or Instagram? Maybe, even sent a message?

Are you bombarded with constant notifications during the day from different email accounts?  What about Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, Reddit and Twitter?

At least three of every four people in the US now own a smartphone. And one estimate suggests that Americans touch their mobile devices more than 2,600 times a day on average. How scary is that?

I have been studying the impact of mobile phones myself, through my teaching and just watching people.

I love watching the tourists who come to Cambodia. They seem to prefer to stare at their mobile phones rather than the world outside. I find this strange, as why come to Cambodia on holiday to just stare at your phone?

Why not stay at home and stare at your black mirror there?  But I suppose if you go to the country you can at least say you have been. But think about this are you looking at it with your own eyes?

Because when you are staring at the black mirror you are not seeing this beautiful country, its people and its nature with your own eyes.

Do you ever think ” What does looking at my phone so many times a day do to me?”

1 – Smartphones are removing your smart

When your phone receives a notification, this can trigger sounds and vibrations. These notifications and potential sounds will be a distraction for you. Even if you do not answer the notification your brain is already focused on looking at the notification.

One study found that hearing one’s name like when I was in a coma activates the same system as the ringing of one’s cell, mobile or smartphone.

I have noticed over the years when I am teaching that the students who keep their phones with them during the class perform worse and have a worse recall of the contents of the class than students who do not have their phones with them.

In one recent study participants were asked to either put their phones next to them so they were visible or completely out of sight like in their bag or pocket, or even in another room. Participants then completed a series of tasks. These tasks were to test their abilities and focus to process and remember information.

Participants were found to perform far better when their phones were in another room and not nearby, and visible. Whether powered on or not. However, most of the participants claimed not to be consciously thinking about their devices. Their phones seem to influence them even when they are not using them.

If your phone is nearby or in another room your brain can be subconsciously looking around your environment to find it, to see if you have a notification. Even if you are trying to focus on something else.

This is where the words “brain drain” come from. This diverted attention makes doing anything else more difficult. The only “fix”, the researchers found, was putting the device in a different room entirely.

What is this doing to Young Adults?

Recent research has found that youngsters use their phones differently than adults.

This is because young adults rely on text messaging to be their primary way of communicating with friends. Younger people text more often because adults will consider whether or not text messaging is the right form of communication to say what they want to say.

Mental health problems among teens and young adults began skyrocketing in 2017. The number of young people with probable mental illness has risen to one in six, from one in nine in 2017. Many children at primary school already have lower self-esteem and are unhappy with their appearance.

The decline of in-person social interaction continues to accelerate but we cannot be certain smartphones and social media are the cause. But all evidence seems to point that way.

Whether it’s someone you have never met or it’s friends and family, spending time with people face to face is linked with happiness. But the less skilled we are at social interaction the less likely we are to seek it out. This sadly is like a self-perpetuating cycle, the less exposure we have to others the less we will listen to alternative points of view. This creates the polarisation of society thus making people more extreme in their views.

Technology

I do not think we can blame technology for all of this, as many other factors are changing our world. The pandemic seems to be one of the biggest changes in recent years but technology is amplifying the problem at quite a deep level.

“People don’t talk about or realize that we get quite a lot from casual social interactions,” said Kostadin Kushlev, a social psychologist at the University of Georgetown University and an author of several smartphone studies. “Even when phones are at their most useful — such as when we’re bored to death in the waiting room — there might be other things we’re missing out on.”

Perhaps not surprisingly, researchers have also begun to link weakened social skills, including the inability to read emotions or initiate casual conversations, to smartphone use.

What’s the effect of all this?

Expectations in relationships have shifted. Because people are so attached to their phones. You can virtually text from anywhere, even from the same table. People expect a quick response to their messages. This is especially true of those in romantic relationships.

Many people now complain about spouses not fully listening to them because they keep glancing at their phones. Watch a couple on a dinner date at a restaurant their phones are barely left on the table.

What about friends hanging out together, they seem to all be immersed in their phones. Yet despite how much we complain about the distraction of phones, we continue to allow ourselves to use them.

Most people have become at least partially dependent on their phones for more than just convenience. Phones are now a primary way of communicating and keeping one’s social life intact. Even if you aren’t using a phone to make a plan or talk with a friend, you probably involved a phone in your last face-to-face interaction.

The truth of the matter is that smartphones aren’t to blame for everything. There are both good and bad aspects of having a phone, however, the most important aspect is how we as humans choose to use them.

Takeaway

Finding a balance

None of this is to say that smartphones don’t have great practical and entertainment value. It is now harder to get lost, but easier to find a date and know what is going on with friends, children and the news.

In many ways, a greater diversity of people is at your fingertips. Apps such as Tinder allow people to easily connect with others outside their typical social networks. Occasional smiles from watching cute cat or dog videos also make us feel amazing.

The main problem is figuring out how to get all these amazing benefits of this new world without abandoning the things that make us human. Which means having control over how you use this technology.

I turn off all notifications, as I do not want my life to be controlled by others. As others are all out of my control anyway. I do not have my phone in the bedroom when I go to sleep.

It is possible to slow down and get your life back. But you have to be the change, you have to get out of your rut.