Phones: The Good AND The Not So Good (Part 1)

Phones!

First there was the telegram, then came the house phone, the car phone, the 5 pound cell phone, the flip phone, the Razr, and the iPhone 3,4,5,6,7,8, and 9.

As technology develops, phones continue to do great things for individuals, communities, friendships, and even youth soccer coaches, who no longer have to spend 30 minutes calling every person to tell them about a change in game time or a rain delay (shout out to my dad). As grateful as I am for cell phone advancements, I have also noticed detrimental consequences resulting from their usage. It makes me wonder, if an honest reflection about the current patterns of phone use would convince anyone that humans are handling this portable and powerful technology appropriately?

The Not So GOOD

Phones have tremendous capability and can be used to make a more effective leader, a more involved friend, and a better informed human being. However, through misuse, they can much more easily produce the slow destruction of everything that makes you human.

I imagine if I interviewed a cell phone user in two years, there is a very real possibility it could sound like this:

“Conversations are difficult. It takes effort and formidable strength to get through the formalities and often-awkward small talk. Thankfully though, I have a phone and I can avoid all of those conversations before they turn into something about my personal life that requires me to say something honest or produce an opinion.  On the occasion that I want to venture into a scary conversation, I am comforted by the fact that if things get awkward I can avoid all of it with the beautiful hand held electronic in my pocket.

Nothing is worse than being at dinner with my friends though. That can be so awkward. Usually we start off strong with some sort of light conversation about a recent joke seen on Twitter. Pretty soon though, everyone is simply staring at each other. My friend with the flip phone keeps trying to keep the joke going, but I can avoid this by texting another friend who wants to know what I’m doing next week. If I don’t have a friend to text, usually someone has added an Instagram picture or tweeted since the last time I checked 10 minutes ago.  It’s pretty awesome if you think about it. I can be connected with these friends at dinner all the while being connected with hundreds of my other friends on my phone. It’s the best of both worlds right? Pretty soon the conversation completely dies, but that’s okay-I am hanging out with my friends and all the while ignoring that painful process of conversation.  Pretty soon I won’t need to be able to hold a conversation anyway.

“We all really need to listen to each other, including to the boring bits.” – Sherry Turkle

“Like anything that becomeshabitual, we lose sight of ourselves as we continually check it, read it,respond to it throughout the rhythms of our days, unaware of the ways that ithas hindered us from connecting to the people, places, and objects around us.” – Mike Cosper

When I’m in class I am grateful for my phone. Class can be so boring. It requires the ability to pay attention for a brief period of time. The material takes effort to understand. I don’t want to put in effort when I can play a game on my phone.  Besides, what fun or value is there in learning something about history, philosophy, economics, or science?  Those things don’t help me live a richer life.  I can’t tweet about that.  Besides, I often forget to take my medicine and I can’t focus. It has nothing to do with this electronic distraction in my hand though.

The time I’m most thankful for my phone? You might not ever guess. It’s when I’m alone.  What did people actually do before phones?  I would feel so lonely.  Apparently, people used to reflect on their lives and think about what is important in life. How am I supposed to know what to talk with people about when I see them, if I don’t see what they are doing on Facebook first? I get bored if I don’t get a notification after five minutes. Meditating is annoying. Day dreaming is not stimulating. Nor is thinking deeply about life, which to be honest I don’t really know how to do.

“If we’re not able to be alone, we’re going to be more lonely. And if we don’t teach our children to be alone, they’re only going to know how to be lonely.”  - Sherry Turkle

Google is great and so are the professional quality photographs of places that I have visited, but they have nothing on my Instagram filters. Forget enjoying the moment, taking in the sounds, smells, and forming real memories to be stored in my hippocampus or cerebral cortex. I need five angles of the same building with none of my friends in it and my face right in front. What makes a real memory in my opinion? If it’s on Instagram and other people can see it and validate my manicured experience.

Seriously though, my phone is GREAT. I can access the weather, Facebook, Instagram, Fantasy Football, music, Snap Chat, Vine, scores to the game, Twitter, YouTube, and the internet anywhere in my life instantaneously. I can call a friend from across the country and be connected in 5 seconds. In about a minute, I can text a video file bigger than what my old computer used to be able to even hold. And if it doesn’t go through the first time it’s annoying as glue.  Why can’t I get a degree, find a job, and meet the person of my dreams with as much ease and instant gratification?”

Note: This interview has been paraphrased and edited at many parts, by the author, because of excessive use of “LOL”, hashtags, and poor grammar by the interviewee.

Video: "I Forgot My Phone"

Click to See The 5 Rules Against Phone Misuse