I noticed this article in my newsfeed earlier today. The addictive nature of technology is something that has concerned me for a while now, and it's one of the not so subtler driving forces behind some of the approaches I've taken with the communications guide and the advice I provide around these parts, especially emphasizing less dependence upon cellphones themselves.
Ultimately, this article should make us all take pause and ask why our society has so quickly become so addicted to these tiny little glowing blue rectangles that strip away all of our free time. There was a CNN article yesterday that interestingly dovetails into this very topic, and I find it quite relevant. The linked articles from it are very interesting reads as well:
Have smartphones killed boredom (and is that good)?http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/25/tech/mobile/oms-smartphones-boredom/index.htmlHere's a rather telling passage from the article:
"Informational overload from all quarters means that there can often be very little time for personal thought, reflection, or even just 'zoning out,' " researchers there wrote. "With a mobile (phone) that is constantly switched on and a plethora of entertainments available to distract the naked eye, it is understandable that some people find it difficult to actually get bored in that particular fidgety, introspective kind of way."
Williams, the Montreal blogger, admits as much.
"One thing that unfortunately I do miss out on is that sort of quiet time where I can think about something I want to write ... where, if I'm bored, I'm flipping open Word and punching something out," he said. "Instead, out comes 'Infinity Blade II' and I'm killing titans.
"Before smartphones came out, you had that down time where you sit on the bus and your mind just kind of wanders and you think of these amazing things. You get out that old thing called pen and paper and you jot it down."
These bills and behaviors with the devices clearly speak to addictive and destructive behaviors.
At one point in my life, I'd posited a theory that some people insist on talking so much for fear of being alone with their own thoughts. Now, I can't help but wonder if cell phones may be replacing that particular little quirk with some people. (Says the verbose guy. Ha!)
Anyway... just to heap onto the topic, let's bring back around the
spend less time with the internet thread from here. If we truly are mustachian badasses, we need to sit up and recognize that we might not be using these technologies as simply tools, and that something far more might be driving us all. As many things in life, these items can be both a blessing and a curse, and it might be time to start asking where we are each sitting on those scales...
