Ding, ding, ding.
In comes another text from yet another person that has likely spoken to the recipient for less than a few minutes face to face. The connection is so vibrant and real as they converse on that glaringly white screen with its blue and gray text bubbles, yet their words fall flat when they try to say a simple “hello” in person.
Few realize how reliant the American population is on their cellphones. Cellular devices are commonplace in numerous people’s lives, from the youngest children to relatively older generations. People are no longer able to remove their eyes from the screens of their iPhone or Android.
At the dinner table, after work, in a coffee shop on a Sunday afternoon, in classrooms, in boardrooms and in the homes of millions there are cellular devices that have any and every application to entertain an absent mind.
Cell phones allow users to detach from the world, which will ultimately be to their detriment. Interactions will become impersonal and alter the way that people think and, potentially, how they express emotion.
According to the Pew Research Center, 95 percent of Americans currently own some sort of cell phone, and 77 percent own some sort of smartphone. People no longer look at phones as a desirable commodity— they are now a necessity to be a functional member of society as schools, businesses and households have now integrated technology in a way that’s inescapable.
As of 2018, 28 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds in the U.S. were reportedly reliant on their smartphones, compared to the 12 percent reported in 2013. Each year, people are met with yet another iPhone or another creation from Apple or Google. But while technology continues to be developed, what happens to those who have come to be so dependent on it?
Despite the fact that an individual’s every want or need for trivial games and movie streaming sites may be met, what happens to their ability to connect with the outside world?
In a world dictated by technology, socializing is no longer something that occurs via verbal conversation; it’s something which may occur through Snapchat, text, Instagram or Twitter. A connection is no longer about meaningful moments but likes on a post or retweets on Twitter. To be human is to connect with your cell phone, and it’s even impacting the way the average person thinks.
“It becomes much much harder to practice the attentive types of thinking— contemplative thought, reflective thought, introspective thought,” author Nicholas Carr said. “That means it’s very hard to translate information into rich, highly connected memories that ultimately make us smart and intelligent.”
Cell phones allow users to detach from the world, which will ultimately be to their detriment. Interactions will become impersonal and alter the way that people think and, potentially, how they express emotion.
The digital landscape has a ravaging effect upon the human mind and cell phones only further limit people’s connection to the environment around them.
“If you can’t be alone with your own thoughts [ever], you can’t really hear what others have to say because you need them to support your fragile sense of self,” doctor Sherry Turckle said. “True empathy requires the capacity for solitude.”
Turkle poses that when an individual never has a moment away from their technology, they never have the chance to rationalize their own thoughts. This will impact the way that people interact as they’re likely to talk solely about themselves in order to receive some sort of validation.
When speaking with a new acquaintance, it is best to discuss interests that are shared, something which will now be overlooked due to the state of a smartphone user’s mind.
The digital landscape has a ravaging effect upon the human mind and cell phones only further limit people’s connection to the environment around them. These seemingly helpful devices have led to the destruction of a way of life that seemed to be so common in the past. To have a conversation in person was normal, now to text or direct message is the proper way to acknowledge one another.
Photo by Carly Cuoco
