Have Smartphones Destroyed Humanity?

[MJ DeMarco]

And guess what people use their smartphones for?

Why, to connect to social media!

New study claims Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat are linked to depression

 

[Walter Hay]

The internet and smartphones lead to the info explosion, so much so that a 13-year old kid knows more about the world (not necessarily life experiences) than a 75 year old grandma.

I beg to differ. It is evident from the appalling errors of fact presented daily in news reports that reporters in their late teens or early twenties are seriously lacking in general knowledge.

For example: In a recent report describing the shooting by police of a violent offender who had attacked people in a mall, the reporter said that the man was "shot in the crossfire". Totally wrong! There was only one firearm at the scene, and it was used by the officer who carefully targeted the man. No crossfire, but sadly the junior reporter did not know what that word means.

In Australia, hazard reduction burns over large areas of dense growth are often incorrectly reported by young reporters as "back burning." In case that term is not used outside Australia, I should explain it means the deliberate starting of easily controllable fires along an existing firebreak ahead of an advancing major fire in order to produce a wider firebreak.

I won't go into detail on the shocking ignorance of the younger generation in relation to the grammatical term Syntax. Some of the news reports are hilariously wrong because they have no idea how to construct a sentence in the correct order. Jumbled sentences often give a totally wrong impression of the event being reported.

END OF RANT.

Walter

 

[Rob Tennant]

This was my thought as well. But even then, I would limit its access, just like the car.

We wouldn't allow our kids to have unlimited access to sugar (cookies, cakes, candy) which has addictive properties (they would eat that stuff non-stop) but we have no problem giving them unlimited access to something else equally addictive ... and yes, they're gobbling it up with no hesitation.

Fighting this battle with my 10 year old daughter now..Even mom doesn't fully understand my position. All my daughter's friends have smartphones and instagram etc etc. I'm known as the strict dad in her circle of friends, simply because I dont allow her to do whatever she wants and buy her a smartphone. I mean how in the world will she survive and talk w friends if she doesn't have a smartphone right?!

Personally, I really despise FB, snap, insta, kik, etc. IMO, this "tech" is nothing more than drugs being peddled by the likes of Zuckerberg, et al. (who I doubt even uses FB). This personal/family destroying "tech" makes it easier to commit adultery, waste massive amounts of time, brain atrophy, cause depression due to envy/jealousy, is ironically anti-social, on and on. I'm sure they're are some positive use cases (FLF, if you consider forums social media), but probably very few and far between.

Smartphone is a powerful tool no doubt, when used responsibly. I don't watch news, or allow people access to myself 24/7. A portion of ea day I like to sit by myself and think. If I'm ever caught doing this (my wife and family understand) by anyone else, I'm accused of being depressed, weird, anti-social, etc. I mean, why would someone just sit by themselves, in peace and quiet, no phone or tv in the background, and think? Inconceivable..

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

I remember my parents saying the same about video games.

You weren't playing video games while waiting for the bus, while waiting for the doctor, while sitting on the toilet, while sitting at dinner, while talking a walk down the street, while running a treadmill...

None of these devices was virtually strapped to your face and likened to an appendage that can't be gone without.

You're comparing apples / oranges.

 

[biophase]

We went on a Grand Canyon Whitewater trip recently. Those three days without access to the "outside" world were bliss. I thought it'd drive me crazy not having that access.

I was going to tell Greg the same thing. There's a reason I like to go on vacations where there is no internet for an entire week. Try camping for 2-3 days in a row in some remote area maybe 1-2 times a year.

 

[biophase]

EVERYONE IN THE WAITING ROOM HAD THEIR HEADS DOWN SWIPING AND TAPPING INTO THEIR SMART PHONE.

NO ONE LOOKED UP, NOR AT ONE ANOTHER.

But even before smartphones nobody ever looked at each other in a waiting room. The other day, I picked up a Sports Illustrated in a waiting room and thought, this is what I used to do when waiting for the doctor for 30 minutes.

I don't know about this study. I used to ride the Metra train to work for 1 hour each way. I do remember meeting a couple people on the train that I saw everyday. But most rides were just me with a magazine or MP3 player or just me sleeping. I don't think people interact in general in enclosed spaces. Do you think that people on buses or subways actually stood and talked to each other in the 90's? We just stared into space instead.

I do remember one ride on the Metra where I got American Pie on my laptop. Me and a co-worker started watching it during the ride home and we ended up with a small crowd behind us. That was the only time I remember interacting with people on my way home from work.

 

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[Walter Hay]

anyone got an app idea that helps people stop using social media? lol

The answer is in the very lengthy Guardian article: 'Our minds can be hijacked': the tech insiders who fear a smartphone dystopia linked above by @FreeMan. The app does exist.

This incredibly revealing article, that includes sorrowful mea culpas by some of the techies that deliberately developed addictive programs should be compulsory reading, at least for the “Eighty-seven percent of people (who) wake up and go to sleep with their smartphones,” and that includes foolish parents as well as their addicted children.

Unfortunately..... It would have to be drip fed via social media because most of them could not concentrate long enough to completely read the article.

Walter

 

[Ninjakid]

Yes they have.

SMARTPHONES ARE THE BEGINNING OF THE END OF HUMANITY.

Look at the science.

New study claims Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat are linked to depression

Smartphones keep you wired in, so you can keep looking at things which keep you depressed and addicted so corporations can make money off of you.

Smartphone Addiction

The study above shows most people suffer from anxiety MINUTES AFTER MISPLACING THEIR PHONE.

That device you have in your pocket, it knows everything about you and sells it to the highest bidder.

And it's always there to show you pictures of people impossibly more attractive/richer/happier than you.

People buy more when they're depressed. You think anyone's childhood dream was to become an addict?

Your brain is easily manipulated. Just look at anyone who watches CNN, MSNBC, Fox, etc. They literally all sound the same as each other.

I'm a millennial, but I didn't get my first smartphone until I was 18. I remember a time when there was one PC in the house with dial-up internet.

But kids now have had access to smarthphones since they were born. They don't grow up playing with toy cars or barbies. They grow up playing with phones and tablets.

Their growing brains are hooked on the dopamine rewards that come from those screens. Their developing brains will be permanently damaged by the time they grow up. There's literally no hope for them.

But don't worry it gets better. If you thought we we were getting hooked on the pseudo-reality before...

This is what we have coming.

When the generation arrives that is hooked on this, will they even know what reality is without being connected by the neural hive mind?

We will stop reproducing willingly. Machines are taking over that too.

What is a robot sex doll, how much do they cost and what is the sex robot brothel in Paris?

And humans won't even be directing this system. The machines will.

That's what AI is for. AI can do everything your brain can do, but faster and more efficient.

AI is already used to track our emotions and show us advertising to make us buy.

AI could run the whole show. Run the corporations, run nations, and run our own minds.

And this is how humanity ends. It won't end by humans being killed off by nukes or climate change. It will end by being stripped of the very things that make us human.

 

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[GoGetter24]

Nope, the shittyness of the previous generation raising them, and the related institution of school, has done the damage to this generation.

Handing your kids highly stimulative digital devices from a young age with only "keep them out of my hair" on one's selfish mind, is just a specific form and manifestation of parental shittyness, among probably a wide array of other ways of being a shitty responsibility-abdicating parent one no doubt indulges in as a baby boomer or gen x.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Golden question (at least for me haha): How do you manage your screen time? Also I notice when I am feeling more negative or bored I use my cell phone 4 times more than when I am engaged or having fun at work or life in general.

I've been trying (struggling) to delineate "screen time" as only WORK time. Meaning, I'm in my office working or managing something relating to work. Outside of that, I try not to use my phone for anything but music at the gym or texting / phone communication.

For instance, if I sit on my patio and have a cigar, enjoying the beautiful desert mountain scenery, the PHONE/DEVICES are off limits. I've been reading books, magazines, or just sitting there meditating.

When we play poker (hint: we're due for a game mofos!) the phones have to be away from the table.

It's a question I've pondered: at what point does negligence become malice?

The human race has a monopoly on malice. I won't hold my breath for change in behavior, especially when it comes to something perceived as pleasurable or self-involved. It's much easier to dump an iPad on your kid than it is to actually sit there and play Chutes and Ladders.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

it's like any other power tool or vice.

You're missing the point.

I know it's a tool. Some could say that small doses of LSD is a "tool" -- but you don't give a small child LSD and reason "Its just a tool to keep him busy." Labeling something a "tool" doesn't minimize the damage it is doing to those who don't have the mental capacity to understand what it's doing to their brain.

I think VR headsets can/will be even more damaging.
I've recently been playing with a Rift headset and after one day of using it too much, noticed effects the next day of it messing with my sense of what is actual reality.

Yea, if we think it's bad now with smartphone mental issues, once VR goes mainstream its going to be a shitshow.

 

[amp0193]

But kids now have had access to smarthphones since they were born. They don't grow up playing with toy cars or barbies. They grow up playing with phones and tablets.

My wife has been a pre-k teacher for more than 10 years. She's seen the shift.

She has to teach her 4 year olds how to play with toys. They literally don't know how.

For our kids: No tv. No phone. No tablet. We'll watch a movie together a couple times a month.


It's hard for a couple of years. The kids are clingy and bored and keep getting in your hair. But if you stick with it, they eventually figure out how to play on their own. It takes practice. But then the playroom or the backyard becomes just as good of a "babysitter" as the tv does.

It's good for kids to get bored.

Today's kids never have a chance to get bored. As evidenced by every child I saw at the grocery store today sitting in a cart staring at a phone.

 

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[amp0193]

However, this trend does swing both ways. I make nearly all my income from users on their phones, obviously that would be impossible 10 years ago.

Phones/tech can be a powerful force for good.

Imagine the intelligence of a generation that utilized the device in their pocket to regularly access the entirety of human knowledge, instead of to play games and dick around.

It would be unreal.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

I think the difference is you can't become literally addicted to Sports Illustrated like you can the constant small dopamine hits from social media/tech. (Edit: wrong link haha, I'll find the right one. Edit #2: Fixed.)

Same with the picture up-thread of everyone on the subway reading a newspaper. Once the paper was read, it's done.

You don't pick up a magazine or newspaper every 2 minutes to see if something changed or someone texted you or whatever.

Bingo.

We're talking about two different chemical reactions in the brain.

Not to mention that an iPad/iGadget has replaced the quantity of parenting. A

 

[MJ DeMarco]

As a result, almost instantly, I lost all my friends

Then they weren't friends, just illusions.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Somewhat relevant, somewhat of a tangent...

The most legendary PSA every produced!

 

[Longinus]

As addictive as smartphones are, I think VR headsets can/will be even more damaging.
I've recently been playing with a Rift headset and after one day of using it too much, noticed effects the next day of it messing with my sense of what is actual reality. I limit it too 30min a week now (if that) and only use it for experiences that would partake in real life. It definitely takes the dopamine thing to a new level in that it can rewire the way people react to previous conditions such as fear of heights etc.. Instantly change moods since the feeling of presence is effected and the environment can be manipulated so easily. Live in a sh*tty place, put on headset and can be in a huge open living room with a ravine view, or on top of a penthouse etc...
With the controllers it is amazing how easily the brain adapts and accepts the new reality.

 

[Andy Black]

We've been playing tons of board games with the kids!

But yeah, it's a constant battle against technology and peer pressure.

Driving to work this morning at 5:30am

A car stopped in front of me had 2 little kids in the backseat.

One was watching a movie on the screen hooked to the headrest in front of her, the other was playing a game on her phone.

Both were around 8 years old.

I have kids, I get it. It's easy sometimes to park em in front of the TV or whatever and have technology do the parenting for a minute.

But my gosh, at 5:30 in the morning? They can't look out the window? They can't talk to each other? They can't have dad in the front seat spouting off random words of wisdom and lame dad jokes?

Exactly. I do the school runs in the morning. It’s lame dad jokes and favourite sayings all the way. I get to be super genius font of all wisdom in front of my kids.

Plus we play games.

One of their favourites is Maths games. They choose whether it’s additions, subtraction, multiplication, or division. I pick a question (knowing their level). They love it. It’s not “Maths” to them, it’s a puzzle. “If you have 5 velociraptors and a sheep in a room then how many legs are there?” They know the answer is 10.

They also love the “What’s dangerous?” games. (What’s dangerous in the house? What’s dangerous in the sky? What’s dangerous in winter?). They come up with crazy answers. But they also know the stairs is the most dangerous place in the house.

They learn to take turns, and not shout out answers when it’s not their turn. I see them helping each other in the back of the car, whispering how to work it out, but not whispering the answer.

We get in the car and they’re pleading to play games.

Some of the best conversations are in cars.

I get to do this every morning. What a privilege.

Sheeit, it never occurred to me to put a tablet in each of their hands. I don’t know whether I’m more appalled or more saddened.

 

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[JG17]

In direct response to the thread title question (I'm at work so haven't been able read through the thread yet), my answer is yes, and no. It depends.

I think there are two types of people, content creators and content consumers. I’ll come back to this later in the post.

Story time.

Today I was on the train and as usual, scrolling through Instagram. I was thinking to myself ‘this is gonna kill my battery’ so I needed to stop. I put my phone in my pocket and looked out the window, and as my mind drifted away from the thought of my phone dying prematurely, I instinctively took out my phone and opened Instagram. As it was loading I realised what I was doing and I was actually pretty shocked at how quickly I reverted to type.

It is clear as day, I am addicted.

But I’m not ashamed to admit it. I'm 22 and have been brought up always owning the latest tech, playing the latest video games, being the first on the latest trendy social media. It is part of my identity, part of the world my generation has grown up in.

Controversially, I'm glad. I'm glad I am up to date with social media and never been a technophobe. I'm glad I have been raised in a household that has always had computers and internet. I'm glad I have been born into this generation and not another.

Why? Opportunity.

Every generation has their own big opportunity, and in my opinion social media is this generation's, and most people are completely oblivious. Among other things, the generation before this had the dotcom bubble and affordable housing, before that was the baby boom and early stage computers/mobiles, before that post-war clean up and the huge amount of jobs/businesses this created. Every generation has something that we can look back on and think 'that was an opportunity for a lot of people to make a lot of money'.

Back to the two types of people I mentioned earlier, content consumers are everywhere. Everywhere you go you can guarantee to see hoards of people staring at their smartphones consuming pointless information that is turning their brain to mush. The best example of this is my earlier example, as part of MJ's labelled living dead on the train to work mindlessly scrolling through Instagram to kill time until I get to my Slowlane destination. And I'm not alone, next time you're on a busy bus or train just look around. You barely see newspapers these days let alone books (maybe you'll see the odd Kindle here and there, because how dare we swap an LCD screen for paper). Newspapers are so unpopular these days The Evening Standard literally had to make themselves a freebie and even then they still struggle to give them away.

And this is all being fed by the content creators, people whose eyes are open to the opportunity that 'information at your fingertips' brings. People who are making sickening sums of money to exploit consumers' hunger to feed on pointless information and stupid memes. Food for thought.

Become a content creator, enter a billion-people wide market of consumption at people's fingertips and a new world of opportunity awaits. Continue as a content consumer feeding on Instagram posts and Facebook status updates and your mind might literally turn to mush.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

I would argue it is far more basic than that.
It is humanity's inherent need to be distracted from one's own life.

Bingo!

@rpeck90 's analysis is spot on, but more of a macro-level view ...

What's going on really?

People are digging for meaning in an empty, meaningless life...
People are digging for distraction...
People are digging for validation...
People are digging hoping to find another swipe of temporary happiness or laughter...

The smartphone is simply their pick-axe, a tool that allows it to happen all day, everyday.

 

[MidwestLandlord]

Good practice; it puts you in control of the call. Answering puts you in reaction mode. I call back 2 mins later

I sometimes take several hours, even days to call back if it doesn't hurt my customer service (like calling a lawyer or government official back, I'll get to it when I feel like it. Customer calls get picked up asap or called back asap. I prioritize it, and there's nothing more important than my customers!)

 

[TheCj]

As addictive as smartphones are, I think VR headsets can/will be even more damaging.
I've recently been playing with a Rift headset and after one day of using it too much, noticed effects the next day of it messing with my sense of what is actual reality. I limit it too 30min a week now (if that) and only use it for experiences that would partake in real life. It definitely takes the dopamine thing to a new level in that it can rewire the way people react to previous conditions such as fear of heights etc.. Instantly change moods since the feeling of presence is effected and the environment can be manipulated so easily. Live in a shitty place, put on headset and can be in a huge open living room with a ravine view, or on top of a penthouse etc...
With the controllers it is amazing how easily the brain adapts and accepts the new reality.

 

[CherryRedBoi]

Whether it's a good or bad thing--it's here to stay.

I don't see a reality where the whole world puts down their smartphones and internet.

I see it comparable to the industrial revolution--which was initially horrific for the health and well-being of the common man--but eventually led to incredible societal and technological advancement, which then ultimately led to MUCH better health and well-being for the common man.

With that said: I'll be damned if I don't fantasise frequently about living in a different time period.

2018 can be so...tiring

 

[Jurica22]

I've deleted Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram from my phone 3 weeks ago.
Since then my overall life quality increased. Although I can't talk with my friends 24/7 like before, I'm happier.
When I work on something it's so easier to concetrete without your phone distracting you. Whenever I get the urge to check social media, I grab a book and start reading.
And this isn't just for work related stuff, it's also true for social interactions. You give 100% of your attention to the person you're interacting with and it shows.

 

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[Chromozone]

I think I was on facebook for a month or so before I got rid of my account. I found it amusing how everyone had a "tabloid-esque" page dedicated to themselves. Talk about needing external validation for a feeling of self worth.

Isn't that what this all comes down to though? We all want to feel loved and needed. The Internet gives us that quick hit of dopamine that we crave, but it doesn't provide those deep connections that we're really seeking.

Like so many things in life people generally tend to follow the path of least resistance. People would rather go on a fad diet than to eat right and work out, they'd rather pose as an expert and become an "influencer" instead of putting in the 10,000 hours to gain mastery in a skill and they'd rather spend their time on social media then to sit down with real people in their lives to cultivate real relationships.

Look at the increasing obesity rates in the western world and then look at increase of use of antidepressants. We're living in the age of self inflicted disease - both of the body and the mind.

Sigh...

 

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[Startup Steve]

Be the content creator not the content consumer.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

 

[jon.M]

Down here we've had a no phones while driving law for close to ten years. Right now looking out my window (I'm near a traffic light on a busy road) I won't have to wait five minutes to see at least one driver with head to phone.

The potential costs don't even register compared to the incentive to plug in. (It doesn't hurt that there is virtually zero risk of being caught thanks to non existent enforcement, as with most feel good policies... )

I constantly see the same thing, even thought it's prohibited here as well. To be honest, it pisses me off to see people value whatever worthless thing they're looking at on their phone over human life and safety. It's sickening when you think about it.

 

[Walter Hay]

Nope, the sh*ttyness of the previous generation raising them, and the related institution of school, has done the damage to this generation.

Handing your kids highly stimulative digital devices from a young age with only "keep them out of my hair" on one's selfish mind, is just a specific form and manifestation of parental sh*ttyness, among probably a wide array of other ways of being a sh*tty responsibility-abdicating parent one no doubt indulges in as a baby boomer or gen x.

This amounts to child abuse. Parents are effectively depriving their children of their childhood when they abdicate their parental responsibilities and delegate child care to the likes of FaceBook, and the various other manipulative entertainment their children find on the screen.

Walter

 

[amp0193]

If you aren't a developer, the smartphone just is the UI. Kids using these things effortlessly is not a sign that they are good with technology; it's a sign that the technology has become so easy to use that it's no obstacle for a toddler.

This is something I've been trying to get my local library to understand.

Having ipads right next to the children's books isn't helping any kid become better at tech.

It's making them worse at reading.

 

[amp0193]

We get in the car and they’re pleading to play games.

I gotta up my car game skills. You're doing a great job!

Last weekend we made it 5 hours to grandpa's house with no tears or whining from either kid. 4 year old and 18-month old.

Toys, endless snacks, books, naps. We did do one game: "Guess what animal I'm thinking of" and ask yes or no questions to figure it out.

I love car drives, because my wife gets motion sickness if trying to read anything, so she can't distract herself either. Our best conversations are in the car.

it never occurred to me to put a tablet in each of their hands. I don’t know whether I’m more appalled or more saddened.

The trap is... you do it once. Then the kids whine and complain every time thereafter to get it again. If the answer is always no... they won't.

So, the kids never ask to use my phone. But they always ask the grandparents, because they always say yes!

 

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