Addiction to technology

[Lilikins]

I saw this yesterday, and decided to post it.
Watch the whole vid and give your thoughts, whilst watching it I really felt...Ill even say pathetic.

Escapists, what are your thoughts, seeing as this is a site built around technology.

Gary Turk - Look up

I must admit, continueing from 2:30? really breaks my heart in a way and...does give an outlook on life.

 

[zen5887]

I got about 45 seconds into that video before I just couldn't take it anymore. Slamming on technology? Holy shit that hasn't been done for the past 200 years. Hell, I personally remember the "internet-killing-social" from at least 10 years ago.

Somebody could put just as much effort into a video (hopefully with less ham-fisted rhyming) about all the amazing things social media has done and everything would look great. Technology does good things and bad things and there isn't any point focusing on either one.

 

[Lilikins]

hmm, well I do admit, I see nowadays.... at work and in the bus/train on the way to work, that this generation in its way of socializing is beyond f'd up.

No Im not saying everyone is like that but...when I sit at work in my breaks? Ill say, 4 out of 5 folks will be sitting staring at their phones, not talking to eachother, not speaking about their day, just staring at their phone typing away etc.

Yes they are still socializing in a sence, but not 'socializing' with those who are their at the moment. This is sorta what was on my mind when I was watching that vid, I personally, have a Nokia....world war 2 edition hehe. You know...that one mobile where you can call someone...and the only thing that would survive an atomb bomb besides Kieth Richards and cockroaches.

I just find it personally emm...Ill say, frightening? When I get into the train and look to the right and see everyone staring at their phone, to the left, the same? Im not saying I want to sit down next to someone and start a discussion but nevertheless, find it a bit scary...that everyone is 'staring' into it.

Thats one of the reason I said that at 2:30? it really got me thinking, that, that one moment, where he asks one question it could evolve into that...into comparison where he couldve just pulled up google maps.

 

[MysticSlayer]

Im not saying I want to sit down next to someone and start a discussion but nevertheless, find it a bit scary...that everyone is 'staring' into it.

I say this to everyone who complains about people on their smartphones: If you want to stop seeing this, then you need to actually have conversations with people in real life. People go to their smartphone to text or use Facebook when there isn't a discussion going on at the time with friends or with strangers. If you're not willing to come out of your own shell and actually have a conversation with these people, then why are you criticizing them for not coming out of their shell?

Generally speaking, though, social media is a great tool to keep in contact with people so long as it is being used as a complement to in-person interaction. Are there people that use it to replace that in-person interaction? Sure, but how many people actually do that compared to the millions that use it properly? Very few people actually use it as a replacement, and many of those people probably have social problems that would exist whether or not they have Facebook.

 

[Vault101]

blegh....psudo deep facebook click bait...I can understand the basic idea...but eh

I generally try and read more rather than go for the quick-satisfying feeling of looking at my phone...I have a set number of sites I look at and then thats pretty much it for the day

hmm, well I do admit, I see nowadays.... at work and in the bus/train on the way to work, that this generation in its way of socializing is beyond f'd up.

No Im not saying everyone is like that but...when I sit at work in my breaks? Ill say, 4 out of 5 folks will be sitting staring at their phones, not talking to eachother, not speaking about their day, just staring at their phone typing away etc.

I just find it personally emm...Ill say, frightening? When I get into the train and look to the right and see everyone staring at their phone, to the left, the same? Im not saying I want to sit down next to someone and start a discussion but nevertheless, find it a bit scary...that everyone is 'staring' into it.
.

somtimes I don't feel like talking to people.

Somebody could put just as much effort into a video (hopefully with less ham-fisted rhyming) about all the amazing things social media has done and everything would look great. Technology does good things and bad things and there isn't any point focusing on either one.

how else am I going to keep track of what people I went to school with are doing...and feel smug about it even though their lives are so much better than mine...

 

[Blood Brain Barrier]

Yes they are still socializing in a sence, but not 'socializing' with those who are their at the moment.

That's the crux of the issue. The question is do we mind? Should we? I don't really have an opinion, but I'm inclined to say it doesn't matter. Texting and email has changed communication, as the development of spoken language did in the distant past. When you receive a text message all that matters is the words, while sitting with someone you receive input with almost all your senses (yes, smell too). But this has happened before. When the telephone came in, all the non-aural information you received from the person you were talking to disappeared. If we're going to argue text communication (or over-reliance on it) is bad for us, we should have done so with quite a few communications developments in the past.

For the record, I'm not a big texter or even phone-caller. I prefer face to face communication.

 

[ClockworkPenguin]

Are you from quite a small place? Just because I've never been to a large city where people spoke to strangers on public transport. It's a fairly common joke that people will go to any lengths to avoid making eye contact on the london underground.

I don't think it's messed up, it's just different. And it's not as though (most) people would continue to ignore you if you did approach them. It's literally no different than if everyone where reading the paper or a book. If you want conversations to happen, go and start one.

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

If you have over 400 friends on Facebook and you're lonely, you're not addicted to technology, you're antisocial and loose with your friend requests.

That aside, on one hand, you miss nothing by not talking to people on public transport. On the other hand, if you're with friends, put that shit away.

 

[Shymer]

Let's not kid ourselves that there was ever a golden age of chatting to strangers on, or waiting for, public transport. Certainly not in my experience in the UK - and as an oldie I spent years commuting when the best mobile technology could offer was a massive corded telephone handset installed in a posh car.

People who weren't asleep would have their noses in newspapers and books, or would stare vacantly into space - or out of the window. The advent of the Sony Walkman added a new class of people with their eyes closed listening to tinny drum snares. There are too many humans living in cities to be able to cope with that many people at an individual level. The brain objectifies humans into a mobile obstacle course to navigate before landing at work.

I don't think that's a problem with a handheld device.

People will continue to meet up face to face, have and go to parties, talk to friends in cafes and restaurants or over a board game. The idea that we are all locked in individual rooms with laptops is an appealing "future shock" image, but false.

Spending hours glued to a screen is the reality for those of us privileged enough to live in the west. It gives you doses of what you enjoy - winning, being right, attention and routine/ritual. Social media, games or whatever floats your boat - in your hand, in your pocket whenever you want - with little audio and tactile cues to keep the saliva dripping. It's insidious and fully supported and embraced by market forces. Some people will resist that allure - and there's nobility in that - but others won't, and that's just fine.

I don't buy the idea that just by looking up from your phone, you will find the partner of your dreams. That suggests that you're not using your phone for Internet dating or building rapport with other people and that talking to strangers in the street is a more worthy/efficient/effective use of your time. Also the compressed life story (dating, marriage, house-buying, children, grand-children) is placed against a few moments on a phone. It's not really a good comparison. Heavy-handed at best. What are we saying here - if you use your phone for games, you will never have a happy family life? I suspect there are other factors.

Perhaps it's not the phone itself and where you're looking, than what you are doing with your phone. If you are arranging fund-raising for a local charity that helps disadvantaged kids into education and using your phone to spread the word - then, in my eyes, that's a win. You keep looking at your little shiny oblong window of delight and ignore any ranting I may do about 'kids these days'.

I suspect that most people aren't using their phones in this way. But then not everyone has figured out what creates happiness in the long-term. The world has always been about trying to find brass in the muck. The phone in your pocket just brings muck and brass alike closer to us more of the day.

 

[krazykidd]

Wait. Why do people expect me to talk to strangers.

Are you from quite a small place? Just because I've never been to a large city where people spoke to strangers on public transport. It's a fairly common joke that people will go to any lengths to avoid making eye contact on the london underground.

I don't think it's messed up, it's just different. And it's not as though (most) people would continue to ignore you if you did approach them. It's literally no different than if everyone where reading the paper or a book. If you want conversations to happen, go and start one.

This pretty much. I hate when random people try to talk to me . It may be a city thing, but i don't really trust random people on the bus/subway and prefer not to talk to them if possible.

 

[Cowabungaa]

blegh....psudo deep facebook click bait...I can understand the basic idea...but eh

Basically. It really comes down to "dem stupid kids these days." God it wasn't even a well-done spoken word poem.

Do I feel that too many 'kids these days' don't, well, look up enough? Perhaps. But the way he's putting it is plain silly.

 

[Keoul]

Egh it's weird to complain about that kinda thing.
Complaining about people chatting on their phone too much makes no sense to me, while before their use, we were forced to interact with people to stave off our boredom, these people we interacted with might not even be people we want to talk to, we just did it because we were bored. Now we can talk to people we actually want to talk to without having to worry about physical limitations.

And calling reading a book and painting more productive than chatting on the phone? I mean painting I might understand since you might be able to sell it but reading a book is the same thing except it's printed on paper, reading a book and reading text on a screen isn't that big of a difference.

Idunno he just seems a bit whiny to me, having 400 friends on facebook that don't really know you isn't exactly a bad thing nor something you should complain about since immediately after he talks about "greedy bastards" buying and selling your information. I just feel he hasn't really thought this through.

 

[Queen Michael]

All I'll say is that when I'm at the bus, every person who's staring at their phone screen is one person less who'll yammer on into their phone.

No. You know what? I feel I need to say more than that.

Of course you shouldn't keep wathcing your smartphone when you're supposed to pay attention to the people you're with. You shouldn't read a book in that situation either, but nobody complains about books being bad for that reason. That you don't eat Häagen-Dazs at your mom's funeral doesn't meant you never should eat Häagen-Dazs.

And when it comes to talking with strangers, that's nothing I'm fond of losing. There's a reason we tell kids not to talk to strangers -- they might not be interested in talking to you. I'm not good at socializing, and I'm grateful that I don't have to talk to complete strangers.

If somebody's texting with his boyfriend on the bus, that's "being too obsessed with your phone." But if somebody's reading a so-so novel on the bus, nobody complains. What's worse -- wasting time on a book you don't really enjoy, or having a conversation with the guy you love?

Also: The expression "Facebook friend" isn't related to being genuine friends. That's no complaint form me -- the expression "friend" just has another meaning on Facebook. It's as if I were to start a video about the current football World Cup saying "We've currently got two points, and yet I don't feel my life has one."

 

[Pink Gregory]

It's very, VERY easy to be cynical, without being empathetic.

The idea that most people aren't able to deal with any other way of living other than their own is ludicrous, reductive, and fairly naive.

Just seems like a diatribe against people he disagrees with.

 

[Catrixa]

This point has been made before, and this one did an ok job of it (some of the lines were kinda awkward). Thing is: as far as I can tell, this isn't reality. It almost feels like someone who has never really used this technology is just coming to conclusions based on slight use and hearsay. Yes, you can completely isolate yourself to Facebook status message updates, but does anyone really DO this and think it's better than talking to real people? Most of the time I hear about someone doing something like that, they aren't happy and have other issues going on than just having technology (like depression).

One of the things I always wind up asking myself after these sorts of things (points about how technology is bad made via artsy video/article/whatever) is: are all my important memories that involved technology somehow less important, because technology was involved? I met most of my college friends at LAN parties, including my husband. Some of the most fun I've ever had involved multiplayer video games. Does my life somehow have less meaning or a complete delusion because technology was a big part of it? Or are people just grasping at the latest thing to explain why they're unhappy?

 

[Auron225]

2:30;

Guy: Excuse me, could you tell me how to get to this place?
Girl: Google it, moron.

Honestly, I think if the intention of this vid is to make people pay attention to their friends rather than their phone when they're already hanging out, then fair enough. It annoys me greatly when I meet up with someone and they spend half their time texting someone else but that very rarely happens. I wouldn't do it on a date for one thing (seriously 1:45??)! I'd only do that if it was an emergency, but most emergencies would likely involve making a call, not checking facebook.

However, I have the feeling the idea behind this vid came from someone with technophobia and it's as simple as that. "Sell your computer to buy a ring"? This thing is basically saying "Abandon all modern technology or you will die alone". I was surprised he had an alarm clock and hadn't sold that for bread. Most people I know use social media as a means to organise real social gatherings and keeping in contact with those in which it cannot be done, which is not a bad thing.

 

[Hero of Lime]

It sounds like the video may not get the message across well, but I certainly agree with the message that you don't need to check your phone every minute. My biggest pet peeve is people walking around looking down at their phones. You seriously can't just wait to get to your destination, or sit down at a bench?

I doubt the person who made the video is saying "technology is bad!" They are just asking for people to not spend all their time on the phone in public. Louis CK had a decent rant on this.


Maybe ever since I saw a girl driving while looking directly down at her phone, I have been more annoyed at this kind of behavior. Considering how much she was swerving, I would not be surprised if she was dead by now if that is just the norm for her.

 

[Vault101]

It's a fairly common joke that people will go to any lengths to avoid making eye contact on the london underground.
.

its respecting peoples privacy when your in each others personal space...thats how I see it anyway

One of the things I always wind up asking myself after these sorts of things (points about how technology is bad made via artsy video/article/whatever) is: are all my important memories that involved technology somehow less important, because technology was involved? I met most of my college friends at LAN parties, including my husband. Some of the most fun I've ever had involved multiplayer video games. Does my life somehow have less meaning or a complete delusion because technology was a big part of it? Or are people just grasping at the latest thing to explain why they're unhappy?

I do think though there is a difference and such a difference needs to be ackowleged and we need to know how to deal with it (and I say this as a mostly anti-soical recluse)

face to face comunication happens and its utterly important to be able to navigate it with ease, because unlike online there ARE awkward silences, there ARE conversations that are comparible to fumbling around hopelessly in the dark, and thats ok, we learn how to deal with them, learn how to comfortably comunicate with people we don't really want to (I'll admit though in retrospect when a guy from the same company in the lift commented on how rainy it was and my reply was staring even harder at the floor and making sound that might have been a "yes" I do need to work on that)

Ive got an online freind on the ohter side of the globe who I regularly chat to on steam every day and it feels as natural and normal as any freindship, I have an IRL freind whom I mostly only speak with via email and it feels just as genuine...so I get that

but face to face interaction should not be dismissed, we all need it now and again

 

[zehydra]

I'm addicted to toasters.



In all seriousness, nobody is "addicted to technology", except maybe the crazy people who write articles for sci/tech magazines.

What you're talking about is the combination of handheld devices + internet technology.



But don't worry people, in 100+ years we'll(some) all be hooked up to machines and interact with each other in a perfect alternate reality where we look the way we want to look and can block the people that make us sad.