A reminder to take our face out of our screens occasionally.

[Talavar]

 

 

[7499275]

So, I can't watch the video you posted due to being on my phones mobile hotspot with no high speed data left. However going off the title... 

I hate going into a store or restaurant and every one is on their phone or tablet. I'm looking at it from the point if you're out on a date with a smoking hot chick, show more attention to her than farmville or you're never going to be getting... Well you get the idea. I would rather spend quality time face to face with someone instead of being on my phone. Hell, I can be on my phone any point of the day I want. Really grinds my gears in todays society.  

[Bill Phil]

Yeah. People were just as terrified about books.

[Superfluous J]

I think this falls into the category of "You're not having fun the way I'm having fun." If they're enjoying their phones what do you care? For all you know they're checking in with work that they were able to get out of for just this one night to go out on this date. Or they're checking the nanny cam to make sure the babysitter isn't dropping their kid. Or they're playing Farmville or checking Facebook. Again, why do you care so much?

Edited November 28, 2016 by 5thHorseman

[Gaarst]

I agree with @5thHorseman here: who the hell cares ?

If you feel there is a problem because other people check their phones, you're the one who should change something, not them.

[Dman979]

I care. When I go out with friends for dinner, it only takes about five minutes for everyone else to end up looking down at their smartphones. It's rude, even if they have important things they're doing. It sends a message to me that I'm not worth their time, and we all lose time together.

Do I want a smartphone? Of course! But I don't think that our social norms and etiquette have caught up with the astonishing pace of technology. Or, if they have, then consider me old-fashioned for wanting face to face communication when I'm with someone.

I don't blame people for not wanting to be bored. Heck, I'm on my computer or within five feet of it for most of my day. But being bored makes you think, and not just about how much you're bored. Studies show that boredom offers benefits to your creativity. This makes sense, right? If you're stuck doing something mindless, you can think about, for example, all the different uses for a pair of plastic cups! Yeah, that's kinda useless, but it's a brain-training exercise. Creativity begets creativity.

[Gaarst]

40 minutes ago, Dman979 said:

I care. When I go out with friends for dinner, it only takes about five minutes for everyone else to end up looking down at their smartphones. It's rude, even if they have important things they're doing. It sends a message to me that I'm not worth their time, and we all lose time together.

Then your friends are just rude. They'd be so even without smartphones: as for many things, the problem sits between the chair and screen.

I view this as an individual problem, not societal.

Edited November 28, 2016 by Gaarst

[NSEP]

Im could do fine without my phone for years. But i cant live without my ipad for at least a week. And if i need to go eat dinner somewhere i wont take my ipad nor my phone. My smartphone is too boring, and my ipad is too large. Give me a pencil and some paper, i will draw my way through.

I can start a disscussion easier here on the internet than in real life. It is somehow smoother.

 

[Dman979]

1 hour ago, Gaarst said:

Then your friends are just rude. They'd be so even without smartphones: as for many things, the problem sits between the chair and screen.

I disagree. They're not rude people, they just follow the norm for our age group. It's a pretty broad assumption to say that most members of a particular age group are rude people.

Additionally, the design of many apps encourages users to check them constantly. They condition us to keep checking Facebook, for example, in hopes of finding some new status update. This is pretty simple operant conditioning using a variable ratio schedule.

1 hour ago, NSEP said:

I can start a disscussion easier here on the internet than in real life. It is somehow smoother.

There are less social skills you have to master online than in real life. For instance, reading body language, tone, and context are as just as important as the words in a conversation. It becomes simpler when you remove about half of the tasks needed to have a conversation IRL.

Edited November 28, 2016 by Dman979
missing words added.

[Dman979]

26 minutes ago, Gaarst said:

I view this as an individual problem, not societal.

At what point does the mass of individual problems become a societal problem?

[Superfluous J]

45 minutes ago, Dman979 said:

they just follow the norm for our age group

So they're performing in a socially acceptable way?

34 minutes ago, Dman979 said:

At what point does the mass of individual problems become a societal problem

About the same time a social taboo becomes acceptable.

[Dman979]

3 minutes ago, 5thHorseman said:

So they're performing in a socially acceptable way?

Yes, socially acceptable, as opposed to personally acceptable.

3 minutes ago, 5thHorseman said:

About the same time a social taboo becomes acceptable.

Then I would say we have a societal problem with smartphone usage.

[Elthy]

When my im with my friends we usualy leave our phones in the pocket. But if im sitting in the bus or waiting for something it would be kinda stupid not to take out my phone. I use it to read stuff, mostly news (a few hours each day), people not doing this are usualy less informed...

[Gaarst]

Ugh, this software is terrible on mobile. I'm not going through the trouble of attempting to write a reply of more than two sentences to lose it all again. I'll catch up tonight.

[Ten Key]

As a side note here, Brave New World is a really good book. 

[Camacha]

10 hours ago, Bill Phil said:

Yeah. People were just as terrified about books.

The difference is that people do not tend to be absorbed in books when you try to spend some quality time. Some people seem to be unable to not touch their phone for an hour. Comparing phones to books is not really working.

[Superfluous J]

I'm really enjoying that multiple people have said they are having problems interacting with this thread on their phones. I'm not sure if it's ironic or merely amusing.

[Green Baron]

Attention: Punch intended :-) but hoping for a fruitful discussion.

 

I will never understand how something as limited and repetitive as a "smartphone" or "tablet" can distract so much. As well i will never understand how the "content" of the social networks like facebook, google and youtube can fascinate people for such a long time.

It took me just a few months to realize that i would always run into the same stuff over and over again in a place like facebook. It's an automatic effect, like a feedback loop of you are presented what you are looking for. The search engine google is constructed around that. Also much (most ?) of the "content" is intended as click-bait, to transport an advertising message for an opinion or a product. It's all about steering the masses.

Books (not comics) are different because they are not "interactive", you either read them and think over the content, exposing yourself to the danger of accepting a new thought or you put them aside. Social networks (edit: and their front ends smartphone/tablet) don't give you the freedom of thought, in contrary.

gb

 

Edited November 28, 2016 by Green Baron

[Samszee]

please discalmer I agree that its pretty sad that everyone is glued to their screens. However this shaming kinda sucks as well. two examples below.

Girlfriend of 7 years and I go out for some cheap chain restaurant meal (harvester or something for UK readers). We have both seen each other for a fair amount of time before this meal and will after. Waiting for food sometimes we talk about anything and everything, and sometimes we are both just burnt out from a long week and just sorta sit there on phones waiting for food remarking about the latest post on whatever, unwinding and any conversation that does occur sure we will fully engage in and put the phones down. neither of us feel the other is being rude or inattentive.  We simply couldn't be bothered to cook or really even think for a little while. We all have those times. An outsider or on another table may well see this and think, pffff 2 23 year olds on their phones again. he isn't even showing her attention. just be aware that that moment is a snapshot of two people in a particular moment. It certainly isn't a summary of those people or a relationship. 

other case: You often overhear people talking about whatever and I find the topics are often moaning about people not present, the latest news headline (sadly in the UK it has been very dominated by Brexit ideology), how the food/service is too slow, work is tough and the weather sucks or tv shows. I would rather see those individuals on their phones researching a topic properly or expanding themselves in some intellectual capacity rather than frankly spending apparently loads of time achieving a conformation bias with similar people or feel superior by pushing others down. Yet to an outsider or someone out of earshot they look to be engaged in conversation and no sign of  a phone. However what right do i have to decide what is worthy of another's time and energy. 

ultimately provided someone isn't being cruel or hurting anyone though it does not matter. Plus we only ever see snaps from peoples lives. if we don't know them we have no idea the day, week, year, personality and situation they are in. 

if you saw me at the gym you would think i am a fitness fan who spends lots of time practicing. 

if you drove down the road I live on at 2am and saw a single room with a light still on and me slouched in a chair playing KSP then you (well we would all be thinking 1 more flight!) would probably think stop being a loser and go to bed.  

final footnote that is close to my heart. if someone suffers from some anxiety or issue of any kind where social outings or new environments are difficult for them, then i would be honored if they spent an hour on their phone while out with me, using it as a tool to help whatever struggle they have. rather than hiding away and fearing that situation. 

 

[RainDreamer]

As someone who has been in relationships with the internet being my main way of communicating with the other person, I have mixed feelings about it.

On one hand, I hate the assumption that I am wasting my mind and my time on the phone. I update myself with the news of places that are further than things I can see around me, I educate myself by searching for information that I am interested in at the very moment I think about it, I keep myself connected with people who matters to me through the internet and texting and always have a presence for them no matter where or when I was. The smartphone is a powerful piece of technology that represents not only an electronic device but an awe-inspiring nexus of knowledge and people available within a touch, and our grand parents can only dream of them when they were young.

 

On the other hand, it's kind of like a third wheel when you are in a moment with someone and it just gets in the way and ruining the mood. 

But like a lot of things, I think uninvolved people are talking too much about it. What happens between people are for them to deal with. Looking at others and judge is just another way of being pretentious.

[adsii1970]

I'd like to share my two cents on this, if I could. Please note - I am not painting the entire generation with a broad paintbrush but am basing my opinion on what I have observed.

I've been teaching at the university level for fifteen years and will say, on a whole, today's youth may be more technically savvy than previous generations. In fact, with a simple touch of a button, anyone can make a comment that can be seen by hundreds of people around the world. It is pretty awe-inspiring and humbling at the same time.

But that efficient and effective use of technology has come at a high price - the younger generation doesn't have comfort when interacting with people in a face-to-face setting. I have seen relationships end at the sending of a text... (in reality, I guess it is no different than a "Dear John" letter, but still far less personal).

For the generation that has the most potential to touch the world, they have lost the ability to touch a life individually and intimately. I remember the thrill of being a kid and finding a letter in the mailbox from my grandmother... it always contained a letter, a couple of baseball cards, and a stick or two of Juicy Stripes gum. Now, many of today's youth will get a quick text message or Facebook post. Sure, it is instant communication, but it takes more time to write a letter, put stuff in the envelope, and then mail it. Wow, my grandmother has been gone now for nearly ten years and how I do miss getting those letters and cards out of nowhere and just because she loved me rather than a Facebook reminder for a birthday...

I also agree with @Green Baron about books and the art of reading. It's becoming reduced to nothing more than a bullet point under a picture with a "continue to next page" option. With a book, there are no flashing ads, no distracting links or pictures - just the information the author(s) want to relay to the reader. There's a simplicity about a book and the art of writing that can never be replaced by technology.

@Gaarst: I agree, the mobile site sucks big time. 

Edited November 28, 2016 by adsii1970

[Green Baron]

I grew up without phones (well a phone at home of course) and internet. If we wanted to talk we had make a plan and meet. I left school '82.

Behaviour has changed a lot since then, towards uniformity. Personal phones and social networks were the giant leap towards that, the mass steering element. Not as a conspiracy or planned deed, but as an automatic outcome of how the internet works. Phones and tablets are constructed to limit functionality to social networks, mail and commercial accounts.

I personally limit myself to information lookup and forums of special interest.

and a game forum

[Talavar]

 Interesting points and opinions all around. However, I think that some may have missed the main message of the video (how I interpreted it). Take the man getting beaten while everyone is recording, or the girl jumping from the building. Everyone lifts their phones so they can catch the action happening so they can post it, yet nobody actually shows an emotional effect from what is going on. In other points, people are simply ignoring the world falling down around them. The real world is taking a back seat to our social interaction in some cases. It may not be a MASS problem, but it is there none-the-less. We see so much on our social media, that when something catastrophic actually is in the process of happening, we are just as likely to take out our phones and start recording as we are to actually intervene, simply because we begin to see such things as "normal" since we have seen it over and over again. The video is simply saying "Make sure you don't become an un-emotional robot".. At least, that was my take on it.
  Global social interaction is creating a "world norm"  which may not have been normal in your area previously. Yet, it would now be seen as trivial because you've seen it happening 100's of times on social media elsewhere in the world, even though you've never seen it in person before, you may already be numb to it's effects.

Edited November 28, 2016 by Talavar

[Kevin Kyle]

Its like shoving a big fat bowl of candy in front of a 5 yr old and then saying dont it too much.

[Guest]

This thread is hilarious. Go into any deli or restaurant or visit a bus stop fifty years ago and there'd be people reading newspapers or books, and trying to avoid contact with others. Nothing has really changed.

32 minutes ago, Talavar said:

Everyone lifts their phones so they can catch the action happening so they can post it, yet nobody actually shows an emotional effect from what is going on.

Does this actually happen or is it just the scare tactic of the video? I'd like some proof of this happening, and not just some anecdote of a person face-planting on a skateboard while their buddies were filming an expected jump or something.

32 minutes ago, Talavar said:

In other points, people are simply ignoring the world falling down around them.

We have more information nowadays than we know what to do with. Before, we had no or severely delayed information from which to work with. Both result in people ignoring or not knowing that the world is falling down around them. Fifty years ago the DAPL protests wouldn't even be in my local newspaper, or would be a page sixteen footnote, much less on national television.

7 hours ago, Dman979 said:

I disagree. They're not rude people, they just follow the norm for our age group.

No, they're rude. My friends don't do that.