bizarre cell phone connections
I am witnessing a bizarre thing at the moment. Well, it is bizarre to me. I am sitting in a coffee shop, catching up on emails, enjoying a beautiful cup of coffee (our coffee pot broke last night), and watching something that makes my mind go "hmmm..." In front of me, at another table, two young people (aged 25ish?) are playing Scrabble. Now, initially I thought, "How nice! I cannot remember the last time I played a board game with a good friend." As I watch, though, I see one person playing another type of game on his phone while he waits for his turn. The person whose turn it is is using her phone to look up words to play (so I assume). Insert my "hmmmm..." Watching this, I remember playing Scrabble and enjoying the conversation I had with the other player(s) based on my attempts or their attempts at playing the game. It was that conversation which made the game more enjoyable, more entertaining, more connecting. I sit here and wonder now (again) about how connected to our phones we have become today. What did we do when we didn't have them so accessible to relieve or stimulate our minds?
I have found myself, at times, leaving my phone in my bag and not looking at it for an entire portion of a visit. As I do this, I watch to see how many other people, in the same environment and situation that I am in, look at their phone, play on their phone, type on their phone. It is similar to a social experiment. I am not judging, by any means. I am just curious. I watch when people meet in a formal/professional meeting to see how many will put their phone on the table next to them and refer to it occasionally. I understand importance in jobs, emergencies, etc. But, I also understand that we, at one time, only had a phone on a wall that was at our home and thought the answering machine was an amazing invention because we could now know who's call we missed while we were gone! If it was important, they left a message!
I know that I am not the first person to notice this, say something about this, write about this, whatever. It is just something that intrigues me at times. It makes me think about our minds. Are our minds more demanding for attention? More demanding for stimulation? More demanding for entertainment? Is what our phones are providing for us fulfilling this demand? I want to see the good that it is doing our minds. Are we more informed? Are we more connected to others who are not in our direct proximity? Are our minds more advanced in multi-tasking? I want to see it. I want to see where someone can say, "I am a better person because of my phone, and this is how!" Because I know when I force myself to NOT look at my phone and live in the moment where I am, I am forcing myself to either think about something that needs figuring out, acknowledge human relationships, or acknowledge the beauty of the real world around me. My missed call, text, email can wait another 30 minutes. My world will not end, be damaged, or even slightly crumble. It will be okay.
I have found myself, at times, leaving my phone in my bag and not looking at it for an entire portion of a visit. As I do this, I watch to see how many other people, in the same environment and situation that I am in, look at their phone, play on their phone, type on their phone. It is similar to a social experiment. I am not judging, by any means. I am just curious. I watch when people meet in a formal/professional meeting to see how many will put their phone on the table next to them and refer to it occasionally. I understand importance in jobs, emergencies, etc. But, I also understand that we, at one time, only had a phone on a wall that was at our home and thought the answering machine was an amazing invention because we could now know who's call we missed while we were gone! If it was important, they left a message!
I know that I am not the first person to notice this, say something about this, write about this, whatever. It is just something that intrigues me at times. It makes me think about our minds. Are our minds more demanding for attention? More demanding for stimulation? More demanding for entertainment? Is what our phones are providing for us fulfilling this demand? I want to see the good that it is doing our minds. Are we more informed? Are we more connected to others who are not in our direct proximity? Are our minds more advanced in multi-tasking? I want to see it. I want to see where someone can say, "I am a better person because of my phone, and this is how!" Because I know when I force myself to NOT look at my phone and live in the moment where I am, I am forcing myself to either think about something that needs figuring out, acknowledge human relationships, or acknowledge the beauty of the real world around me. My missed call, text, email can wait another 30 minutes. My world will not end, be damaged, or even slightly crumble. It will be okay.
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