A Personal Opinion

I want to make it very clear that what you will read here is only my opinion based on my observation and personal experience.  None of this will be on a quiz, test or the final exam. I've tried my best in this eBook to demonstrate how technology works but it is an entirely different matter to discuss how that technology is used.  For the most part, technology has improved our lives.  However, we are at a point in this course where we are discussing how that technology (the Internet) affects our lives.  Specifically our smart phones.

I am scared ... very scared!  In short, we are addicted to our smart phones!!!  When I was in high school, over 40% adults smoked (the number now is about 17%).  Our country was addicted to cigarettes and everyone knew it was unhealthy.  Our new addiction is the smart phone, but the worse part is, we (society as a whole) don't realize how unhealthy this addiction is.  First let me demonstrate my point ... using you!  Statistics show people spend 90 minutes a day on their smart phone.  That adds up to 3.9 years of your entire life .... staring at a screen!!!!  How do you compare to this number?  Much of that time is spent on "social media" ... which is a complete oxymoron.  Smart phones are making us far less social than you can imagine.  The next time you go to a restaurant, look around and count the number of people staring at their phone rather than conversing with the person across the table.  Go to a bike trail, jogging route, or gym and nearly everyone is plugged in (Ok, I get this one) ... making us oblivious to anything around us (which makes us vulnerable to evil doers).  Walk down a busy sidewalk or mall and notice the smart phone zombies not paying attention to their surroundings or interacting with the person next to them.  Now watch other drivers on their smart phones ... or worse, texting while driving.  Now that is criminal!  The level of impairment is equivalent to drinking 4 beers!   At one point in my life I've been guilty of all of the above.  You may be wondering why I'm on this crusade to point this out.  Simple! I was hit by a smart phone impaired driver while riding my bicycle.

Are smart phones making us smarter?  ... more well informed? .... better citizens?  I can answer that in one word - NO!  First, think about what most folks are doing while on that smart phone?  Mindless chatter, looking at pictures or videos, reading someone else's Facebook page, or playing games.  I'd be OK if that time was spent learning something but you and I know that is not happening.  Sure, your phone will give you all the information you want.  Who was the fifth president?  When did Einstein die?  Who sang the song "Good Lovin"?  Basically any fact you want to know.  I jokingly call my smart phone my other brain.  It helps me all the time to get facts I simply can't remember.  But does the smart phone help us make well informed decisions?  Not really!  Wise decisions are made by synthesizing reliable information.  We have been fooled into thinking that if it is on the Internet, it must be true.  Opinions abound, propaganda is rampant, and most people simply don't know who to believe.  Sorry to inform you, but many those web pages are designed to sell you something (via ads), force someone else's options onto you (think of the '16 election), or get your personal information (for all kinds of reasons).  In short, if you want to make well informed decisions, you have to dig accurate information out yourself ... from well documented, reliable sources.  Don't get your information from Twitter or Facebook, dig it out from (what you hope are) unbiased sources which offers information from several points of view.  Let me give you a personal example.  After I was diagnosed with prostate cancer, I stayed away from blogs and dug out information from scientific studies to help me arrive at the best treatment options for my situation (I'm still here).

In recap, my concerns are that we (as a society) are spending far too much time on our smart phones pursuing petty activities .... all of which are making us less social.  In addition, we have placed too much trust in the information we are fed from unreliable sources.  In my humble opinion, this all adds up to a very unhealthy situation.  This is one technology we need to learn to use much better.

What needs to be done to break our smart phone addiction?  Just like alcoholics need to admit the problem before working toward recovery, we need to realize there is a problem that requires change.  Then we need to change our behavior.  One step would be to set rules ... for our children and ourselves.  Time limits and places where smart phone use is forbidden.  Maybe start simple ... no smart phone at the dinner table or in the car.  No addiction is easy to break.  How many of you could put your phone away for just one day?  I'll bet the answer is very few of you would even try this experiment.  This would prove you are addicted to your smart phone.  Put that thing away and you may find there are interesting people all around you.

Jim