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Are cellphones addictive?

#1
Magical Realist Offline
Yes! I believe they are. I personally do not own one and never have. But all the behaviors of people who use them suggest to me they are addicted to the objects and to the activity of texting on them and obsessively scutinizing them. Cellphone users shuffle along the sidewalk oblivious to what is going on around them. They worry constantly that they may miss an urgent message. They are in a panic if they are missing their phone. It is an escape from being in the moment. It stimulates them with pleasure. And it is something they rely on like a crutch. All of this points to a clearly addictive behavior to me. And here, of all people, is comedian Tom Green astutely weighing in on this matter:

“You know when you send a text message to someone and you don't get a response right away, you feel depressed? You send a text message to someone you really like and you get a response right away you feel happy? You feel happy, the body, it creates the chemical dopamine, the dopamine, it goes through your blood and you become addicted to that dopamine rush, and you associate that dopamine rush with the happy feeling of receiving the text, and that's why you got people sending 3,000 fucking text messages a day, right, we're not even paying attention to what we're saying anymore it's just like a, like a morphine drip, right, it's like a dopamine drip! HAPPY BUTTONS! HAPPY BUTTONS! HAPPY BUTTONS! TIME TO PLAY WITH THE HAPPY BUTTONS!”
― Tom Green


[Image: bigstock-Family-looking-at-their-smartp-...13x358.jpg]
[Image: bigstock-Family-looking-at-their-smartp-...13x358.jpg]

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#2
Syne Offline
I was a late adopter of both cell phones and smart phones, and perhaps that's why I'm not totally engrossed with it. And even now, I have a very limited data plan and generally only use data over wifi. I don't use it in my car, nor do I usually play with it while walking around. I do often listen to music and podcasts on it, and it's indispensable for this. Games are nice occasionally, it's a good mobile reader, and I've never been big on texting. Most things I would enjoy on a smart phone I find better on my laptop. Movies, games, forums, YouTube, etc.. It probably makes a huge difference that I don't do Facebook or Twitter.

I forget where I read it, but less intelligent people gain more personal affirmation from social interactions.
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#6
Leigha Offline
I'd say that instant gratification is addictive for many, which can be found through cell phone usage. Pretty wise to not own one, Magical...I don't know anyone who doesn't own a cell phone. I have a love/hate relationship with mine.  Blush
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#7
RainbowUnicorn Offline
while attempting to not sound lecturious or derogatory i think there is a distinct inclination of cell phones to be used as a escapist device.
so thus i agree.
i think it is probably more soo a reaction of society becoming more cmplicated and contrived.
people are respondng to overt manipulation and dishonesty by corporations and media and leaders by reducing their social circles and cell phone provide a socially ligitimate way to shut out the madding world of heartles manipulators and sad people.
while this may prove to be advantagious to the social preservation of the species i think the addictive patterning of behaviour may tend to reduce attention spans which leads to greater addictive behaviour or shallower consciousness(less intellectual ability) which lends to absorbing media like a drug and thus reality TV programs which are in no way real become the new alternative to make-believe drama content.

cell phone are just cell phones.
society and the way it is managed and ruled and regulated socially is how they interract.
i am liking very much to see older folks getting smart phones and using them as a device rather than an accesory to life and social interaction.
i think that distancing is modelling some useful behaviour that should filter down the age groups over a little more time.


it seems now almost impossible to find a single person in modern western society above the age of 18 whom does not have atleast 2 cell phones.
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#8
stryder Offline
The concern of phones is nothing new:

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/kQC9e9qQLxQ

I too don't own one, I have had at times, however me and the phones have usually ended in a falling out resulting in a literal "break up". It's not cost effective to keep replacing them, especially when there is no need for one.


I do have fond memories of my youth though, visiting a location and taking a mobile with me. I borrowed my fathers Car Phone, you know one of the first mobiles with literally a car battery attached to it. Back then while it was cool in a way, it wasn't going to look cool to the masses lumbering something that size about.
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#9
Zinjanthropos Offline
I bought my first cell phone last year only because for me, it was cheaper than having a land line. Still is. Now that I do have one I find it addictive at times but in all honesty I use it more for information (i.e. stock markets, sports scores.) Still I'm quite able to put it down for long periods of time while I do something else. IOW's it's not important enough for me to have it on my person 24/7.

I've often wondered, if you're out on a date and the other person can't put their phone down, what do you do?
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#10
Magical Realist Offline
(Jan 6, 2017 05:46 AM)Leigha Wrote: I'd say that instant gratification is addictive for many, which can be found through cell phone usage. Pretty wise to not own one, Magical...I don't know anyone who doesn't own a cell phone. I have a love/hate relationship with mine.  Blush

Tks Leigha. I'm a abit of a neo-luddite. IOW, I don't unconditionally embrace every new-fangled gadget that comes along. I only got a computer in 2011. Now I am addicted to it. I've analysed this tendency for new technology to create it's own "needfulness" only AFTER it is being used. It's like a self-imposed amnesia. What did I do before this gadget came along? I can't imagine!
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