A technological device that I feel I would be better off without would be a cellphone. It is like having a minicomputer in my hand. I believe in having a cell phone for many essential purposes like for safety, direction, communication, and professional standpoints. However, it also comes with a false sense of security, creation of isolation, lack of human interaction, increase of anxiety (particularly social anxiety), and a sense of ease.
Cell phones allow us to have information with a click of a button which can be incredibly insightful and helpful, but that information is not always correct, and it can be objective to a general norm and not subjective. For example, researching medical help, each individual is subjective any goes through experiences differently. The use of the internet especially when it comes to fact checking or informational finding can be stressful and lead to rabbit hole searches flooding an individual’s mind with information that could or could not be real. I fear for the younger generation that googles everything and listens to everything that AI tells them. There is a decrease/lack of curiosity in doing real research to gain knowledge of subjects and information through books, educational classes, speaking with individuals already knowledgeable in a specific area.
I see a strong lack of communication in people of all ages, but especially in the younger generation. Cell phones glued to their hands and in front of their faces. No one wants to communicate face to face, many of them lack any desire to educate themselves or put forth the work/effort to learn. Google/AI will give them the information so why do the research or why learn in a school setting? For example, students using ChatGPT for writing papers, instead of researching and writing the papers themselves. Students also become very upset when they learn that ChatGPT and other “resourceful” tools are not very skilled in grammatical errors or correct publication for reference pages. I was asked this question often when I was a substitute teacher. I appreciate my cell phone; however, I wish it was not so easily desirable or investing to leave my locked in for long periods of time. It saddens me to see a room full of people, especially those that I love phone focused and no one is communicating. I miss human interaction.
I miss not always knowing what is going to happen in a show, movies, concerts, etc. There is no spontaneity anymore. The internet reveals it with spoilers before things are even aired. People utilizing their cell phones to spread hateful and disgusting comments, messages, and posts that for most people’s reality would not be said in person. People utilize internet and cellphones for things like cyberbullying, stalking, and even research of inappropriate things.
I know that it is up to the individual themselves to monitor their own time and well-being with their cell phone, but for many there is no self-regulation or self-control in their time spent with cell phone usage. I am guilty of this myself, but I know I am not on my phone as regularly as many as I enjoy being present and, in the moment, more often than locked into my phone. I do my best to take time off of my phone each day. I find myself often forgetting about my phone and leaving it nowhere near me. I can sit in a room in silence with no technology on and I absolutely love those moments.
Let’s bring back educating ourselves and in the classroom setting with genuine curiosity, utilizing the internet as a helpful and resourceful tool not the main tool, reading books of all genres, communicating with individuals, limiting our time on technology (especially cell phones), increasing healthy human interaction, and being present.
Escaping Reality and looking within 