Can't put down the phone? How smartphones are changing our brains — and lives.

https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/surprising-ways-smartphones-affect-our-brains-our-lives-ncna947566 ^ | Dec. 14, 2018 | Lynne Peeples

[daniel1212]

In the U.S., at least three of every four people now own a smartphone. And one estimate suggests that Americans touch their mobile devices more than 2,600 times a day on average. But what do all those pings and buzzes, scrolls and swipes actually add up to?..

Initial data from a $300-million study by the National Institutes of Health, for example, now provides evidence that a child's brain may indeed develop differently with heavy use of digital devices. Those of us whose brains matured before the first iPhone came to market in 2007 may also be vulnerable to mental changes. The more tethered we are to our phones, studies show, the harder it is to think deeply, attentively and conceptually — not to mention remember basic information...

Our smartphones seem to wield their influence even when we're not using them. The mere presence of a smartphone seemed to reduce the quality of conversations in one study. Another study found a link between having a smartphone within sight, even if turned off, with lower scores on tests of short-term memory and problem solving...

Research suggests that smartphones can inhibit people from offering help to strangers on the street, reduce how much we smile at unfamiliar faces in a waiting room...

"People don't talk about or realize that we actually get quite a lot from casual social interactions," said Kostadin Kushlev, a social psychologist..

Perhaps not surprisingly, researchers have also begun to link weakened social skills, including the inability to read emotions or initiate casual conversations, to smartphone use.

Twenge noticed a troubling correlation between when smartphones became popular and when rates of mental health problems among teens and young adults began skyrocketing.

[daniel1212]

As with any tech, they have their plus and minuses. As regards the latter, I suspect that as more people get their news and information from MSM headlines and do little to no research - and search engines are run by liberals and cater to those who only want to read a few lines, then the more souls are indoctrinated with liberal propaganda and its misleading or lying content.

Besides classically immoral content being made accessible to everyone from 6 years upwards.

I use a desktop, and even a laptop will bot suffice for what I want to do, but while I could use a smartphone, I am not looking to spend more time on it if I can get out and do something productive or beneficial, as the Lord enables.

[\/\/ayne]

Isaac Asimov wrote about this in "The Feeling of Power," a 1958 science fiction short story.

Nobody knows how to do simple math anymore because they all have hand-held calculators. A scientist reverse engineers the calculators and figures out how to do math in his head.

[TexasGator]

“I use a desktop, and even a laptop will bot suffice for what I want to do, but while I could use a smartphone, I am not looking to spend more time on it if I can get out and do something productive or beneficial, as the Lord enables.”

You have exceeded your daily ration of commas.

[daniel1212]

You have exceeded your daily ration of commas.

Forgot to launch the grammar check app:).

[varyouga]

I noticed a drastic a change at the office, on the road and personal relationships after smartphones became common. And not for the better

[LIConFem]

I don’t have any trouble putting down the phone. I hate phones, smart or otherwise.

It’s pistachios that I can’t put down. Damned things are worse than heroin.

[Truthoverpower]

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[BlackAdderess]

I have to admit that my cat has expressed the opinion that I must stop petting the smart phone and instead pay more attention to that cat!

[ConservativeInPA]

Initial data from a $300-million study by the National Institutes of Health,

Three Hundred Frickin' Million Dollar study. Put down that damn phone. That doesn't cost a dime.

[SpaceBar]

I must be in the minority but my phone spends most of the time in the bathroom on the charger unless I get a call or need to go out and have google maps handy.

[daniel1212]

I have to admit that my cat has expressed the opinion that I must stop petting the smart phone and instead pay more attention to that cat!

Funny!

[firebrand]

Maybe he used to write for the New Yorker.

[dainbramaged]

I hate phones, smart or otherwise. It’s pistachios that I can’t put down.
You sound like me - don't like phones, and pepperoni has me in it's grip.

[daniel1212]

Around her some kids cannot even play catch with a football without checking their phone every few minutes. And a few adults in the city walk out into traffic looking at their phone.

[firebrand]

Don’t worry. I just read that they provide a complete protein.

[Exit148]

Cats rule! Their time and THEIR way.

[Exit148]

How many times have we left home and then realized we forgot the iphone -—— and WENT BACK to get it!!??

[bigbob]

300 million bucks to tell us smartphones are making people dumber. Ressurect Bill Proxmire!

[firebrand]

A girl in Starbucks kept checking her phone in between the stages of making my drink. Glass, check phone, ice, check phone, coffee . . . etc. I said “Cellphone addiction.”

And she nodded!

It’s a disease!

[Cronos]

That’s why my kids get only 2 hours of screen time a week. And most of that is tv on Saturdays. That rule was broken during the online teaching during quarantine