Posted on 05/16/2018 4:44:46 PM PDT by ptsal
s a kid, I’d sometimes try to imagine what life would be like without a particular sense or part of my body, like with questions from the Would You Rather? game. Would you rather be deaf or blind? Would you rather have no legs or no arms? I’d try to erase the sound of my mom’s piano playing, the sight of the ground growing smaller as I soared on the tree swing in my backyard, or the feeling of playing basketball so hard my lungs might explode, but I just couldn’t. How could life go on without these sensations that were so tied to my idea of what it meant to be alive?
I guess I’ve been feeling extra contemplative and nostalgic these days because I recently went through a pretty significant break-up…with my smartphone. My relationship with my phone was unhealthy in a lot of ways.
(Excerpt) Read more at nautil.us ...
I remember the old ad for TicketMaster or StubHub or some such, where a guy goes over to his buddy’s house to get him to go out, but his buddy tells him he’s playing games on his computer. He muscles his buddy aside, works the keyboard a bit and says, I just bought two tickets to this afternoon’s ballgame. That’s what computers are for. Let’s go.”
After reading about her mindless thumbing through her apps, I could see she never got into the habit of carrying around a second-hand paperback.
HOORAY Katie Reid. It’s not personal, it’s just business...the business of MY life.
What a delightful and insightful article.
I wish I could save it...
I have seen entire families or groups at restaurants with their faces buried in their phones, totally silent, while awaiting their food order.
It’s creepy...........
My creepiest experience was while waiting to get a new set of tires installed, there was a French restaurant across the street, nice place.
Had French breakfast and across the room a couple in their late 50s+ sitting next to each other in a booth, each buried in their own phones, never said a word to one another and had me wondering if each was texting with the other.
Deaf-mutes was the only rational explanation...
Cigarettes are like that.
My brother and I were talking about our iPhones today.
He was wanting to send a thank you to his friend, who had helped a very close relative make a connection to a very good Chemo doctor. The doctor was able to help in ways far beyond our hopes.
The friend was into hiking and the back country during vacation time. My brother wanted to send a nice photo with his thank you note.
I had downloaded a beautiful photo some time back. I showed it to him. He asked for a copy. I sent it.
Within mere moments he had his photo, and a very timely thank you had been sent to his truly wonderful friend.
Folks, iPhones are what you make of them. If you can’t think creatively to use them productively, then by all means get rid of it. While you are at it, admit to yourself you really are surrendering on the idea you have the tools to utilize it to it’s full potential.
Our family uses text messages to communicate as a group on important matters. We each can contribute, make suggestions, and resolve tough issues.
The elderly can keep in touch with loved ones anywhere on the planet. Photos can be sent in mere moments. They can occupy their time and not feel so lonely if they are all alone. They can watch movies, television shows, and shorts. They and you can learn how to do things. They and you could go out and to them.
Health issues can be tracked, corrected, and resolved
Information is at your fingertips constantly. It’s like having the Library of Alexandria at your fingertips, only better.
Today my brother pulled up Google Earth. In moments he had shown me Mounts Everest and Whitney from space. He could have pulled up many sites around the planet.
There isn’t a topic you can think off where there isn’t others out there with information that can fill in the gaps in your own knowledge.
You can keep up on political issues. You can network for success to help your community, region, state, nation, and planet thrive.
If you have an interest you can network with others. You can meet new people, perhaps a love interest in the process. You can join group activities, because you had something in your hand that allowed others to contact you in real time about a gathering just ahead.
You can keep in contact with your wife, children, parents, relatives, friends, fellow church members, colleagues, and others. You can find out where to go or connect to support special causes.
You can find information on places to eat, to gather, to enjoy a special place by yourself or with one or mother other people.
You can pay your bills, your bar tab, your restaurant bill, your best friend.
I could go on listing thousands of productive things you can do with your phone. What’s more, so could you.
If you wish to look at the worst possible side of this, I’m betting you think of the worst possible side of may issues.
Go whine to someone else.
I have better things to do than listen to people you are consummate losers.
They should go read articles from the 18hunders about how newspapers will end all social interaction. If you replace the world ‘news paper’ with ‘iphone’ the whining is the same.
Or maybe they just didn’t have anything to say. With or without phones the wife and I can do silence for a long time. We’re comfortable not filling the air with noise and just enjoying being near.
In some ways probably so.
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