College Students Say Ditching Their Smartphones For a Week Changed Their Lives (cbslocal.com) 91
"They survived!" reports a local CBS news station, revisiting nearly two dozen students at Adelphi University who went a full week without their cell phones.
schwit1 shares their report:
It was part of a college course intended to break the powerful addiction of smartphones... an Adelphi University course called "Life Unplugged" where students did the unthinkable one week ago -- handed over their smartphones. "I'm freaking out, I could probably cry right now," one student said. It was a bold experiment to recognize today's compulsive relationships with ever present devices. Seven days later, "who's excited they're getting their phones back today?" Professor Donna Freitas asked.
Gone were the nerves and the shakes. "Everything is perfect right now. I'm having a lot better relationships... it's a stress free environment no pressure about social media," Jacob Dannenberg said.
"I think it's really refreshing and relaxing... I was able to fall asleep a lot easier," student Adrianna Cigliano.
They managed to find their way, even without GPS for a week. "I just had to take the same route everywhere," one student joked. They were also more productive. "Doing homework was 100 percent easier. I got it done faster, I was in the zone," Cigliano said.
Prof. Freitas says it's important for everyone to assess their addiction. "Are the conveniences worth it because the drawback are pretty significant," Freitas said. "The face that no one can focus, that my students can't sleep... They feel bad about themselves because of social media, the list goes on and on."
Their reunions with the phones "went sour quickly as endless notifications piled up," the article notes. "Oh my God this is so bad...!" they quote one student as saying.
"I just want to shut it off now....!"
Gone were the nerves and the shakes. "Everything is perfect right now. I'm having a lot better relationships... it's a stress free environment no pressure about social media," Jacob Dannenberg said.
"I think it's really refreshing and relaxing... I was able to fall asleep a lot easier," student Adrianna Cigliano.
They managed to find their way, even without GPS for a week. "I just had to take the same route everywhere," one student joked. They were also more productive. "Doing homework was 100 percent easier. I got it done faster, I was in the zone," Cigliano said.
Prof. Freitas says it's important for everyone to assess their addiction. "Are the conveniences worth it because the drawback are pretty significant," Freitas said. "The face that no one can focus, that my students can't sleep... They feel bad about themselves because of social media, the list goes on and on."
Their reunions with the phones "went sour quickly as endless notifications piled up," the article notes. "Oh my God this is so bad...!" they quote one student as saying.
"I just want to shut it off now....!"
Sounds like common sense (Score:2)
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Unfortunately, common sense is not very common.
Re: Sounds like common sense (Score:2)
Yeah, back in the 80s - before cell phones - everyone got raped and mugged regularly. The 80s were dark times.
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My mugger got raped during my mugging, it was pretty awesome
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Re: Sounds like common sense (Score:2)
...not very common.
Common sense is so rare it should be a myth or superpower.
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Cell phone or social media? (Score:5, Interesting)
Gone were the nerves and the shakes. "Everything is perfect right now. I'm having a lot better relationships... it's a stress free environment no pressure about social media," Jacob Dannenberg said....
Their reunions with the phones "went sour quickly as endless notifications piled up," the article notes. "Oh my God this is so bad...!" they quote one student as saying.
"I just want to shut it off now....!"
Looks to me like the issue wasn't so much the the cell phone use but rather the oversaturation of social media. I would love to see this experiment repeated with 3 groups: a control group with no change, a group that gives up their cellphones, and a third group that simply has all their social media passwords changed to lock them out for the week. I would imagine there wouldn't be much of a difference in reported stress levels between the last 2 groups.
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a third group that simply has all their social media passwords changed to lock them out for the week. I would imagine there wouldn't be much of a difference in reported stress levels between the last 2 groups.
No need to be so dramatic, get them a Wiko or an old school Nokia and that should be enough. No Apps, no social networks, no youtube,no GPS,and the camera sucks ass compared to modern phone cameras, just calls and SMS.
Re:Cell phone or social media? (Score:4, Informative)
That's blocking too much stuff and changing the parent's test: is social media the problem? By blocking everything else at the same time, you're changing the desired results.
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Technically you can get a new Nokia too, and just not install any of the social media apps on it. One of the advantages of current Nokia lineup is that they come with zero social media crap pre-installed.
Also, does youtube count as a social network? All it is is a video publishing site. Or are you referring to comments?
Comment removed (Score:4, Interesting)
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Damn right.
First Step: Turn off notifications on all apps (okay, let the banking apps notify you when you are about to go overdrawn).
Especially Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Twitter and other social media apps.
Before Social Media, at university in 1996, we were told a healthy relationship with e-mail was twice a day, in the morning and late afternoon. No more. This is a pattern you can do with social media as well these days.
Constant exposure to stress-inducing pressure from these applications is not healt
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Damn right.
First Step: Turn off notifications on all apps (okay, let the banking apps notify you when you are about to go overdrawn).
Especially Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Twitter and other social media apps.
No Instagram, not Twitter, no snapchat, no whatsapp, no tiktok. The only service I even have an account on is Facebook (which I got back when you still needed a .edu address to create one) and I've posted less than 5 times in the last 2-3 years and don't have the app on my phone. Oh, and no stress.
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Re:Cell phone or social media? (Score:4)
Aren't there several major social media company bosses on record stating that they will not let their children use their company's product?
Seems like the studies were already done. Just not necessarily published.
Cell phone definitely (Score:2)
I never use social media but just having a cell phone to look things up or to keep up to date on news or interests, it's still dodging real life and not letting your mind have a chance to relax, or have some time off to just process things. We need sleep and dreams to work through things too, and we need downtime to decompress. We need time to wonder and daydream as well.
Constantly feeding your mind more cookies isn't good whether it's social media or anything else too.
Re: Phone bad, book good. (Score:5, Funny)
Is that your way of saying "would you like fries with that?"
Re:Phone bad, book good. (Score:5, Insightful)
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I read my BOOKS on my CELL PHONE. And I am a boomer. I can also read physical media, and still enjoy it. I know and see people that are not boomers that do the same. Young/Old. For someone to ASSUME(Make an ass out of you) that someone is a boomer just because they like physical books and not electronic media pretty much makes an ass out of you.
Relax - millennial is using the only tool he has. Raised by Gen-X'ers who wouldn't let him grow up, educated in a school system that handed out participation trophies, and thinking he could make a good living out of his philosophy degree.
But we can't blame mummy and daddy, they are our besties! Let's blame Papaw and Grams.
As far as smartphones go. I have one. But I don't have any social media on it. It's a toy that allows me to look up some stuff if I need to. These young people and non-technical types
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Re:Phone bad, book good. (Score:4)
I would say that it's really deliciously ironic Boomers and and Millennials share the same trait of blaming the older generation for everything. "Don't trust anyone over the age of 30!"
Stereotyping. I never blamed "The Greatest Generation" for anything. Some surely have though, there's no argument there. But as often I I've gotten the silly "Okay Boomer", I'd guess that it isn't quite as much of a stereotype as claiming that people born from 1946 to 1964 are
Yup - When I was growing up, there were a fair number of my contemporaries who claimed that the Vietnam post-war inflation would negate any savings they might have, so there was no point in saving for retirement. Included in that was pronouncements that Social Security would fail soon. So they didn't. Idiot me just did some basic math and ignored them. I retired at 55. But those other folks - they were right! They can't retire. But it wasn't inflation, it was their failure to plan.
Sound a bit familiar? Not exactly the same, but I have news for the millenials - there is going to be a generation in the future that reviles them as much as we grarner hatred.
My main issue with the stupid blame game is that this is all directed at these people's grandparents rather than the people that actually had much influence.
Were the Grandparents inculcating these children with pretend self esteem? Were the grandparents telling them they could be anything they want to be if they only try hard enough? Were the Grandparents telling them that unless they went to college they were subhuman, and that all they had to do was faind their passion?
The demand to not be subhuman led to such high demand for a college education in any major that the market forces of supply and demand took over. That student debt, spent on college degrees that don't have much in the way of employment opportunities, was that their grandparents work?
I want to know why the parents of these children didn't sit down with them and inject a little wisdom regarding if they were going to go to University, they should take majors that will give a chance of gainful employment.
I want to know why these now adult children consider quitting a job and moving back in with their parents and sucking their parents retirements dry as a career move. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/a... [cbsnews.com] https://www.kiplinger.com/arti... [kiplinger.com]
Can I get an "Okay Boomer" for those damned parents supporting their adult children to the tune of 500 Billion a year? I'm the last person to say that things are not messed up for millenials. But part of the course correction needed is to understand that blaming their grandparents won't fix a thing. The need to look to their parents, their schools, and finally understand that blame doesn't accomplish a thing. They need to take that final step and become adults.
As they say some times - Deal With it! At some point, you have to be responsible for yourself.
Of course if saying "Okay Boomer" makes a person feel like they've accomplished something, then have at it.
Re: Phone bad, book good. (Score:2)
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Thanks to baby boomers and their "credit card generation" ideas, we now have a national debt that is too large to deal with.
You misspelled Gen-Xers.... https://www.fiscaltiger.com/ge... [fiscaltiger.com]
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The youngest GenX are 40 right now, so their kids might be turning 20 but those are only for the very youngest. The oldest GenX are 54 and many are grandparents by now.
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When I log into slashdot and see no mod points, I know that I'm going to find a really good comment. This was it today. I'd like to say that this same reaction (feeling better when the smart device is removed after so long) can also be experienced when someone from a rich country goes to a poor country for an extended stay.
It's amazing that all of the modern "enjoyments" that are made available today aren't "experienced" until they're gone.
Partial solutions (Score:5, Interesting)
Not everyone by a long shot, but a lot of people struggle because they either don't explore the notification options, or aren't aggressive enough with what they shut out.
You still have to find a way to exercise restraint/fight procrastination/addiction and not keep picking up a device to check mail/media manually, but it's a lot easier when not being nagged.
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re-enable them for anything absolutely vital
Who decides it's vital? For the students at the beginning, everything would be "vital" (what somebody sais he "needs" is mostly what he "wants", but not really need).
I avoided social apps and have facebook for maybe 2 years (still no twitter, no instagram). I check it once, maybe twice per day.
My phone stays mostly in standby, to be available when called (which is rare by itself). So I laugh at phone reviews when they say "this really is a full day phone", when I can get 4 days out of it, with data enabled
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I would think that text messaging would be vital. Don't they receive text messages when there are active shooter alerts? And most family now text for communication.
Re: Partial solutions (Score:5, Insightful)
If you plan your life around active shootings, maybe you should move out of your neighborhood. Active shooters are extremely rare events. If you're afraid of them, turn off the news. There's nothing to be afraid of.
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If they got shot and died, then there is no more problem, is there? And worrying about it will not change the outcome one iota, it is merely a wasted expenditure of energy.
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Active shooters are incredibly rare. What you should *really* be worrying about is all those *inactive shooters*. They're everywhere!
Re:Partial solutions (Score:5, Interesting)
re-enable them for anything absolutely vital
Who decides it's vital? For the students at the beginning, everything would be "vital" (what somebody sais he "needs" is mostly what he "wants", but not really need).
I was on a work field trip with a Student once who freaked when we entered an area with no bars on his precious smartphone. Wanted us to turn around. Other students who would refuse to attend a required lecture because they had to leave their phones at the front desk. K-Ryste, that was a whole 1 point grade drop they were willing to take instead of giving up their precious phone for 40 minutes. That's addiction for ya.
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It's a tool, not a toy (Score:2)
I suppose it all depends on whether you use your phone as a tool or a toy. I do devops for a startup, at any moment I may be needed to fix an issue on a server or assist someone else with a technical task. At a minimum I need access to:
Other apps are less essential, but would still be a hassle to live without, such as my transit tracker and ticketing applications.
The prob
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wanted to say this, just disable notifications and that helps a lot.
they just handed in their phones, they can still access those social networks through a web browser on their pc.
True for geezers, too... (Score:4, Insightful)
It's always easy to grab the smartphone, whether for a tiny task (that you could do perfectly well without), or simply in a moment of boredom. Try setting it aside - leave it at home for the day. I've only done this once or twice, but it really is a trip (back) into a different world. You are much more "present", much more aware of the world around you.
Whether that's a good thing, well, that's for you to decide :-/
Twitter jitters (Score:3)
When I was first on Twitter, I was following ~50 people.
After a while I realized it was making me jittery.
I cut it back to ~5 (only 3 of whom post with any regularity), and the jitters went away.
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My issue with Twitter is being a completionist (FOMO on social media tweets, FFS brain get it together!) and you follow a lot of interesting things (pixel art stuff, political stuff, beer stuff, a few friends). But catching up on the day's tweets at 1am in bed is really unhealthy when you have to wake at 7. I've been able to detach from Facebook and just dip in/out if I have a moment, but Twitter so far has been a bridge too far. And that's with notifications off.
Britain's going insane because everyone foll
Re: Twitter jitters (Score:3)
Google+ wasn't designed to be addictive. That's why it failed.
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When I was first on Twitter, I was following ~50 people. After a while I realized it was making me jittery. I cut it back to ~5 (only 3 of whom post with any regularity), and the jitters went away.
The uneducated non-technical person is reading this and assuming Twitter is some kind of new nicotine-infused espresso...
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"The uneducated non-technical person is reading this and assuming Twitter is some kind of new nicotine-infused espresso..."
Of course Twitter isn't that bad. It's like nicotine infused espresso delivered with a hammer blow to the skull.
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I don't know how many I follow, but they all dump into my RSS feed. Same with the handful of stupid businesses that only have facebook pages but which I still want to be reminded of every now and then.
Done that way, and it's totally under my control. No popups or notifications, no nagging, most of the ads stripped. I really don't know how people can allow shitty software to demand their attention to the point of distraction and mental illness.
I can absolutely believe it (Score:5, Insightful)
I think this 'always-connectedness' is going to be the underlying cause of a lot of social problems for the coming generations.
It is a constant grab for your attention. Constant 'fear of missing out'. Constant need to compete on social media.
It is also a constant escape device. I used to be able to pass time on a commute, or standing in a queue .. just content in my own thoughts. Now there is the tickle of 'I could be reading news / scanning FB'.
It means we don't have down time. And our attention span is terrible. We don't remember directions, etc. It means you do not build small everyday social connections with the people around you. You are preferably engaged on your device.
If you have the willpower to resist all of this. Good for you. If you have never been addicted to anything (alcohol, gambling, porn, etc). Good for you. But they are real problems, and this connectedness problem is going to be so much worse for the upcoming generation.
It's insane (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:It's insane (Score:5, Interesting)
I think it is an addiction for many, but I think we cry addiction too readily.
Back in the 80's and 90's,I remember my sister on the phone, all the time. In the 90s we had a fax line to connect to the internet, and one of my sisters would have the cordless in one ear, and the fax line in the other, talking to two friends relaying what the other was saying for 5-6 hours at a time. It wasn't an addiction, it was hyper-social behavior (scientific term, I swear). Her gossiping for hours without end is probably similar to what teenage girls are doing right now on social platforms.
I feel like in some cases, it's got to be similar to that. But I think it's a lot less healthier than having two phones pressed up against your face and not ever going outside, because the biggest difference between digital socializing and actually socializing, is you never have the opportunity to go home, hide under the blanket when you've done something dumb and people caught you with your ass out, or you're being bullied, or even just unwind after being out all day.
I know people can get addicted to anything, but I guess what I mean is, if I was young and growing up today, without having my own personal experiences of growing up and actually interacting with people, I wouldn't even know the alternative existed. I think that's something we need to remember, many discussions like this are older people like us talking about younger people. It's a very different world, and it's a little unsettling.
Fun fact, my kids scoff at the idea of meeting somebody in a romantic way randomly, the idea that an app doesn't need to be involved blows their minds.
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I think it is an addiction for many, but I think we cry addiction too readily.
Back in the 80's and 90's,I remember my sister on the phone, all the time. In the 90s we had a fax line to connect to the internet, and one of my sisters would have the cordless in one ear, and the fax line in the other, talking to two friends relaying what the other was saying for 5-6 hours at a time. It wasn't an addiction, it was hyper-social behavior (scientific term, I swear). Her gossiping for hours without end is probably similar to what teenage girls are doing right now on social platforms.
It becomes very difficult to compare the problems we face today vs. yesteryear when you look at the suicide rate.
IMHO, we don't cry addiction enough. And now, it's far too late. You're not going to put that Genie back in the pill bottle, because it's now completely socially acceptable to be an arrogant narcissist addicted to social media. Professional Attention Whore is now a highly paid profession. The suicide rate is always portrayed as a problem of upbringing or weak-minded people, not social media.
I
Uphill! Both ways! (Score:3)
Pfft. When I was in college, we had to carry heavy black Bell landline phones around with us, ready to plug in when we needed to make a call and happened to be indoors at the time. No apps in this days, nosiree! The Instamatic cameras we attached to them did come in handy when the pigs charged our anti-Vietnam demonstrations, but the duct tape tended to come unstuck when subjected to tear gas.
You young whippersnappers don’t know how good you have it today.
Re:Uphill! Both ways! (Score:5, Funny)
Pfft. When I was in college, we had to carry heavy black Bell landline phones around with us, ready to plug in when we needed to make a call and happened to be indoors at the time. No apps in this days, nosiree! The Instamatic cameras we attached to them did come in handy when the pigs charged our anti-Vietnam demonstrations, but the duct tape tended to come unstuck when subjected to tear gas.
You young whippersnappers don’t know how good you have it today.
Back in my day, we only had wood burning phones.
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"Back in my day, we only had wood burning phones."
That must have been rough. Luckily I didn't have to live through that hardship. Though it was still a drag having to remember to feed my phone coal to keep the boiler pressurized.
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Back in my day, we only had wood burning phones.
so that's what was used to transmit smoke signals
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Back in my day, we only had wood burning phones.
so that's what was used to transmit smoke signals
I think that may be why people think Boomers are always blowing smoke up their ass.
False dichotomy (Score:1)
You can have access to information, a camera, music, a PIM, a calculator, a notepad and a phone, without all that online community / "social media" and spying/as bullshit.
I know, because I do so every day.
It is not your pocket computer(oid) that is the problem.
It is that I have a real life, while you, no offense, never had a chance to grow one.
So: Good first step. But not a serious solution of your problems yet.
Yet.
Correction: s/as/ad/ (Score:1)
Otherwise that makes no sense. :)
So, what's a parents excuse then? (Score:3)
"...it's important for everyone to assess their addiction.
It's also important to call a spade a spade, and I'm glad we're finally calling this what it is.
So, what's the parents excuse then, as the overwhelming majority of them willingly give a smartphone to their children at the earliest age possible? That excuse of safety becomes rather questionable when handing The Precious to Gollum.
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"...it's important for everyone to assess their addiction.
It's also important to call a spade a spade, and I'm glad we're finally calling this what it is.
So, what's the parents excuse then, as the overwhelming majority of them willingly give a smartphone to their children at the earliest age possible? That excuse of safety becomes rather questionable when handing The Precious to Gollum.
They dont need an excuse now any more than they did 20 years ago when their kids stared at a TV and played nintendo all day. Only difference now is they take the TV/Nintendo with them.
People keep thinking this is some nightmare end of society thing. Same shit, different medium. They grow out of it eventually.
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"...it's important for everyone to assess their addiction.
It's also important to call a spade a spade, and I'm glad we're finally calling this what it is.
So, what's the parents excuse then, as the overwhelming majority of them willingly give a smartphone to their children at the earliest age possible? That excuse of safety becomes rather questionable when handing The Precious to Gollum.
They dont need an excuse now any more than they did 20 years ago when their kids stared at a TV and played nintendo all day. Only difference now is they take the TV/Nintendo with them.
So let's compare this addiction to another. Nintendo was like having access to a keg of beer that sits in your basement fridge at home. Sure, you can become addicted, but it took a hell of a lot more effort.
Now, the addict carries a bottle on them at all times. And that is completely acceptable behavior.
People keep thinking this is some nightmare end of society thing. Same shit, different medium. They grow out of it eventually.
Yeah, I guess that's why we hardly ever hear of adult coffee drinkers. They must have outgrown it. Addiction can wear off with age; problem is we usually call it "death".
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Are you seriously trying to correlate beer and coffee to cellphone use? What an odd comparison.
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I don't know about that. I see *tons* of adults who are similarly addicted. Just look into any car when you're on the road, and I'll be 9/10 times you'll see somebody staring a phone when they're supposed to be maneuvering a multi-ton chuck of plastic and metal around at high speeds near other people.
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I see tons of adults doing makeup in the car during commute. I know a guy that drives a stick shift, eats a hamburger in one hand, has his drink in the other and still shifts and steers somehow.
Cellphones are still new. I was guilty of some of these things once but grew out of it. Others will too. I already see it where people are putting phones away while driving. Carplay and android auto also help a lot here.
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No surprise that the parents are just as addicted as everyone else.
Sounds strange (Score:1)
It's not the smartphone, it's you (Score:2)
Just delete the social media apps and you'll be OK with a smartphone.
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Fucked up part is, some of them like facebook come pre-installed on many phones and cannot be uninstalled by conventional means.
Bullshit (Score:3)
This seems performative. Like the guy who doesn't own a TV constantly telling everyone he doesn't even own a TV.
Meh (Score:2)
I still mostly just text so an old phone can do that and phone calls.
Not finished yet. (Score:3)
Just uninstall the apps (Score:1)
Just uninstall all the messaging and social media apps and be done with it.
I'm a grown-ass adult and I still felt the same sense of freedom after ditching all online interaction with other people. Focusing on the people in the room with you is way better.
NAS: Requisite Johnny Mnemonic reference (Score:2)
Johnny Mnemonic predicted this decades ago. Nerve Attenuation Syndrome (NAS) was the killer condition in the movie.
Funny how this just now coming to light 24 years later.
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Now all we need is a proper Street Preacher
Street Preacher found (Score:2)
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So they learned that they need to turn off (Score:1)
Notifications. It doesn't mean they have to get rid of their phone.
As someone who's in college now, this experiment is stupid and not really something I'd recommend.
All of our class notes and study aids are online and easily accessable with the school's app. We've done class study groups with Kahoot (when people got the wrong answer the teacher explains in more detail of why what is right and wrong), and this needs a smartphone app to play. If we are running late, we can text the teacher so at least they kn
Welcome to the 1980's (Score:1)
Without supporting ads and the US gov from an always on "smartphone".
Sounds like social media is the real issue. (Score:1)
One can have a smartphone and NOT use Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. I have 0 anxiety about my phone, because I stay away from social networks like those. Not that I don't have accounts, I do, I just don't use them on my phone. Also, I use extensions like the News Feed Eradicator.