Article: Have Smart Phones Destroyed a Generation?

[Shinaoi]

I know my attention span isn't what it use to be because of the quick and fast pace nature of the phone.

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

The challenge with this image is that those folks will be reading the newspaper for a short duration... 10 minutes... 15 minutes... Whatever.

For many their smart phone is always with them and whenever there is a break in the action... There they go to it! And sometimes when there isn't a break in the action. After 10 seconds of not doing something a kid will whip out their smart phone and start Facebooking-instagramming-snapchatting. There total attention is with the phone.

Referring back to the image, I don't think I remember a time ever being in a restaurant and seeing a table of more than two people with one of them whipping out a newspaper/magazine and reading it while their partner/friend/relative sits there. But today? I see entire tables of 4, 6, 8 people ALL whipping out their smart phones... Totally ignoring everyone else.

We're isolating ourselves... No wonder loneliness and unhappiness is at such high levels.

A sign of the times = real time news.

Back then, there were no updates until you got to radio or next days newspaper.



Riddle me this batman... if those newspapers updated themselves back in 1916... would you say no one would re open the paper.... KNOWING... it updated??

Lol

 

[MichaelWinicki]

A sign of the times = real time news.

Back then, there were no updates until you got to radio or next days newspaper.



Riddle me this batman... if those newspapers updated themselves back in 1916... would you say no one would re open the paper.... KNOWING... it updated??

Lol

You know as well as I do most of the activity taking place on a smart phone has nothing to do with finding out what the most recent news is...

It's more like, "Hey I just took a dump."

Or "Check out my new tat".

Or "Don't you just luv Justin Bieber."

 

[JoeyBoy718]

You know as well as I do most of the activity taking place on a smart phone has nothing to do with finding out what the most recent news is...

It's more like, "Hey I just took a dump."

Or "Check out my new tat".

Or "Don't you just luv Justin Bieber."

Yep. There's a difference between what something can be used for and what it actually is used for. I don't have any social media accounts. That doesn't mean I can't name any positive uses of social media. I can probably name more than most. But I don't have social media because it's overwhelmingly used in the worst possible and least productive ways. Let's not pretend that people are maximizing the platform.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Yep. There's a difference between what something can be used for and what it actually is used for. I don't have any social media accounts. That doesn't mean I can't name any positive uses of social media. I can probably name more than most. But I don't have social media because it's overwhelmingly used in the worst possible and least productive ways. Let's not pretend that people are maximizing the platform.

And you can certainly say other platforms like newspaper (reading the comics) or TV (Jerry Springer) do have their own mindless areas, but the difference with say TV and a smartphone is that most people do not have the TV on for every waking minute and it holds their attention for much of that time. Smart Phones have created a society of Pavlov's dogs where is someone is awake, they have that smart phone with them– And they're paying a lot of attention to it.

 

[Vtwin]

I'm reading this thread on my phone when I should be mowing the lawn.

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

I'm reading this thread on my phone when I should be mowing the lawn.

You see that's the problem with society. Please read entire thread .... THOROUGHLY...


Lmao

 

[Hardline]

They most certainly have. And every time my son pulls out his phone I yell "instant gratification, instant gratification."

So much so that he says it now when I use mine, LOL. But I'm not updating some damn Instagram, Twitter, etc.

I don't take his phone from him since he's an honor roll student. But if he wasn't, there would be no phone.

Y'all should listen to Noam Chomsky speak on it. Educate yourselves further than an observation.

It's killing our kids. This isn't a "millennial" thing, this is an under-18 dealio.

Noam Chomsky. Educate yourselves.

Noam Chomsky is the last person I would listen to.

 

[Hardline]

yep this big anti-intellectual movement going on in with a certain demographics is probably way bigger force of destruction than smart phones. Someone like Betsy DeVos should have never been put in charge of Education.

There is not an intellectual movement. It's a movement against pseudo intellectuals that think they know more than anyone else.

 

[Fizziksman]

There is not an intellectual movement. It's a movement against pseudo intellectuals that think they know more than anyone else.

unfortunately, that isn't the case because pseudo intellectuals like Anti-Vaxers, Climate Denialist, people that think the world is 8000 years old etc. have a much bigger voice than they really should especially in the government.

 

[Hardline]

unfortunately, that isn't the case because pseudo intellectuals like Anti-Vaxers, Climate Denialist, people that think the world is 8000 years old etc. have a much bigger voice than they really should especially in the government.

This is what I mean by pseudo intellectuals. There isn't a shred of evidence of man made climate change and the climate alarmist want to lecture those that know better. AntiVaxxers are nuts and those that believe in the religion of evolution cannot prove their theory .

 

[pjtoadie]

The challenge with this image is that those folks will be reading the newspaper for a short duration... 10 minutes... 15 minutes... Whatever.

For many their smart phone is always with them and whenever there is a break in the action... There they go to it! And sometimes when there isn't a break in the action. After 10 seconds of not doing something a kid will whip out their smart phone and start Facebooking-instagramming-snapchatting. There total attention is with the phone.

Referring back to the image, I don't think I remember a time ever being in a restaurant and seeing a table of more than two people with one of them whipping out a newspaper/magazine and reading it while their partner/friend/relative sits there. But today? I see entire tables of 4, 6, 8 people ALL whipping out their smart phones... Totally ignoring everyone else.

We're isolating ourselves... No wonder loneliness and unhappiness is at such high levels.

 

[Trouty]

Noam Chomsky is the last person I would listen to.

Coming from you, that makes me like him more.


Seriously.

 

[Trouty]

Noam Chomsky is the last person I would listen to.

What do you know about him?

Please, educate me on your views.

And if it's some dip **** non-sequitor, spare me and ignore this post.

 

[CyberB0b]

This is what I mean by pseudo intellectuals. There isn't a shred of evidence of man made climate change and the climate alarmist want to lecture those that know better. AntiVaxxers are nuts and those that believe in the religion of evolution cannot prove their theory .

Actually, there is very little debate among people who are well educated in climate change.

 

[Reverend Conehead]

There are things I like and dislike about the smartphone era.

What I like:

It's a great tool for learning a foreign language. I was shopping for a shower curtain at Walmart and wanted to know how to say that in French. In moments I knew that it was "rideau de ******." In past years, when I was learning German, I had to carry around a small notebook and write the word down and look it up in a dictionary later. Even then I wouldn't know if it was the commonly used word or was regional or archaic. Now I can ask on language learning forum if an expression is the one used.

I like being able to easily navigate a city I'm visiting and am unfamiliar with. I as able to do this even in a foreign country when I visited Switzerland.

I like being able to easily find restaurants to my liking. In the past I may have settled for Burger King when I was really in the mood for Mexican food or Chinese.

I like being able to easily stay in touch with family via text messaging. I'm not addicted to texting. I don't do it that often, but when I do, it's for staying in touch.

What I dislike:

I cannot stand what these phones have done to the experience of going to see a movie. There’s always some idiot texting or doing some dumb thing on his smartphone. Those things glow brightly and are very distracting in the theatre.

Teachers actually have to make students give up their phones during class because they’ll text and do god knows that on their stupid phones instead of paying attention.

Smartphones are yet one more thing to keep people from reading books.

edit: rideau de ****** is French and is not a swear word

 

[diefree666]

Actually, there is very little debate among people who are well educated in climate change.

actually you are quite wrong. Especially as more revelations come out about 'doctored' temperature records.

 

[Reverend Conehead]

actually you are quite wrong. Especially as more revelations come out about 'doctored' temperature records.

Careful, this is turning into a political thread.

 

[diefree666]

Careful, this is turning into a political thread.

frankly its hard to find anything that someone will not claim is political anymore. One reason I do not spend much time here in the Off Topics zone is that its gotten boring

 

[JoeyBoy718]

There are things I like and dislike about the smartphone era.

What I like:

It's a great tool for learning a foreign language. I was shopping for a shower curtain at Walmart and wanted to know how to say that in French. In moments I knew that it was "rideau de ******." In past years, when I was learning German, I had to carry around a small notebook and write the word down and look it up in a dictionary later. Even then I wouldn't know if it was the commonly used word or was regional or archaic. Now I can ask on language learning forum if an expression is the one used.

I like being able to easily navigate a city I'm visiting and am unfamiliar with. I as able to do this even in a foreign country when I visited Switzerland.

I like being able to easily find restaurants to my liking. In the past I may have settled for Burger King when I was really in the mood for Mexican food or Chinese.

I like being able to easily stay in touch with family via text messaging. I'm not addicted to texting. I don't do it that often, but when I do, it's for staying in touch.

What I dislike:

I cannot stand what these phones have done to the experience of going to see a movie. There’s always some idiot texting or doing some dumb thing on his smartphone. Those things glow brightly and are very distracting in the theatre.

Teachers actually have to make students give up their phones during class because they’ll text and do god knows that on their stupid phones instead of paying attention.

Smartphones are yet one more thing to keep people from reading books.

edit: rideau de ****** is French and is not a swear word

I don't think anyone can deny the value of phones and the internet. The examples you mentioned are things I'm very grateful for. The issue is letting your phone consume you rather than using your phone for its many values.