Phone Addiction
I just felt like adding my thoughts to Ava’s on online addiction because it’s something that I’ve been stewing on for quite some time.
But did/do you have a safe to lock your TV or books into? Do you add controls to your TV that it would shut off and not turn on after a set amount of time? Do you buy books that are intentionally hard or difficult to read so you’d put it down? Did you, long after color TV, start only consuming black and white TV content to be less hooked? Did you think about selling your satellite so you wouldn’t watch TV at home? Probably none of these, but we do that with phones. Kind of funny to think about. I wonder if we will react to new tech this way again, or if this will remain a time we look back on and go: What the fuck? Why would anyone do this?
The reason why we didn’t react the same to TVs was probably a mix of various factors:
- Buying a TV was a deliberate action that not everyone could afford so easily, so they considered if it was worth it.
- TVs are stationary so they can’t nag you when you aren’t where they are. It’s also not expected of you to carry them around.
- TVs were used to popularize Phones through ads but TVs could only be marketed on radio or in newspapers before that.
- And most importantly, television content is in not individualized in most cases. It’s made to appeal to as many people as possible and it doesn’t show you information tailored to your interests.
I think there’s one thing we got wrong so far. I noticed it on myself too, over the years: there isn’t just a pull into the online by addictive design, there is nothing keeping you offline. Offline might even push you into it further. When I had a fulfilling offline life, I forgot I even had a phone most of the time. Meanwhile, if my offline life sucked, my screen time would skyrocket. The same apps and addictive design, but different outside circumstances. We shouldn’t just ask outselves what’s pulling us and blocking it, we should ask ourselves what’s pushing us.
Great observation! When I was reading Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport, one of his most central points was that to get away from phones, you need to keep your offline life just as entertaining, if not more.
Is it loneliness? Is it a bad and unsafe area? Is it living with abusive family? Is it physical or mental pain? Is it having no third places outside to meet people in? Is it having no money for doing anything offline? Is it because no one can take you anywhere? Is it for numbing very intense emotions? Just the most common reasons I can think of.
And that may be controversial, but sometimes it’s better to be phone addicted and spend hours on some feeds than the alternative. I think I only survived my teens because I was constantly on my computer in my room. It was easier to navigate a bad home I couldn’t otherwise escape and physical illness that way.
Relatable 🥲. Escapism is the major pull factor of the online world (or push factor from the offline world). I agree that it’s unethical to ask of people to pull the rug from under them. High screen time is not the cause of suicidal ideation in my opinion - it’s a symptom of just feeling shit all around.