"Smartphones Have DESTROYED a Generation" Tucker Carlson Interviews Dr. Jean Twenge

[Daozen]

I use an ancient Nokia. I have a smartphone but only use it twice a year. There are definitely dangers to smartphones. Seeing everyone hunched over their smartphones on the Metro is weird. But as uzn, said... were we really all talking to each other 20 years ago? No. On the morning train in the 90s, everyone was buried in a newspaper with their walkman on. At least this generation are actually talking to each other.

However, overuse is still dangerous...

The key is to get the right meetup apps in the hands of young people, and that's something I'm working on.

[zen deik]

Obsession is obsession is obsession..... Is obsession.... OK I'm stopping

[Mari]

Posted by Spellbound (here)
I don't do smart/i-phones and I don't do Facebook (or Twitter). I post on a few different boards (like this one)....and I send the occasional text with my dinosaur cellphone (no data plan). I'm good with that.

Dave - Toronto

Count me in on that one too - neither do I do 'smart' TVs - freeview is all we have in our house.
And when they come knocking on my door to persuade me to install a 'smart' energy consumption meter, they are in for a response that they wont have factored in with their customer dealings.....aka 'f**k off'!

[shaberon]

A generation, plus reaching retroactively into the adult world.

Older tech like tv and walkmans, or even newspapers, might compare, slightly, but these things are more like hooking you up to an intravenous life support system. I consider it a form of extinction.

[3(C)+me]

Read it and weep....


'Our minds can be hijacked': the tech insiders who fear a smartphone dystopia

Google, Twitter and Facebook workers who helped make technology so addictive are disconnecting themselves from the internet. Paul Lewis reports on the Silicon Valley refuseniks alarmed by a race for human attention

by Paul Lewis in San Francisco

Justin Rosenstein had tweaked his laptop’s operating system to block Reddit, banned himself from Snapchat, which he compares to heroin, and imposed limits on his use of Facebook. But even that wasn’t enough. In August, the 34-year-old tech executive took a more radical step to restrict his use of social media and other addictive technologies.

Rosenstein purchased a new iPhone and instructed his assistant to set up a parental-control feature to prevent him from downloading any apps.
He was particularly aware of the allure of Facebook “likes”, which he describes as “bright dings of pseudo-pleasure” that can be as hollow as they are seductive. And Rosenstein should know: he was the Facebook engineer who created the “like” button in the first place.

A decade after he stayed up all night coding a prototype of what was then called an “awesome” button, Rosenstein belongs to a small but growing band of Silicon Valley heretics who complain about the rise of the so-called “attention economy”: an internet shaped around the demands of an advertising economy.

These refuseniks are rarely founders or chief executives, who have little incentive to deviate from the mantra that their companies are making the world a better place. Instead, they tend to have worked a rung or two down the corporate ladder: designers, engineers and product managers who, like Rosenstein, several years ago put in place the building blocks of a digital world from which they are now trying to disentangle themselves. “It is very common,” Rosenstein says, “for humans to develop things with the best of intentions and for them to have unintended, negative consequences.”

Rosenstein, who also helped create Gchat during a stint at Google, and now leads a San Francisco-based company that improves office productivity, appears most concerned about the psychological effects on people who, research shows, touch, swipe or tap their phone 2,617 times a day.

There is growing concern that as well as addicting users, technology is contributing toward so-called “continuous partial attention”, severely limiting people’s ability to focus, and possibly lowering IQ. One recent study showed that the mere presence of smartphones damages cognitive capacity – even when the device is turned off. “Everyone is distracted,” Rosenstein says. “All of the time.”

https://www.theguardian.com/technolo...alley-dystopia

[Michelle Marie]

Awareness leads to informed life choices. I've spent over 3 years without Internet service (by choice) in an area with no cell phone reception. I retired my smart phone 3 years ago when the contract expired. I have limited cell phone use on an older model and I don't text.

Now my attention habits are to tune in to my heart through meditation, read good books, and write when inspired (this happens often).

I know people who will not own a cell phone, those who will not watch tv (me, too), and many who point their attention inward.

There are positive human trends that are not in the media, and are more positively powerful than all of the hoopla that gets media attention. People who learn to master their attention and steer away from tech/media seem more peaceful and healthy. That's just my personal observation.

Oh, and they are definitely more independent thinkers.

Pertinent information regarding theses issues has helped me to make better choices and confirmed choices I have made by the information shared on this forum. Very valuable!

Thanks everyone,
MM

[Mandala]

I'm a teacher and it is impossible to keep them off their phones. These kids can not be away from their phones for 5 minutes without becoming anxious. They can no longer carry on a face to face conversation, read body language and pick up on non verbal cues. and social interaction skills are on the decline. I have noticed that kids that have a super attachment to their phones want everything fast, quick, immediately if not sooner. They are less independent and are constantly seeking peer approval or peer feedback within a few seconds. The drama, bullying and gossip now have a quicker venue and spread much faster and can be posted on social media forever.

We were discussing communication, and one student told me her family and grandparents went to a restaurant for her birthday and for the first 30 minutes every person was texting on their cell phone, even the grandparents. Finally, the girl said is anyone going to talk to me? It's my birthday.

Today a person in Miami ran over a child on a bicycle and drug him for a distance and didn't notice what had happened because she was on a cell phone. Another driver had to make her pull over.

[Foxie Loxie]

Being of the Older Generation I lament there seems to be no truly "human contact" in this day & age. I guess distraction is the name of the game now. If we are distracted....we won't pay attention to what is REALLY going on that is controlling our lives.

[Bill Ryan]

HIGHLY recommended. (Trust me. )

LOOK UP

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=Z7dLU6fk9QY

[Michelle Marie]

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
HIGHLY recommended. (Trust me. )

LOOK UP

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=Z7dLU6fk9QY

Wow! That is awesome. Should go viral.

I went back up in the woods today where I lived without Internet for 3.5 years. I asked the young couple (new friends) if they were going to get internet. They said, "No, we're good. We might get a landline." There is no cell service there, either. They just use their phones when they go to work. Not much at work, I'm sure, because they're working. Refreshing.

I got to cuddle my former cat, Miso, that stayed there and went for a walk with him.

I'm hoping the lack of personal contact described in this video was a lesson learned and we can move past it. It's a personal choice.

Very nice. I'll share it in email.

MM

[Praxis]

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
HIGHLY recommended. (Trust me. )

LOOK UP

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=Z7dLU6fk9QY

Did some one say land of confusion

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=QHmH1xQ2Pf4

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by Michelle Marie (here)

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
HIGHLY recommended. (Trust me. )

LOOK UP

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=Z7dLU6fk9QY

Wow! That is awesome. Should go viral.

It already has.... over 500 million views worldwide (deservedly so, too).

I loved this photo from Gary Turk's website.

[Pam]

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
HIGHLY recommended. (Trust me. )

LOOK UP

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=Z7dLU6fk9QY

This is a great video, with lots of truth. It's interesting that I went to the youtube as I was curious as to how many views it had received. It seems this guy makes quite a few videos and has a very large "following" so I guess he doesn't practice what he preaches. He is obviously spending a lot of time in front of one screen or another.

[Valerie Villars]

What's really interesting about that phrase "Look Up" is something which has stuck with me for many years. Astounding in its simplicity.

There was an intelligence study done on dogs. One of the greatest signs of intelligence was in those who looked up; above their normal horizon of vision. Into the sky. It struck me this must also be true for humans and any other animal. It's called expanding your horizons=Bigger perception=Real Intelligence.

[Valerie Villars]

The other thing the "Look Up" video reminded me of was not talking on the subway.

I went to New York City for the first time in 2012. I had never been on a subway before and we were riding back to our hotel, coming back from a Who concert. I was so excited, just bubbling with the high of the music. I commented to my friend that no one was talking on the subway. He said no one ever talks on the subway.

I said, "Why not? That's stupid." And I proceeded to talk to a couple by us about how wonderful the concert was. Initially they looked astounded and then they sort of smiled and laughed while I said whatever I said. I'm sure it was not some philosophical discourse. But, we connected.

[Pam]

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)

Posted by Michelle Marie (here)

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
HIGHLY recommended. (Trust me. )

LOOK UP

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=Z7dLU6fk9QY

Wow! That is awesome. Should go viral.

It already has.... over 500 million views worldwide (deservedly so, too).

I loved this photo from Gary Turk's website.

I am going to have to respectfully disagree with you on this one. I find this picture to be the pretentious, and delusional.

This guy made a poetic observation, one that anyone with an ounce of common sense knows to be true, whether they will "look up" of not. Now, he is creating a persona to go with it. Please don't envision him using a dreaded screen to write, think of him outside at a table using an old school typewriter with a rock to hold his paper down. It kind of reminds of a music video where they have the rock star out in a field all alone, contemplating the beauty of a flower.

I don't see this guy as any different than anyone else trying to make a buck selling a persona. He does have writing skills and he is honest in his observations but he is exploiting that so that he can make a profit off of it. I think it is the nature of the kind of personality that he is trying to portray that really bothers me. Don't forget, if you want to contact him you can do so at his facebook, twitter or instagram accounts.

[Michelle Marie]

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)

Posted by Michelle Marie (here)

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
HIGHLY recommended. (Trust me. )

LOOK UP

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=Z7dLU6fk9QY

Wow! That is awesome. Should go viral.

It already has.... over 500 million views worldwide (deservedly so, too).

I loved this photo from Gary Turk's website.

Hilarious! While he was getting rich and famous telling people to put their smart phones down, I was living in the forest cell-free connecting with nature and people.

I'm not rich OR famous, but living the truth of the message has awesome benefits!

I don't mind that I'm behind...that I never heard of this guy or his video.

But it did go viral for a reason. It's a truth that hits home.

Happy in La La Land!
MM

[Ewan]

Brilliant! Told my son and wife to watch and am very tempted to hand out notices at school to all the parents standing there looking at their phones. So difficult to make eye-contact these days.

[apokalypse]

Posted by Daozen (here)
I use an ancient Nokia. I have a smartphone but only use it twice a year.

seeing alot of people still using ancient phone and should stick to it...i only time require is traveling on holidays somewhere look for restaurant but ask local is better idea. regarding maps going back ancient ways having paper physical maps.

My little cousin so addicted to smart phone and tablet for games...they must have it and parents seems like unable to control them.

[Daozen]

Recently I have seen a LOT of young people walking and texting at the same time. I saw at least two collisions in a week.