Three Reasons Why We Should Turn it off

You're using it more than you think...

Let’s play a game. Without checking, guess how many hours per day you are on your phone. Get the number in your head.

Research says that your guess was an underestimate. Most of us spend WAY more time staring at our phones or tablets than we think. Don't believe me? Check your screen time (here is a guide). My average this week was 3 hours and 36 minutes per day, and I thought it was spending under an hour. Don't feel bad if yours is higher, the US average is over 5 hours.

Sure, some of the time we spend on our phones is work and connecting to loved ones. But a lot is not. Here are three reasons why it's a good idea to turn it off, and put it away more than we do.

1. Historically, we humans have been smart enough to create amazing technology, but never smart enough to use it wisely. Over a million years ago, humans invented fire, which was great for scaring predators away predators and cooking food. But it also morphed into weapons that could and were used to harm unnecessarily. Ditto for axes and crossbows. A few hundred years ago, we created better sailing ships that allowed us to explore. That's fine...until it led to enslavement explored territories. A hundred years ago, televisions came along. Televisions are awesome: pause for a moment to think about how a wave in the air can turn into a picture on your screen?). But televisions aren't good if we become addicted to what it plays. More recently, nuclear power was invented... All amazing inventions I'm aware of demonstrate the incredible ingenuity of the human race, and also that we are not smart enough to use the invention wisely (all or most of the time).

Now we have mobile phones which help us stay in touch, take pictures of our babies, and do work while we are sitting on a beach. But it is easy to become addicted to the phones and the apps. Just as drug addiction means good business for dealers, smartphone (app) addiction is good business for whoever makes phones and apps.

2. Nocebo-ing ourselves. For evolutionary reasons, we are hard wired to react more strongly to negative information. If our ancestors didn't run like hell when someone yelled, 'Saber-toothed tiger,' they'd be dead. On the other hand, if someone tells you that you look wonderful and you blush inappropriately, you don't die. For good reasons, our brains are hard wired to react more strongly to negative information. This means that when we are browsing our devices, we are subconsciously drawn to negative news. Besides being good for sales, negative news affects us adversely. It generates a nocebo effect, which is the effect of expecting something bad to happen. When we open ourselves to bad news, our bodies and brains react in a number of ways that make headaches, nausea, depression, anxiety, and maybe even heart disease more likely. It is probably why smartphone use is associated with worse mental health. During the COVID-19 era, there is a disproportionate amount of negative news (some of it fake). Sure, it's important to stay abreast of important developments, but there aren't hours of important new developments every day.

3. Waste of scarce resources. You could be doing something more life-enhancing. Like exercise. Playing with your child. Making love to your partner. Doing some exercise. Meditating...

I'm taking my medicine and going phone free this weekend, so if you try to reach me and I don't respond you'll know why. I suggest you turn yours off too. You’ve got better things to do.