My Not-So-Strange Addiction

This past week we read Williams’ excerpt on our smartphone addictions and his idea to test out the results if we all had an “iTrainer.” What is an iTrainer? Well, it doesn’t exist, or at least not yet, but basically it is an “impulsivity training device” that will expose all of us for how impulsive and weak-minded we are. The iTrainer would supply us with unlimited “informational rewards” on demand and would be a device small enough that we could keep in our pockets, like our phones, and would not go anywhere without it. It would be able to make sounds or even smells that we would instinctively recognize as new media content we are interested in popping up and distracting us from doing all our priorities while we call it a “short break” from our work. How many times have you started surfing your social media accounts, browsing content of people you follow in what you call a short or quick break from your priorities, and it turns into an hour affair and you can’t get back going on your work? I appreciate the honesty for all the people who would be raising their hands and if you wouldn’t raise your hand, you’re a big, fat LIAR!

So, recognizing that we all get distracted by our phones and the unlimited amount of content it holds with just a few taps from your thumbs, how the hell are we going to manage not being distracted by an iTrainer? The majority of us are already slaves to our phones, so the iTrainer in my opinion, would be disastrous. Williams mentions in his article what the results of the iTrainer would be on humans over the first ten years of its release. He believes 9 out of 10 would not be able to leave the house without it. Hell, he believes 9 out of 10 people wouldn’t be able to LIVE without it. There is no doubt in my mind that those would likely be the results. Why? Because 9 out of 10 of us right now probably couldn’t function without our phones. We already get notifications from apps, buzzing while we are taking notes in class or doing assignments, about content we will likely want to take a glimpse at. We are already slaves to our phones. 

I remember just a few years ago when someone wanted to be on their phone in class, they would text or snapchat with their phone under the desk, paranoid about being caught by the teacher, darting their eyes and jerking their necks around like they were about to spark up a joint in the woods, not wanting to be caught. Now, everybody is just openly on their phones while the professor is lecturing, not giving a shit about what is going on around them other than what is on their phone. We’re basically giving our teachers a big fat middle finger everyday during class. 

And by no means am I saying I’m innocent in all of this, I am just as guilty as everybody else. But the thing is, when we are on our phones in class, it can come off like a big “fuck you” to our professors, but the truth is, we CAN’T go 50 minutes without looking at something on our phones. We don’t want to disrespect our professors and give the impression like our professors are talking to a wall, but I think some of us can’t help it. We feel a buzz in our pockets, pull our phones out, see a text, respond to it, and since our phone is already out, we feel we must check what is going on on our social media. Maybe a major news story dropped, or someone posted a story that might make us laugh or smile. And before we know it, a half hour has gone by, class is over, and we have no idea what the hell we were lectured on. 

I think for me personally, I’ve gotten to the point where I am distracted by my phone in class, but somehow am retaining what was said in the lecture. I’ll leave class feeling like “damn, I didn’t listen to shit today” and then a couple days later, something will happen and I’ll think to myself, “oh shit, that’s kind of like what Vrooman was talking about in class the other day” which amazes me because I know I was reading ESPN articles for a portion of the class. I have been retaining information from class that I didn’t think I was listening to. However, I do not recommend this. The reason I am at this point is because I have been a slave to my phone for years, and honestly, I’ve barely noticed it. 

But it’s the truth, so let’s forget the iTrainer experiment, we got the results from the iPhone. We’re already slaves or zombies, whatever you want to call it, to our phones and it is because most of us are naturally impulsive. Some of us lay out a schedule for the day or week of what we are going to do, but how many of us can actually follow that to a tee? I know I can’t. So, I don’t know what the future will hold for this next generation of kids who are growing up in this content-rich era, but it doesn’t look like a cure for phone addiction is coming anytime soon.