Are We Addicted To Calling People Addicts?
from the it's-an-epidemic! dept
Can someone please make it stop? Every month or so someone comes out with yet another fear mongering story about how we're all "addicted" to some kind of technology. Last month, it was email. In the past it's been things like web addiction, online porn, video games or the whole internet. Now, textually is pointing out another claim from someone saying that we're all addicted to mobile phones. This is all based on the psychological assessment of an IT instructor who told his students not to use their mobile phones for three days. In his professional opinion, the were "truly afraid." In fact, very few of them made it through the three days without using their phones. QED. They're addicted, says the instructor. Of course, that seems to be a very loose definition of "addiction." What if someone asked him to live outside for three days straight? Didn't do it? He must be addicted to shelter. Can't go naked for three days? Addicted to clothing! How about three days without talking? Nope? He must be addicted to communicating. Oh, the horror of it all! Mobile phones are useful tools that people use because they're helpful to communicate. To call it an "addiction" implies that there's a negative consequence, a la a drug or alcohol addiction. In fact, later on the article the reporter (who never goes looking for anyone to present the other side of the story) finds a psychologist who claims that people look to their phones for "psychological nurturing." A little proof please? Also, according to the same guy, the mobile phone: "takes away a key component of happiness, the pleasure of total absorption of one activity to the exclusion of everything else." First off, who said that was a key component of happiness -- and who said that can't happen when someone has a mobile phone? It's beginning to look like we're just addicted to people claiming we're addicted to things.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
No Subject Given
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Don't even own one.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: No Subject Given
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Hi, I am Ron
[ link to this | view in thread ]
No Subject Given
[ link to this | view in thread ]
No Subject Given
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: No Subject Given
[ link to this | view in thread ]
No Subject Given
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Hi, I am Ron
How original. Ha ha. I can't tell you because there was none.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: No Subject Given
[ link to this | view in thread ]
lol
[ link to this | view in thread ]