Mobile Junkie
Almost everyone
who has a smartphone is, what Jeremy
Vandehey calls a “mobile junkie”:
“The phosphorescent glow left me
mesmerized and needing more.”
Don't think you are a junkie? Then try the Vandehey test:
Don't think you are a junkie? Then try the Vandehey test:
“When is the last time you powered down.
All the way down. Not asleep. Not in airplane mode but ON | OFF. Try it with me
now. Take your phone out, if you’re not already futzing with it, and turn it
off...Fair warning, you will experience a short stint of anxiety and
emptiness.”
But what's wrong
with being a mobile junkie? After all:
“The reality is 95% of each day is
boring, everyday life...We’ve trained ourselves to constantly seek refuge from
boring, everyday life through our phones.”
True, but how
about the other 5%? But first, consider what Calvin said when he viewed this
spectacularly beautiful sunrise?
Now think of how
we treat the same experience today?
“I ‘witnessed’ a beautiful sunset. As I
was reminiscing over the dozens of photos I took, I barely had any recollection
of ACTUALLY being there. I was so focused on eternalizing the moment through my
phone, that I hadn’t taken the time to eternalize it in my brain.”
And isn’t it
true that:
“We’ve grown so accustomed to this
behavior that we can’t shut it out, even during truly exciting or beautiful
times in our lives.”
Isn't it time,
he asks that we:
“Take that moment in. Truly experience
it. Not from behind a Sepia filter.”
Even when are
having a conversation, this is typical of many people's “inner-dialogue” at the
same time:
“I wonder what [friend who isn’t present]
is doing? I hope the Badgers won (edit: they didn’t)? Did that dude from work
ever email me back? How is the INTU stock doing today? Did I get any more
Instagram Likes?”
Vandehey ends
with a variant of the famous health advice:
“An Apple a day keeps the doctor away. An
Apple every 20 seconds…well…that’s too many f**king Apples.”
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