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Technically, none of us are addicted to our phones. If we stopped using our phones, we wouldn’t have night sweats or run to the bathroom. No one is being admitted to a psychiatric ward because they ran out of data. A better term would be “habituation” – it’s more accurate and makes me sound like a high-class sociologist.
It’s important to think this way because there are lots of things we can do to combat habit. For example, I know I can’t be trusted when there are Tim Tams in the fridge. If I promise myself I’ll just have one, I’ll somehow pass out and wake up on the couch with four stuffed in my mouth. So it’s wise not to have them at home (they’re now only reserved for special occasions like birthday parties and funerals).
Ring!
Likewise, I realize that I need to turn off my phone when I’m at home. Like all millennials, I’ve become completely dependent on it.Without Google Maps, I can’t find the house next door; my evening walks are meaningless without a podcast; I need to like my friend’s selfie in Meredith; and Wordle can’t figure things out on its own!
But I’ll often be holding my one-year-old, sitting on the floor with him playing with his toys, and pulling my phone out of my pocket just to check the time… respond to notifications… check email… then watch the news… and swipe through a few Instagram Reels. The next thing I know, my son has crawled to the other side of the room, licking dried yogurt off the wall.
only A solution: We need to bring back the landline. That way, when you walk in the front door, we can turn off your smartphone and put it out of sight until you leave the house again (or need to live-tweet your reaction to the room reveal) Neighborhood).
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I could buy an app to limit the time I spend on my social media accounts, but I know if I do that I’ll just spend more time on news apps or YouTube. The companies behind these devices and apps spend millions of dollars designing user experiences that keep us coming back again and again and staying as long as possible. How can I think I can control my habits through sheer willpower when I’m up against a world full of marketers, designers, psychologists, algorithm experts, and other assorted nerds who are paid well to grab my attention?
A home phone allows you or your children to contact 000. It also allows you to get in touch in an emergency, or when your in-laws are nearby and want to come over for a coffee and chat about their will. You decide who owns the number, which means if you hear it ringing, you know it’s worth paying attention. If you never leave the number anywhere online, it’s highly unlikely to fall into the spammy hands of scammers and telemarketers.
Reintroducing landlines would not only free us from our co-dependency on smartphones. It would also equip the next generation with some much-needed basic life skills that seem to be fading away. A recent study in the UK Data from Uswitch shows that 23% of under-18s never answer their phone, while 56% of respondents said they believe an unexpected call is a sign of bad news. Texting is fine when the topic of conversation is which mall to go to at the weekend, but try asking a potential employer to leave you a voicemail instead of calling.
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