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The Presence of One’s Own Smartphone Reduces Available Cognitive Capacity (2017)

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Re: The Presence of One’s Own Smartphone Reduces Available Cognitive Capacity (2017)

#111

Post by crazygringo »

skratlo wrote: post #102
crazygringo wrote: post #100

First of all, with the caveat that, as is so common with psych studies, this was performed on undergraduates only . There is no reason to assume that this would necessarily extend to a 30-year-old mother, a 40-year business executive, etc. (To the contrary, one could also imagine that having their phone on them increased their capacity to think about other things, with the peace of mind that they can get things done…

What goals? So far those goals seem to be related to planet destruction via excessive consumption. Slowing down is what can save us from extinction.

Well, obviously yes if you're a cynic and think our goal is to destroy the planet, then that. But that seems... extreme.

Conversely, if you're optimistic, then you might imagine that all the people trying to save the planet are using the coordination and information that cellphones enable to gain more influence and achieve that.

Five hundred years ago, I'm sure people made the same arguments about books -- that they kept our concentration from the immediate present, and could be used to achieve bad things. I'm pretty sure books turned out to be a net positive. I feel the same way about cell phones.

Re: The Presence of One’s Own Smartphone Reduces Available Cognitive Capacity (2017)

#112

Post by dgarrett »

didibus wrote: post #103

I want a smartphone that only has useful apps and nothing else. I want it to have SMS and Phone, Google Maps, Uber, Lyft, Uber Eats, and such. But I don't want social media, I don't want news, I don't want a browser, I don't want email, etc.

Apple Watch with LTE mostly fulfills this. And the screen is so small that it’s not worth it to port more addictive apps.

Re: The Presence of One’s Own Smartphone Reduces Available Cognitive Capacity (2017)

#113

Post by DeusExMachina »

wussboy wrote: post #68
perlgod wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have not found it to be overly burdensome. I have an indestructible kyocera flip phone, so I'm able to call people (and SMS in a pinch). I have an LTE-enabled tablet, so if I'm going somewhere totally unfamiliar, I'll throw it in my bag just in case I need to look up some information. Otherwise you just have to plan your outings in advance - like we always did prior to 2008 or so. I have a Garmin GPS mounted in car…

Thanks for your great response. I’ve often considered doing something like this. I wonder if there is a way to accomplish many of these things while still carrying your phone? For example, what if your phone took 5 minutes to unlock? And didn’t give notifications until you unlocked it? Just a thought.

I put my phone in "do not disturb" mode for the entire day. Removing notifications altogether was a great improvement, without getting rid of the phone altogether. You go from responding to picking it up when you decide to.

Re: The Presence of One’s Own Smartphone Reduces Available Cognitive Capacity (2017)

#114

Post by phobosanomaly »

Barrin92 wrote: post #97
phobosanomaly wrote: post #54

Perhaps it's functioning as a substitute for the constant social interaction that was once a facet of living in a tribal society. We always had someone near us we were chatting with, but now that we have eliminated that level of social connection in the modern social environment, we have replaced it with the smartphone. It may just be satisfying a hardwired biological need for constant chit-chat. If you look at it th…

Social Media isn't a substitute for healthy social interaction which becomes very evident when one looks at the psychological outcomes of people who use it heavily, particular say, teenage girls. Most social media interaction isn't genuine conversation between peers but a sort of status contest in which people pull up façades and present idealised versions of themselves, mostly strongly influenced by whatever is tren…

Sure, I'm not suggesting that it's an ideal, or adequate substitute, but rather that it may function as a coping technique. A temporary band-aid.

In the absence of genuine conversation or a close social relationship, this may be a stop-gap.

Like Wilson in Castaway. It's a crutch to get someone through the long, lonely times.

Re: The Presence of One’s Own Smartphone Reduces Available Cognitive Capacity (2017)

#115

Post by SamBam »

mdiesel wrote: post #77
wussboy wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for your great response. I’ve often considered doing something like this. I wonder if there is a way to accomplish many of these things while still carrying your phone? For example, what if your phone took 5 minutes to unlock? And didn’t give notifications until you unlocked it? Just a thought.

My OnePlus (not sure how widespread the feature is on android) has a Zen Mode, once started you can't use the phone for most things until the timer elapses. A bit different, but good if you want a break.

It's interesting, but I wonder if

1) The majority of people disable the feature after a short time (if they needed it in the first place, it's hard to maintain the self-control to keep it enabled, when it's presumably trivial to disable), and

2) Whether the cognitive effects remain, even when it's locked, because the mere presence of the phone makes you think about it, and it being locked makes you think about what you're missing.

Re: The Presence of One’s Own Smartphone Reduces Available Cognitive Capacity (2017)

#116

Post by bonoboTP »

reificator wrote: post #84
wussboy wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Will power don’t really work that way. Studies show it is an exhaustible resource and if you’re using it all day to fight of pulling your phone out of your pocket, you won’t have it for anything else you do in your day (and you’ll STILL probably pull your phone out!) The people with the best will power have organized their lives so that they don’t need will power.

I was under the impression that those studies not only failed to replicate but in fact more recent studies found the opposite...

Furthermore it was also shown that whichever "theory" you believe about willpower (consumable resource vs habituation like a trainable muscle) will impact your performance. If you believe it's not a finite resource but something that gets more plentiful and strong the more you use it, you will appear to confirm this theory.

Source: this is the specialty of Veronika Job, see her work here: https://tu-dresden.de/mn/psychologie/iaosp/sozial/die-profes...

Re: The Presence of One’s Own Smartphone Reduces Available Cognitive Capacity (2017)

#117

Post by siengu »

perlgod wrote: post #10

Getting rid of my smartphone was without a doubt the most positive thing I ever did for myself. I'm sure some people have the self-control to use it sparingly. But for me, not having to constantly fight the urge to check my always-connected magic pocket internet portal has freed up a huge amount of my mental willpower, which I can now redirect to other more important things. Now that everything is closed, I don't eve…

I'm using iOS Content & Privacy Restrictions to dumb down my Iphone SE as much as possible while retaining the needed functionality (Calculator, Camera, Notes, Calendar, Clock, Phone and SMS). I uninstall other apps that can be removed. Safari can be disabled using Content restrictions. I install Here Maps, download offline maps for the nearby regions for when I need navigation. Data & WIFI are always off. The phone is not signed in the app store. Content & Privacy Restrictions are protected by a pin code that I write down and store in a relatively hard to reach place. This way I have a relatively modern phone that is not a distracting toy.

I could get a dumb phone (I used one up to somewhere in 2018), but currently there is no dumb phone that would take some half decent photos and provide a possibility to navigate offline.

Re: The Presence of One’s Own Smartphone Reduces Available Cognitive Capacity (2017)

#118

Post by SamBam »

apetresc wrote: post #23
stevensawtelle wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you talk more to the practicalities of getting rid of a smartphone? Have you seriously found that the loss of the conveniences they bring haven't been that burdensome? I am really intrigued by the idea but find it almost inconceivable to work for me (which might speak to an addiction, so I feel compelled to understand this further)

Specifically what functionality do you feel is so critical? The only thing I really struggled with at first was: - 2FA codes, but a self-hosted Bitwarden and a Yubikey solved that well enough - Maps. This is a legitimate sacrifice, especially for someone with as poor a sense of direction as I have. But between the mapping application in my car and looking things up before I leave somewhere on my laptop, it's not been…

For me: Maps and WhatsApp.

I could probably ditch Maps (by using my spouse's when needed, not sure if that counts...), but I have family abroad and other family here), and kid photos to send etc etc. It's true I could do most of that via email, but the rest of the family is on WhatsApp and I would genuinely feel more disconnected from them then I already do.

Re: The Presence of One’s Own Smartphone Reduces Available Cognitive Capacity (2017)

#119

Post by Terretta »

Turn off all notifications. Turn off all badges.

Change default text tone and ring tone to silence (make or purchase a ringtone of silence). Set custom ring tone for your partner or other key people (you will always be happy to be interrupted by) to whatever sound you would want in emergency.

At this point, only those you would welcome interruption from can get your attention. For meetings, toggle phone to silent, so even the custom ring people won’t make noise.

If you “must” be reachable in real time for work, consider scheduling DND for all hours outside work hours. You can, on a contact by contact basis, designate individuals as able to dial through DND for emergencies.

Re: The Presence of One’s Own Smartphone Reduces Available Cognitive Capacity (2017)

#120

Post by corytheboyd »

We got to smart phones for a reason.

Keep your phone.

Use services through a web browser instead of standalone applications, then delete said applications.

Turn off notifications for remaining applications that do not warrant the urgency of push notifications.

Live your life.

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