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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)

#181

Post by jkestner »

junyoon wrote: post #177
slothtrop wrote: post #146

New hot take: I'm addicted to my laptop. The phone barely registers in terms of interest because I work on my laptop anyway, which is less cumbersome to navigate. Notwithstanding the need to separate work from leisure life, much of leisure is just attached to this device. Even the less consumptive activities, like writing or playing music, benefit from it. And anything to do with innovation or research is absolutely…

This is why I never got a tablet/iPad. For someone who is constantly on their computer/laptop there's no need for a intemediary device.

I find that at arm's length, my body posture is more open and the iPad feels more social than a phone that you're hunched over or a laptop with two hands at attention.

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

#182

Post by MiroF »

slothtrop wrote: post #146

New hot take: I'm addicted to my laptop. The phone barely registers in terms of interest because I work on my laptop anyway, which is less cumbersome to navigate. Notwithstanding the need to separate work from leisure life, much of leisure is just attached to this device. Even the less consumptive activities, like writing or playing music, benefit from it. And anything to do with innovation or research is absolutely…

Buy books and print research papers?

Personally, I don't view a black/white Kindle as the same as other screens, so a bike ride to a park where I might read a research paper or book I've put on my Kindle.

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

#183

Post by ocdtrekkie »

Spearchucker wrote: post #85
manaskarekar wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This was also my experience with the Lumia 920 (greatest phone + OS combo ever IMHO). The maps ("Here") on Windows Mobile were actually not bad at all. Using this phone taught me not to be obsessed with instant mail notifications among other things.

I still use my 950. People get annoyed with me because I don't use messenger or WhatsApp. It does email and phone calls just fine. Anything other than that or surfing the intertoobs can wait until I get to a PC.

I just left my Elite x3 behind this year. Best phone I've ever owned. But I consider security updates a must-have, so I dropped it when Microsoft finally stopped pushing updates.

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

#184

Post by elagost »

slothtrop wrote: post #146

New hot take: I'm addicted to my laptop. The phone barely registers in terms of interest because I work on my laptop anyway, which is less cumbersome to navigate. Notwithstanding the need to separate work from leisure life, much of leisure is just attached to this device. Even the less consumptive activities, like writing or playing music, benefit from it. And anything to do with innovation or research is absolutely…

The main difference I see is that smartphones are built as playthings, stuffed with features that encourage addiction, but a real desktop operating system is built as a tool to help you work, and gives you all the access and power you need.

I see clear lines between things like smartphones and tablets, desktop operating systems, game consoles, and kindles. There's many different types of screens. I'm comfortable handing a non-networked laptop to my kid for her to play with, but wouldn't hand her a tablet or game console.

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

#185

Post by jcynix »

heroHACK17 wrote: post #124
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…

Thank you for this - I am considering making the switch also. The biggest switch for me would be losing music streaming. What do you use for music on-the-go (at the gym, commuting, walking around, etc.)?

Gym? Just the gym, no music. Walking? The same, enjoying my surrounding. I quit music streaming (tried Amazon, Google) after some trials and concentrate on a selection of music, which I can listen to again and again. I do use a tablet with a 256GB SD card, so have space to store a variety of things.

While my musical taste is eclectic (i.e. from classic over techno to glitch) I mostly prefer to either listen to music or do other things, instead of mixing those activities. I do listen to music on commutes, and sometimes while doing certain chores in the kitchen though. But otherwise either or, not both.

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

#186

Post by alanbernstein »

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 have a way to do this: I have a smartphone without an unlimited data plan. I can use it out of the home for calls, texts, notes, photos, music, and cached maps, without being tempted to surf the web or whatever. If I need a map or a web browser urgently, I can still use data, but I pay a relatively high rate for it. I call this a "self-imposed vice tax".

Of course, on wifi, it can do everything that phone with a normal data plan can do. I just don't bother, because most of the time I'm on wifi, I have a laptop available. Especially these days.

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

#187

Post by dTal »

nobody9999 wrote: post #128
dTal wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have interpreted the parent exceedingly uncharitably. If one partner in a monogamous relationship suddenly announces that from that day forth there shall be no more sex, the other partner is certainly within their rights to be upset. Most people aren't signed up to the idea of never having sex again. Consent is never optional, but neither should it be unreasonably withheld in a monogamous relationship in which se…

>You have interpreted the parent exceedingly uncharitably. Perhaps I have. However, I don't see how much more "charitably" I can interpret what they wrote. Or do you think that I'm wrong in my assertion? >If one partner in a monogamous relationship suddenly announces that from that day forth there shall be no more sex, the other partner is certainly within their rights to be upset. I don't disagree with that statemen…

It doesn't sound as if you recognize the concept of an obligation at all. Yes, we all have agency. Locking someone in a room without their consent is illegal. Taking someone's money without their consent is illegal as well. But I am nevertheless obliged to remain at work until 5:30, and my boss is obliged to pay me. When we enter into relationships of any type with other people, we willingly sacrifice our agency in myriad ways. Sometimes you have to meet people halfway on things. And sex isn't some super special thing that sits untouchably above all the rest of social interaction - it's just one more thing that, invariably and in many ways, you will have to compromise on.

>going on about how your spouse is obliged to pleasure you certainly isn't going to improve things.

Going on about consent isn't either.

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

#188

Post by justinlloyd »

godshatter wrote: post #126
justinlloyd wrote: post #63

I lack a lot of self-control in many areas of my life. Except when it comes to my smartphone which for me is a tool rather than an entertainment device. Most of my day the phone is in DnD/flipped over on the second desk in my office and not within arm's reach. I don't know how much having the device in the same room as me is a "cognitive capacity reducer" but for the most part, my smartphone is a forgotten device exc…

I have a fairly nice smart phone, and I use it for phone calls, text messages, 2FA, e-books, taking pictures, checking the weather forecast, and as a clock/timer/alarm. In a pinch I'll look something up or access my bank account, but very rarely. I'm in front of my desktop computer 10 to 12 hours a day, if I need to search for something on the web I'll do it then. If I want to play a game, I'll play it on my expensiv…

Agreed. It is a last resort device for me, for the most part. "Banking" is the one anomaly, but really what I want is a widget that tells me "this is how much you have in your account." For weather forecast I have a dedicated tablet that tells me that. :-)

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23778254

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

#189

Post by zaidf »

I can vouch for this :) From Jan to March (when covid hit), I started leaving my phone at work on Fridays. People would ask me "why not just leave it in another room or in your bag at home?" and I would say "it is not the same!". Indeed, the mere knowledge that I have the phone within reach was noticeably more distracting than knowing it was a mile away.
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