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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)

#221

Post by reificator »

HenryBemis wrote: post #202
reificator wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Looking at these comments I'm realizing I might be an outlier. If I'm traveling to an area I've never/rarely been before, I'll use turn by turn navigation the first few times. But once I'm familiar with the area I just look up the specific place for the nearest cross streets before I leave. I kind of assumed that's how everyone navigated, minus taxi/delivery/other professional drivers who probably use GPS more.

The benefit of Google maps (for me at least) is that although I know the areas I drive in, I am using it (Google Maps) traffic information, so if there is an accident, or there is he at traffic, I will take an better alternative road.

Yeah that's definitely a benefit. Is there a way to enter a destination and get traffic updates and detour directions, but otherwise no turn-by-turn directions?

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

#222

Post by slothtrop »

confidantlake wrote: post #168
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…

Me too, it is my laptop. I have started implementing laptop free time. Ie after 5pm, no laptop, Saturday no laptop. I find I am a lot happier and less anxious now.

I can echo that restricting time appears to improve my well-being, particularly for news aggregators / social media. What do you tend to do with leisure time away from the screen?

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

#223

Post by leptons »

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…

The smartphone is an incredible tool to have, but it completely pisses me off any time I have to pay attention to it. I hate any message that comes in through it, any notification from any app (I have all notifications turned off except the Samasung notifications which I'm locked-out of disabling - fuck you Samsung Account).

The smartphone is only a tool for me, for maps when I'm out, for search data, and accessing my files at home on rare occasions while I'm away from home (via VPN). It's my mobile command center.

But when I'm at home - fuck off phone.

I'm also in the tiny minority of people who aren't on zuckface, or other popular social media apps. So maybe I just naturally care less about my phone. I've never had a problem ignoring it. I get very few phone calls, almost none, and since COVID happened, I've reduced my data plan to the bare minimum because I just don't really need it anymore working at home.

But used as a tool and not entertainment, the smartphone is absolutely invaluable.

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

#224

Post by Thorentis »

nobody9999 wrote: post #209
Thorentis wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> However she, as a sentient being, has agency. As such, she (not me) gets to decide what happens with her body. You're confusing the idea of removing the other person's free will and the obligations that being in a sexual monogamous relationship carry. In a monogamous sexual relationship, if one person refuses to have sex much more frequently than the other, then that can very quickly destroy the relationship. Human…

>You're confusing the idea of removing the other person's free will and the obligations that being in a sexual monogamous relationship carry. I don't believe that I am. I agree with just about everything you wrote. Where we diverge is that I do not agree that anyone, regardless of relationship status is obliged or required to engage in sexual activity to which they do not consent. >In a monogamous sexual relationship…

You seem caught up in this notion of abuse and consent, without any regard for the other side of the story.

If I was in a monogamous relationship where I had agreed to not have sex with anybody else, and the other person for the duration of that relationship refused to have sex with me - is that not abusive? There are two sides of the coin here.

How do you draw the line between consent and obligation in everyday life? If you are compelled to do something by your boss that you'd rather not do (a boring task), have you consented to doing it if you do the task but you would rather not? If you're obliged to give way on the road, have you given consent even if you would rather not, but you do anyway?

You need to distinguish between things that we do even though we wouldn't of there were not external factors, and things we do because we know we ought to do them. If my wife asks me to take the trash out, even if I don't feel like it, I know I ought to do it and I will. If I ask her to help me with something, I know sometimes she might groan but then do it anyway. In a world without obligations, would she choose to do the task I've asked of her? Or would I do the task asked of me? Probably not. But life has many obligations. There is so much more nuance beyond what you've tried to summarise through a framework of consent.

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

#225

Post by ezekiel68 »

wool_gather wrote: post #135
reificator wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not ashamed to say I've gotten lost doing this occasionally and either turned on directions or just double checked the GPS. But it's fairly infrequent and it doesn't happen twice in the same place.

Heck, sometimes it can be fun to get a little lost. "Oh, _that's_ where $FOO is!", as you accidentally go by it. Or "That looks like a cool $BAR, I'll have to come back and check it out"

I "third" this sentiment (along with my fellow replyer).

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

#227

Post by alanbernstein »

ocdtrekkie wrote: post #22
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)

I have my smartphone and am not the OP, but I spent several years on Windows Mobile which supported almost no apps, so it was kinda like a dumbphone. I think people often overestimate their need. People act like they can't live without Google Maps, but 90% of them take the same route to work every day. I would argue if you aren't traveling outside your local area, you have zero need for a mapping app. It's true you m…

You're right, I don't often need mobile maps. It's just that when I do, it's unexpected.

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

#228

Post by qz2 »

sjtindell wrote: post #219
ehnto wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am right there with you. I kicked the phone addiction in various ways, but I really like to work on personal projects and they're all on the computer, much like my work, so I'm always on my computer. I have a few tricks. I have a work laptop and a gaming computer, and I do all my personal work on the gaming computer. That helps separate the two. I have a workspace which gets me out of the house and keeps me focused…

One thing that kills me with this setup is having such different dev environments - I spend all day using particular tools, shortcuts, etc. on my work laptop (OSX) then when I try to use my personal computer (can virtualize whatever OS I want, most realistic is Ubuntu for dev) to do projects the flow is totally different and it really slows me down or I worry it will take too much mental bandwidth to switch.

I had the same problem for a bit. I used windows at work and OSX at home. The context switching was hell. I gave in eventually and use windows at home now as well. And you know what? It turned out cheaper, better and faster even though 99% of what I do is on Linux, in a VM.

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

#229

Post by jxramos »

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…

just as an fyi, smart watches have a bunch of gamifications around mobility and activity.

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

#230

Post by li4ick »

ed25519FUUU wrote: post #14

I was just remarking the other day while doing my morning constitutional that I can't remember what I used to do while sitting on the john when I didn't have a cell phone. I honestly couldn't remember. Probably just sit quietly and think and be bored. I wonder if boredom is good for us. Our brains probably need time not to be engaged with our eyes do mental housecleaning. Meditation is good but it's not the same as s…

There's a reason people have their ideas in the shower. That's the last place on earth that is still not invaded by the smartphone. And that's why showers > baths.
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