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Feeling uncomfortable when leaving phone at home shouldn't be normal

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Re: Feeling uncomfortable when leaving phone at home shouldn't be normal

#181

Post by DancesWTurtles »

manachar wrote: post #48
mostlysimilar wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So I had a feeling "without a terminal" was a typo and I wanted to look up the exact quote. I googled the sentence and expected the right quote to be at the top, but all Google gave me was results for helping people with terminal cancer cope with their coming death. It was only after I appended "Ian M Banks" that I got the result I was looking for. I'm honestly surprised Google failed that search so hard.

Google has become blinded by metrics focused on giving people what an algorithm things most people want. It's the digital equivalent of going to a restaurant and looking for vegetarian food only to be inundated with gluten-free and other health-fad foods. I suspect their algorithm is in a bit of a doom loop as it's being trained on people clicking worse and worse results of pages that seem clearly written to game the…

Little nitpick: "the algorithm" does not even find the things "most people wants"; it finds the things some executive or other decided it was the most convenient to find taking into account the needs of the corporation only. Yes, there is theoretically some way to return, up to some degree, what people would find useful; but the decisions are not made by the people fiddling with the algorithms. Those people have their hands tied and must follow the interests of someone who most of the time knows nothing about algorithms or people or the end product.

Re: Feeling uncomfortable when leaving phone at home shouldn't be normal

#182

Post by mdoms »

beefee wrote: post #28
eyelidlessness wrote: post #7

I feel uncomfortable leaving without my phone, for one simple reason: I’m typically leaving with my pup, and if anything happens to either of us I want to be able to call for help. Pay phones are basically non-existent, people understandably don’t like to let strangers use their phone. It’s just a basic precaution.

The loss of pay phones over the last 20 years is a loss to society. We used to have widespread access to cheap and anonymous emergency calling.

No one used pay phones for anything other than a public toilet for half a decade. Good riddance.

Re: Feeling uncomfortable when leaving phone at home shouldn't be normal

#183

Post by [deleted] »

lupire wrote: post #89
panaffa wrote: post #72

I'm part of the new generation and I think the opposite. I am obsessed with my phone and the Internet. And I don't think it's bad. It's extremely stimulating in a way real life is orders of magnitude worse at. Point of reference, born around 2000. There's no going back for me. I want my phone at all times to have access to billions of possible thoughts, pictures, memes. It's literally a god like power.

What kind of god, though? What are you missing that only exists in meat space? When you get older you might grow bored of the virtual stimulation trapped inside a screen.

[deleted]

Re: Feeling uncomfortable when leaving phone at home shouldn't be normal

#185

Post by Areyouabot8 »

vmception wrote: post #23

my friend's phone died last year and he 1) couldn't get inside anywhere to charge it because he didn't have his covid vaccine card anywhere 2) couldn't scan a menu to order at the outdoor cafe we found in the mean time it was amusing, it stopped being fun very quickly, but we figured it out. these two scenarios are obviously not as relevant any more but its way beyond "addiction"

Are people not terrified at the 50% chance the entire society and environment we live in is being engineered to require us to carry tracking and surveillance devices on us 24/7 for sinister purposes down the road ?? I'd argue its even more than a 50% chance after what happened with Australia and Canada recently

Re: Feeling uncomfortable when leaving phone at home shouldn't be normal

#187

Post by CrazyStat »

MerelyMortal wrote: post #148
CrazyStat wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the other hand, it has greatly increased the availability of pre-packaged gluten-free food options. The consequences aren't all bad. (I have a sibling with celiac disease).

Did it increase the actual availability, or just the marketing? I've noticed things that never had glueten in it, labeled "glueten-free" after the craze a few years ago.

It absolutely increased availability. When my sibling was first diagnosed things like gluten free bread had to be ordered and shipped and were extremely expensive. Now they're available in many (mostly up-market) grocery stores, and while still expensive have come down in price a lot.

Re: Feeling uncomfortable when leaving phone at home shouldn't be normal

#188

Post by saiya-jin »

dale_glass wrote: post #155

Personally I find modern technology to be very liberating. When I was a child, even going around my own city was a stressful thing. What if I get lost? What if I run out of money for the train? How do I know I got the bus in the right direction? (the darn things didn't announce stops at all). The first times I traveled involved printing a stack of papers including names, addresses, and maps. Getting to a hotel in a c…

You describe basically google maps. It may surprise you, but there are few million other apps for it, some more addictive, some just functional, many creating this cozy sweet little trap of comfort, security, instantness (for the lack of better word).

What it gives to you, me, anybody, is 2-faced gift. The positives are really nice, the negative is utter dependence ie in way you describe. If somebody would blast all mobile antennas in your city, you would be screwed, desperate, possibly depressed. The term liberating may have different meaning to different people.

I would be screwed too, but rather due to losing instant contact with my closest family and instant way to manage my property via airbnb/vrbo - this is the reason I started using my phone on vacations. Before, I would just keep roaming turned off, not log into wifis and spend 2 weeks (or 3 months) of proper disconnect. Simple, wonderful, magical times they were.

Re: Feeling uncomfortable when leaving phone at home shouldn't be normal

#189

Post by RHSeeger »

bparsons wrote: post #174
dale_glass wrote: post #155

Personally I find modern technology to be very liberating. When I was a child, even going around my own city was a stressful thing. What if I get lost? What if I run out of money for the train? How do I know I got the bus in the right direction? (the darn things didn't announce stops at all). The first times I traveled involved printing a stack of papers including names, addresses, and maps. Getting to a hotel in a c…

That is because you were a child. Not because you didn't have a phone.

I don't think that's true at all. There's a lot of sources of anxiety (while on the go) that having a phone with you mitigates.

- If I miss my turn (gps will renavigate)

- If I can't find the place (I can call them and ask)

- If there's something else I need to get while I'm out (my spouse can call me and tell me)

- My tween, who stayed at home while I ran to the store, has a problem (she can call me)

These are all things (except for the last one) that I experienced without a phone, as a grown adult. And I don't really experience anymore because I have a cell phone on me.

Re: Feeling uncomfortable when leaving phone at home shouldn't be normal

#190

Post by MrJohz »

I'm unconvinced by this.

I keep all my "on the go" stuff (keys, money, water, some important documents, etc) in a bag, and I almost always keep that bag on me, wherever I go, even if I don't think I'm actually going to need all that stuff. For example, if I go to a friend's house, and we go for a walk, I don't really need that stuff, but my instinct is to take the bag anyway. At this point, it's such an ingrained habit that I feel uncomfortable going somewhere without the bag (something my wife mocks me for occasionally).

Is that bad? I don't think so. It's a tactic that I've cultivated because otherwise I know I'm going forget something that I need. I might not need everything in that bag, but if I'm out of the house, I'm probably going to need at least something in there. And taking the stuff I don't need has also paid off when I end up changing my plans or something.

For me, it's the same with my phone. My phone is my main point of contact to my wife and family, it handles navigation and public transport, it answers questions I have while out and about, and it's also an entertainment system on the way. Not having it makes my life worse and harder. As a result, it's another thing that I always try and keep on me.

Obviously there are some situations where it makes sense for me for leave my bag or my phone at home. But in those situations, I'm going to feel slightly uncomfortable because it's interrupting my routine, and that routine is there for very good reason.

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