With the recent movement to disconnect from technology for small periods of time, I made a decision to live without my phone for 48 hours to see the changes made in my life. This simple event would quickly become a thought experiment as I was forced to see how my everyday methodology changed. My perspective on technology would be significantly changed
The first thing I noticed was how often I would reach to check my phone. It felt strange to be in a room of people and reach for my pocket rather than communicate. I also began to notice how many times other people checked their phone. The simple act of just checking my phone had become a habit from numerous repetitions everyday. I personally found this to be troubling, because it truly showed how dependent on my phone I had become. I noticed as more time passed without my phone the less I reached into my pocket. Little by little, I was breaking the habit. It became liberating to be able not to have to reach for my phone and check it constantly.
The next thing I noticed was the frustration of not being able to communicate with the outside world. My social ambience or presence to the outside world had disappeared and I felt a type of loneliness. Not physical loneliness, but more of losing long distance friends. Ironically, I had problems communicating with friends and family back home. I had to come up with new ways to communicate not just with friend back home, but people on campus as well.
This made me realize how dependent I was on my phone for social interaction. To a certian extent, this revelation is disconcerting because we allow one piece of technology control our social skills. This has led to me wondering how our own social skills as a society have changed with the introduction and revolution of technology into our lives. I have begun to believe that certain aspect of our social lives have been enhanced, but certain aspects such as face to face interaction have suffered. I realized the importance of face to face interaction.
During this time, I also received a letter from a friend back home and realized the emotional significance behind a letter. Unlike a text, a letter takes time and energy to write showing a time commitment to that person. Unlike a text, a letter is more personal and gives a sense of delayed gratification rather than instant satisfaction. This has recently made me wonder how much personal long distance friendships were before technology. Although they did not talk often, it made the letters all the more emotionally significant.
Lastly, I noticed the amount of time I had increased. It may not seem like a lot of time but if someone checks their phone ever 10 minutes for one minute, throughout a 16 hour day that is approximately 88 minutes. This excludes extended use on social media such as Snapchat, Facebook, and Instagram. Over a period of a year at just an hour and a half that is 547.5 hours or approximately 23 days. Over a period of fifty years, this would consume 1150 days or approximately or 3.15 years. This is incredible based off just checking your phone every ten minutes.
However, the biggest shock I received was when I turned back on my phone and instantly it buzzed with countless notifications. I missed two somewhat important messages and countless event notifications. I found that as a whole, society often relies on technology alone to communicate something important. To me, technology has become a necessary evil in order to stay connected with everyone around me. It is a cruel trade off, to stay connected I must give part of my life and time to this object.
I would encourage anyone to try this experiment, it completely changes ones perspective. Here recently there have been several movements to encourage disconnecting from technology such as Digital Detox. These programs become more prevalent as technology continues to be integrated into our daily lives. Instead of trying to completely disconnect, perhaps start small, one would be surprised the difference a couple hours makes. By disconnecting from technology one can experience the immediate world just a little more and appreciate the power of technology in society.
