We all know what a typical ride on the subway or bus looks like – everyone (I mean everyone) is staring at their phone. For me it is especially surprising that even on the bus, where we have the chance to look out from the window and actually see the real world, people prefer to observe the virtual world. I personally always look forward to riding the bus and I used to look forward to long train rides as well. One of my favorite memories from my time living in Nottingham were my weekly train rides to London. Observing landscapes, cityscapes and people is really interesting and fun. I even sometimes ride the bus only for this experience of being able to look out from the window.

 

Even for me, riding buses or trains used to be more fun before there were mobile phones and before people were listening to their phones in speaker mode anywhere and anytime. However, in this post I do not really want to discuss how inconsiderably many people use their phones, but what we are missing out on while constantly being pre-occupied with staring at our mobile devices.

 

In the opinion of most people, the ability of a smart phone to do so many things (communication device, music player, TV screen, news source, shopping mall, game console, etc.) is why mobile phones are so useful. In my opinion, the exact opposite is true. Being able to do so many things with our mobile phones causes loss of intentionality and we often end up doing things we did not want to do in the first place.

 

Once upon a time, we used to bring an iPod (or cd player, or walkman) if we wanted to listen to music. We brought a book (or kindle device) if we wanted to read or got a newspaper if we wanted to read the news. The opposite is also true, if people did not want to waste their time playing games, they would not bring a game console. If they just wanted to switch off their mind or reflect and contemplate, they brought nothing.

 

With a mobile phone, most people do not do any of these things properly. Instead, they do multiple things at the same time. They listen to music while doing online window shopping, checking latest news, watching videos and stopping in-between to reply to new messages. In the end, if we think about what we have actually done with our phones, the best way to describe it is often “waste our time”.

 

 

Firstly, the time spent pre-occupied with our mobile phones is to a large extent the time we used to spend on our own, where we had a chance to reflect, gain insights and feel present and alive. I feel that having time on our own is critical to promote happiness. Feeling happy is dependent on appreciating and realizing the good things in our lives. Not making time for reflection robs us of the opportunity to actually realize our happiness.

 

Mobile phones also had a profound effect on our interactions with others, like our friends and family. Many people choose looking at their phones even when sitting together for a drink or a meal instead of having conversations, a phenomenon that always amazes me. In my generation, most people would not even consider looking at their phone when we are together with others, unless there is an urgent issue that needs to be addressed immediately.

 

The abundance of opportunities that a mobile phone offers also leads us to become very passive. We tend to only consume easily digestible content. If something becomes difficult, we move on.

 

Needless to say, mobile phones also have great addictive potential. And it is very obvious that most parents seem to fuel this addiction by handing small children their phone to occupy them. It is hard to remember how children played before there were mobile phones?

 

In short, by being preoccupied with our phones, we are missing out on the real world. And for all the reasons given (and also that mobile phones are an annoying source of noise pollution, even in places like parks and nature where we go to escape from civilization), I really dislike mobile phones and I only use my own smart phone if I absolutely have to. It is time to bring back some intentionality into our lives.