# Do smart phones make us lazy?



## worldofmutes (May 2, 2022)

It’s a little difficult to prove it, but essentially- we have convenience and escapism in our hands daily. The tasks we need a machine for (navigating, writing, calculating…&tc.) are simple,  practical tools that meet our needs. Yet, the majority of our time spent on them is only superficial entertainment, ways to pass the time indoors. 









						Smart technology is not making us dumber, experts say
					

There is no scientific evidence that shows that smartphones and digital technology harm our biological cognitive abilities, according to new research.



					www.sciencedaily.com
				




This article was okay as a counter-argument, but I feel like it’s too politically motivated to glean any truth from it.


----------



## Alex The G and T (May 2, 2022)

Myeh! Kids these days are crippled idiots; always got their face plastered into a shiny screen in their lap... Don't know how to do anything when caught out in the real world...

Oh, excuse me.  I meant to say that it is important to _also_ know how to function when the teat is removed.

I live in a very rural area.  One can't get very far out of town without finding that the cell service gets very patchy.  And when you can get a signal, don't trust it.  Every winter, we have half a dozen stories about tourists who followed a short cut recommended by their GPS and ended up stranded, for days, in deep snow on some summertime-only jeep trail.  deep in the wilderness.  Sometimes they even get out alive.  

By the time I was 8 years old, I knew how to navigate through a howling wilderness with a topographical map and a compass.  To this day, I prefer a paper map.  I find the bigger picture easier to orient than scrolling through tiny images on a small screen.   And I do not even want a disembodied voice telling me where the is next turn.   I already know that the voice is mistaken.

Happened to my daughter, last summer.  Not that I didn't try to teach her how to read a map. Her phone was too smart to be bothered with a bulky piece of paper.  Tchah!

Thought she knew how to get the  Lake camp.   Been there many times; but never drove herself.  Took a wrong turn and was lost for hours, in the boonies, no cell service, no one to ask.  No capability to text for help.

I'd offered her a map.  No, she's too wretched smart to clutter up the car with a map that she couldn't fold, much less read.

Bah!


----------



## Foxbat (May 2, 2022)

I don't know if smart phones make people lazy but they most definitely turn them into idiots. I've lost count of the number of times I've seen people cross a busy road engrossed in their smart phone. I'm just surprised there are not more fatalities related to this. The researchers need to put down their own phones and go look for themselves.


----------



## Danny McG (May 2, 2022)

Alex The G and T said:


> Myeh! Kids these days are crippled idiots; always got their face plastered into a shiny screen in their lap... Don't know how to do anything when caught out in the real world


Blast from the past!
I remember my dad saying very similar when I was watching telly instead of playing outside


----------



## farntfar (May 2, 2022)

It's like I was telling Aaron, it seems like only yesterday. This papyrus lark is just a passing phase.
I give it another 6 thousand years or so and no-one will be using it any more.


----------



## Elckerlyc (May 2, 2022)

The times they are a-changing. As they have always done. We lose some ability, but gain another, newfangled one.
We city folk lost the ability to keep ourselves alive simply by what nature provides. If all the supermarkets were blasted to smithereens by the Dark Lord, we would all perish. If petrol, gas or whatever ran out and all cars turned into... whatever use you have for boxes that are no longer mobile unless you push them, we would have to travel on foot on or horseback. And most of us don't own horses and can't walk half a mile without getting blisters or pain in the back. We lost many handcrafts because of industrialization and machination.
The problem with smartphones isn't that it makes you dumber or lazy. Your acquire new abilities, but are mostly about what you can do with that toy. The real problem is that it preoccupies people, absorbs their attention, that they trust it to always be there. The number of traffic accidents are rising significantly, because people find their smartphone more interesting than paying attention to traffic. They ignore the people around them, exchange live social contacts for digital ones.
There have always been people who can't read maps or have no sense of orientation whatsoever. Navigation apps might actually be of help to them, so they are now able to get somewhere without pulling over constantly to ask people for directions. Following it regardless is blind trust, a surrendering to tech. Inadvisable, but there it is.


----------



## mosaix (May 2, 2022)

A friend of mine bemoans the Satnav and loss of map reading skills. But I’m sure the introduction of maps and the losing of the ability to ‘read’ one’s way in the wild or follow the stars involved just as much of a skill transfer. 

I suppose it depends on the use of the smart phone - chatting or learning? Would we be so critical if people had their heads buried in an encyclopaedia rather than a smart phone? But that’s a value judgement and I try to steer clear of those.


----------



## hitmouse (May 2, 2022)

I was a lazy degenerate long before smart phones appeared. 

In fact I was doing very well on that account before I got addicted to the internet in about 1990. 

All you need is a packet of crisps and a pile of cheap sf novels.


----------



## Montero (May 2, 2022)

A friend of mine is a very serious re-enactor - as in they live for weeks at a time with only 17th century technology. The rest of her family have long said that in the event of the apocalypse they're all heading for her place as she knows how to live in those times.

Other than that, a tool is only as good as the skill of the user. I've seen muppets driving the wrong way down a one way street, past all the signs "the Satnav told me" (or they did it deliberately as a short cut and blamed the satnav) and then there are the people who drive past narrow lane signs while driving in a wider vehicle because the Satnav told them too. (And note at this point there are several grades of SatNav and the one for big vans that would route you away from narrow lanes is more expensive so self-employed couriers can't afford and get their whacking great vans stuck or are clipping dry stone walls etc.)


----------



## Matteo (May 2, 2022)

I just saw this on the right-hand side of the screen - which I thought was apt...


----------



## Wayne Mack (May 2, 2022)

I've found that having GPS makes me more daring when I travel. Instead of sticking to the main route that I can easily follow on the map, I am more emboldened to turn off when I see something interesting and feel comfortable that I can find my way back without problem.


----------



## Dave (May 2, 2022)

Alex The G and T said:


> Kids these days are crippled idiots; always got their face plastered into a shiny screen in their lap...





Danny McG said:


> I remember my dad saying very similar when I was watching telly instead of playing outside





farntfar said:


> It's like I was telling Aaron, it seems like only yesterday. This papyrus lark is just a passing phase.


@farntfar isn't too far off the truth. In the 19h Century, Woman's Magazines were going to make them stupid too.


----------



## Alex The G and T (May 2, 2022)

A while back, we began getting phone calls from delivery drivers and some friends wha hadn't been to the house before.

They'd all been directed to the top of a dead end road about a quarter mile from the house, as the crow flies.  Unfortunately, you can't get here from there without a machete.  The crow has to fly higher than the redwood forest.

Google maps had pegged the location of the house from the sat pics; but our access road is hidden from spy sats by tree canopy.  Indeed, the closest road on the map is the dead-ender on the other side of the gulch.

Too many of these calls and I got annoyed enough to seek a "report" function in Google maps.

They actually have a function where I was able draw in my driveway, and pinpoint where my street address meets the public road.

Which seemed like a terrible breach of security.  We kinda like being hidden away; but the pizzas are hotter when the driver finds the place on the first go.


----------



## Astro Pen (May 2, 2022)

The more you mediate  life through your phone the easier it will be for your life to be switched off by hostile corporations or government.
A _real_ possibility now, as we have witnessed recently.
I have even noticed people paying in shops eschewing bank cards for a bank phone app of some sort
"Danger, Will Robinson."


----------



## Ian Fortytwo (May 2, 2022)

What will people do when technology breaks down? I have map reading skills, and I use pen and paper as well.


----------



## Swank (May 2, 2022)

Ian Fortytwo said:


> What will people do when technology breaks down? I have map reading skills, and I use pen and paper as well.


But can you make paper or shoe a horse? Ever forge a hinge?

I don't know if there is much point talking about technology breakdowns. They are never going to be like what we picture, and there are always alternatives to going backwards.


Are smartphones making "us" lazy? The regular population is always doing something less than ideal. But are the smart people going downhill because of smart phones? Probably not. I have had the ability to learn more since the internet and smartphones than before, and I'm retaining it.


----------



## AnyaKimlin (May 2, 2022)

Foxbat said:


> I don't know if smart phones make people lazy but they most definitely turn them into idiots. I've lost count of the number of times I've seen people cross a busy road engrossed in their smart phone. I'm just surprised there are not more fatalities related to this. The researchers need to put down their own phones and go look for themselves.



Wonder how many of them are reading their books. It used to happen with books.


Ian Fortytwo said:


> What will people do when technology breaks down? I have map reading skills, and I use pen and paper as well.



I have a lot of skills but as long as we have technology a lot of them are fast becoming obsolete. There's no point being able to read a bus timetable, for example, if they don't exist. I don't drive. As a non driver when my phone broke down recently I discovered how much of my knowledge was still useless.  If I had been in a strange place where I didn't at least have a reasonable knowledge of what was were and roughly when the buses ran I'd have been stuck,

There are far fewer clocks around. You can't take notes if something requires a QR code to see it in the first place. And you can't just phone a taxi from a phone box because they no longer exist.  I couldn't even get in the college system to hand in my essay without a phone - there's no physical place to go and take a handwritten essay anymore.


----------



## cyprus7 (May 2, 2022)

I once amused a younger family member by navigating (walking) with a Google maps screenshot.


----------



## Foxbat (May 3, 2022)

My colleagues in the lab used to laugh at me when I sometimes shunned the available technology and did stuff like long division by hand. It’s a habit I had drilled into me by my maths teacher. He used to say: what will you do when your calculator batteries run out?


----------



## farntfar (May 3, 2022)

Foxbat said:


> I don't know if smart phones make people lazy but they most definitely turn them into idiots. I've lost count of the number of times I've seen people cross a busy road engrossed in their smart phone. I'm just surprised there are not more fatalities related to this. The researchers need to put down their own phones and go look for themselves.



Having read the above, I was amused this afternoon to see a guy walking along the Rue Garibaldi in Lyon reading a hard-back book so intently that he crashed straight into a lamppost.
As far as I could see from where I was sitting, it was an Azimov,  but I couldn't tell you which one.


----------



## Happy Joe (Jul 2, 2022)

I primarily use my smart phone as a phone (and would be very happy without it)... although I do have an e-book app with some e-books and a music app with music that I occasionally use to drive a Bluetooth speaker; when things ge slow while camping... (I prefer to camp in areas without cell service).
So, since I might use the phone once between chargings, (I'm not a phone person) I don't see a problem with it making me lazy(er)...

Enjoy!


----------



## Matteo (Jul 4, 2022)

Interesting...









						Is your smartphone ruining your memory? A special report on the rise of ‘digital amnesia’
					

‘I can’t remember anything’ is a common complaint these days. But is it because we rely so heavily on our smartphones? And do the endless alerts and distractions stop us forming new memories?




					www.theguardian.com
				




Hmm...really?  _“I take a photo of my parking ticket so I know when it runs out, because it’s an arbitrary thing to remember. Our brains aren’t evolved to remember highly specific, one-off things. Before we had devices, you would have to make a quite an effort to remember the time you needed to be back at your car.”
_
But this is good: _But hard things are good for you, because they engage cognitive processes and brain structures that have other effects on your general cognitive functioning.”_

And, heh! _“Let’s be real with ourselves: how many of us are using the time afforded us by our banking app to write poetry? We just passively consume crap on Instagram.”_


----------



## Swank (Jul 4, 2022)

Matteo said:


> Interesting...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


This is a funny example, since using a photo obviously requires constantly reminding yourself to check the picture and compare to the time. Yet setting an alarm on your watch has been a more effective solution for 300 years since you don't have to remember anything until the alarm goes off.


----------



## Bramandin (Jul 4, 2022)

Wayne Mack said:


> I've found that having GPS makes me more daring when I travel. Instead of sticking to the main route that I can easily follow on the map, I am more emboldened to turn off when I see something interesting and feel comfortable that I can find my way back without problem.



Last time I tried to rely on my phone for an adventure, I lost signal and was lost until we stopped at a boat launch and somehow got in range of a tower.  However, I could have found my way back to where we lost signal because my mom trained me from a young age to pay attention.


----------



## Parson (Jul 4, 2022)

I'd argue the opposite. When I want to know something I ask Google, and learn something. Lot's of times that something is remembered and hence I know more than when I started, so by definition smarter.

Lazier? Perhaps.
Harder to satisfy? Certainly.
More obnoxious? Without doubt.
Less polite? Unfortunately yes,

(And the list could go on and on.)


----------



## Pyan (Jul 4, 2022)

The Mountain Rescue lads advise that you keep a back-up magnetic compass in your rucksack when you're out on the fells, because they've had to help down several people that were relying on their phone apps to navigate, and had lost the signal or run out of power.

My favourite story, though, is the woman that rang the 999 number for Mountain Rescue and demanded they summoned the Air-Sea Rescue helicopter, because they were a long way from their car and were going to be late for the dinner they'd booked in a posh restaurant in Keswick. I believe she got a polite, two-word response...


----------



## Ray Zdybrow (Jul 4, 2022)

worldofmutes said:


> It’s a little difficult to prove it, but essentially- we have convenience and escapism in our hands daily. The tasks we need a machine for (navigating, writing, calculating…&tc.) are simple,  practical tools that meet our needs. Yet, the majority of our time spent on them is only superficial entertainment, ways to pass the time indoors.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Not going to pay to read the actual paper, but the Science Daily article is glib and lightweight.


----------



## paranoid marvin (Jul 6, 2022)

Pyan said:


> The Mountain Rescue lads advise that you keep a back-up magnetic compass in your rucksack when you're out on the fells, because they've had to help down several people that were relying on their phone apps to navigate, and had lost the signal or run out of power.
> 
> My favourite story, though, is the woman that rang the 999 number for Mountain Rescue and demanded they summoned the Air-Sea Rescue helicopter, because they were a long way from their car and were going to be late for the dinner they'd booked in a posh restaurant in Keswick. I believe she got a polite, two-word response...




It's amazing how easier it can be to get up a mountain, but not always so obviously as to get back down again. I remember once near Catbells seeing a slope that led downwards, but a quick investigation saw that it only led to a sheer drop. If it had been rainy/slippy, I do wonder how easy it would have been to have ended up going over the edge. Thankfully we found a cairn that helped.

That's one of the things with places like the Lake District; you have to use common sense, because there are few (if any) warning signs. We're so used in life to being told what is and isn't safe for us to do/where to go that when you get off the beaten track it can take some time to readjust to making decisions for yourself.


----------



## paranoid marvin (Jul 6, 2022)

As for smart phones making us lazy. The answer is yes and no. 

Want to know how to clean a drain? Look on Youtube. Want to know how to paint a wall? Look on Youtube. 

Once upon a time you had to have a go yourself (and probably fail), ask a friend (who could just as easily muck it up), pay a tradesman, or go on a course. Now you can just look on Youtube and become an instant expert.

Want to know how to navigate? There's an app for that Want to find some cool walking routes? There's an app for that.

Once upon a time you had to go to a bookstore and buy a map. And a compass. And a walking guide. And perhaps take an orienteering course

It's far, far easier and cheaper to use your phone for just about anything. But it also cheapens the experience; knowledge gained without being earned.

But have they made us lazier? Well, perhaps we wouldn't have gone on that walk if it hadn't been for the apps. Perhaps (probably) we wouldn't have tried to plaster that wall if it hadn't been for the app. Perhaps we would have spent half a day travelling to a conference instead of having it on Zoom. 

I think that mobiles give us a chance to have a more fulfilling life if we wish; they certainly free up spare time that could be better spent doing something else. Of course if that spare time is spent playing CandyCrush or logging on to FaceBook, then that's another kettle of fish altogether.


----------



## Danny McG (Aug 13, 2022)

Astro Pen said:


> I have even noticed people paying in shops eschewing bank cards for a bank phone app of some sort
> "Danger, Will Robinson."


I was at Blackpool pleasure beach last year, I hadn't been for a few years.
I made sure I had plenty of cash and we left our bank cards at home (we lost one once on a day out and had some fraudulent purchases before we managed to cancel it).

When we got their we found every concession was now card only, no cash taken.

I had to activate the Google pay app on my phone and spend 20 minutes setting it up before we could even buy the kids a cold drink.....I'm such a saddo that I have my 16 digit card number memorised !


----------



## hitmouse (Aug 13, 2022)

Astro Pen said:


> I have even noticed people paying in shops eschewing bank cards for a bank phone app of some sort
> "Danger, Will Robinson."


I use this all the time. It is simply using a card, stored on Apple wallet via the phone bluetooth. Saves time fumbling with my wallet. A natural extension of contactless payments as far as I am concerned.


----------

