Are You Phubbing At Home or Work?
You’ve probably had lunch with someone who can’t stop texting or checking their phone while they’re supposedly spending time with you.
Maybe you’ve done it yourself when meeting with a client or colleague.
But did you know that simply having your phone in sight – even if it’s face-down and unattended – will affect the nature of the personal interaction?
And not just because it’s an annoyance. It will actually change what is said and heard.
This lost connection, says Turkle, who directs MIT’s Initiative on Technology and Self, is the result of dependence on our electronic devices.
A Pew survey showed that 89 percent of adults use their phone during social encounters to contact someone else. They did so even though 82 percent of them acknowledged it detracted from the face-to-face conversation.
And we tend to delude ourselves about how much we use our phones. Two-thirds of respondents said their personal usage was “below average” or “well below average” – a statistical impossibility.
We’re losing the ability to be alone with our thoughts for even a few minutes. “We see it when people are alone at the stop sign or in the checkout line at the supermarket. They seem almost panicked and they reach for their phones. We are so accustomed to being connected that being alone seems like a problem technology should solve.
Despite all this, Turkle is optimistic. She says humans are resilient. She cites a study that shows children at a device-free summer camp quickly became more empathetic, curious and appreciative of the natural beauty surrounding them.