October 10, 2004
Saved, and Enslaved, by the Cell
In recent months a growing number of experts have identified and begun to study a distinct downside in that: cellphone use may be making us less autonomous and less capable of solving problems on our own, even when the answers are right in front of us, reports The New York Times.
"According to Christine Rosen, a senior editor at the journal New Atlantis and the author of "Our Cell Phones, Ourselves," a recent article exploring the social effects of the mobile phone, the ease of obtaining instant advice encourages cellphone users to respond to any uncertainty, crucial or trivial, by dialing instead of deciding. The green sweater or the blue, pizza or Chinese, the bridge or the tunnel - why take responsibility for making up your own mind when you can convene a meeting in a minute?
Cellphones foster a curious dependency," Ms. Rosen said. "The cellphone erodes something that is being obliterated in American society: self-reliance."
She offered an example. "I was taught how to change a tire so I can get a spare on and get to a garage," she said. "But who changes a tire now? You just call AAA."
That cellphones help "reverse independence into dependence" is neither good nor bad, Mr. Federman said, just a natural outgrowth of technological innovation. Reflection, introspection, thinking for yourself - these tools of the mind, he said, exist separately from any technology.
Related post in textually.org on Christen Rosen's article: Our Cell Phones, Ourselves
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