Technology is ruining us

So this past weekend I moved to NYC, which in itself will have its own post coming up soon. But the reason I'm writing this one is because of something that happened yesterday. I was waiting for the elevator on the top floor after an interview, and as the doors opened a lady on her phone went to walk out and realized that it was not the bottom floor and went back in with me. Then she turned to me and said, "These phones these days just keep distracting me. I do that all the time, where I'm looking at my phone and then go to get off the elevator and realize that's not where I'm supposed to get off. I always have my head down looking at my phone. Everyone does now."

And the thing is, THAT IS SO TRUE. I couldn't tell you the number of times that I've tried to get off at the wrong floor because I was looking at my phone, or almost run into people or doors because I was looking at my phone while walking. And after coming to NYC I see even more people on their phones all the time. People crossing the streets scrolling through Instagram, on the Subway reading their e-mail, waiting in line at Starbucks texting their friends. Now I'm 100% guilty of doing all these things, but the amount that I see people on their phones/technology in general is kind of disgusting.

In college, I had professors who had no-technology policies - so no laptops or cell phones the whole class period. For me, it's no problem - you should be learning anyway, because that's what college is all about and spending your money just so you can just text the whole time is kind of a waste. But it's also kind of sad that people have a problem with this policy. The fact that some people can't make it 90 minutes, even just an hour, without looking at some form of technology, especially our phones, is messed up.

Everyone across the globe (except for maybe in 3rd world countries) is dependent on technology. A lot of people do their actual work on a computer, and then when they have breaks they're on their phones, and then they get home and they turn on the TV for the news, and then go back to their computers to do more work they couldn't finish at work, and then back to the phones, and then back to the TV, etc. It's a never ending cycle of going from one technology to the next.

And this is a trend that is probably going to be made even worse by the next generation. Kids these days are rewarded for doing their homework by having time to play on the iPad. My reward was going out and playing Ghosts in the Graveyard with the other kids in my cul-de-sac. I see kids these days having iPhones as early as age 7. I didn't get a phone until I was in high school and was a flip phone. There are times even now when I think about just going back to a flip phone/non smart phone because I see how much of a distraction it is. I don't want to be on my phone as much as I am, but it's addictive.

And I really hate how much technology is ruining our relationships. I can see their value because they allow us to contact people half a world away, but liking someone's Facebook status that you knew in high school that they got married in Ireland isn't a relationship. I swear people rarely talk on the phone anymore, much less have a real conversation in-person. The number of times I've been out at dinner and had friends text other people the whole time or scroll through social media instead of talking to the other people at dinner is disgusting. You took the time to get ready to look nice and go out to dinner with your friends and then you're not even going to fully pay attention to them or barely talk to them? What's the point then?

So I'm going to try something within the next few weeks. I'm going to try to use technology as little as I can, most specifically my phone and my laptop. And because of the nature of my industry going digital, this is going to be tough. But I know I need to live in the now and enjoy the company of my friends and the outdoors, not the company of my phone. This weekend is No Text Weekend, so I think it's a good time to start my little trial, see what I can experience when I take a step back from technology for a little while. I encourage you to too.

P.S. Never text and drive. That's just stupid. Your phone was never meant to be used when you're doing something else.