Can You Feel More Human Using a Flip Phone?

 

I wish I could say that giving up my smartphone for a month revolutionised my life, but the reality was much more nuanced.

I just attended a performance of the play Apples in Winter. I was curious about the play's setting before the performance and instinctively reached for my pocket before realising that my phone didn't have a web browser. I skipped looking up the solution to my query. I didn't receive any notifications, and I didn't let my attention wander to another app or activity on my phone either. It gave me freedom.

All of this occurred as a result of an experiment in which I temporarily abandoned my smartphone in favour of a few "dumb" phones. The Nokia 2780, a flip phone with T9 predictive typing and an FM radio, and the Light Phone II, a device designed for digital detox with an E Ink screen but no web browser, were the two gadgets I tried.

Numerous papers contend that smartphone use is linked to mental health problems, and I can attest from personal experience that even just carrying a phone in my pocket may make me feel disconnected from my surroundings. I wanted to test whether using a less complicated tool would make me feel more grounded. I didn't make any complex rules; I simply switched out my SIM card and made an effort to pay attention.

To be clear, I do not believe that my phone, even a smartphone, is the root of all of my issues. When writing a piece like this, it's simple to come out as a Luddite or, at the very least, as the kind of deep thinker who found the cult-favorite Look Up video from 2014 to be interesting. I am not that. I didn't anticipate any magic; I was merely interested. I'm the kind of person who frequently muses over how I interact with technology. The same goes for my friend Katie Redderson-Lear, who tried out these phones with me. We alternated. She used the Nokia for two weeks while I used The Light Phone II, and then we switched.

The version of my narrative that would likely garner the most clicks is one in which I declare that this experiment altered my life. Unfortunately, the truth is more nuanced. Sure, I recognised several tendencies I would prefer to avoid, but I also realised something that may seem obvious: Modern phones are incredibly useful, and life would be significantly poorer without them.

Phones Are Miniature Anxiety Generators

A Gallup study conducted in 2022 found that the majority of Americans believe they spend too much time on their phones. And the figures are especially high among young people—up from 58% in 2015, 81% of those between the ages of 18 and 29 say they spend "too much" time on their phones.

This worry is one that I am aware of. It's really simple for me to pick up my phone to do one thing and then find myself doing something completely else before I even realise it.

Phones give us the feeling that we are letting people down and missing out on important things.

I discussed this issue with Dr. Larry Rosen, a California State University professor emeritus and the author of The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World. In a telephone conversation that I had with Dr. Rosen while using the Nokia 2780, he said, "The issue becomes what grabs your attention." These indicators stand out to you even if you open your phone to perform a certain task and it is still open. Your brain is being directed to think, "Oh, I need to look at this."

It's not by accident that a device will divert your attention. Giant IT companies invest a lot of money to make it happen.

According to Rosen, "These businesses spend hundreds of thousands of dollars just on the development of the app icons." Focus groups are invited in. They work with therapists. They exert every effort to make their icon stand out in your mind.

Just the icons on your home screen are listed there. The apps themselves are made with the intention of retaining as much of your time as possible, and we can all attest to the fact that they are successful in doing so. Then there is the pressure from society.

We have created expectations that say if you try to connect with me, I will come back to you as quickly as I can, according to Rosen. "We have trained those around us," Rosen said. We've created this expectation, and it's one we can't reasonably meet over the long run without having negative psychological effects.

Therefore, using a phone makes us feel as like we're letting others down and missing out on something. Rosen informed me that this has a variety of implications for mental health.