5 October 2024 by Mondo2.0
Could you leave home without your smartphone?
This is the question I asked “around” among Internet users, so basically anyone, appropriately divided by age group, educational qualification, profession and personal interests. The answers went beyond my personal expectations…
The first, instinctive answer is practically always “absolutely yes”, a more instinctive response aimed at demonstrating independence of thought and use of one’s smartphone and PC, but …
I immediately pressed my dear Internet users by asking whether they were willing to switch off their phone immediately and turn it back on the following day, promising that I would call regularly over the next 24 hours to check; no one gave a positive response to this second request of mine.
Two simple, instinctive questions, two opposite answers that highlight a potential dualism between what “we think we can do” and “what we want to do”.
The third question allowed me to open up an intermediate path: “ok, today you can’t switch off your smartphone, but tomorrow or, alternatively, next Saturday or next Sunday, or in any case on your first non-working or non-study day, would you be willing to leave your smartphone with me switched off?”.
A question that presses the user by confronting them with their habits and their daily ways of communicating. We received all kinds of answers; here are a few:
- I can’t give up my smartphone; my father/mother, daughter/son might call me, …
- If my car breaks down while I’m out without a smartphone, how can I call for help?
- I would like to, but I can’t for work reasons
- I have to let people know if I’m late
- Without Google Maps I find it hard to get my bearings, especially if I have to go …
- I don’t remember any phone numbers by heart
- I make all digital payments with my smartphone
- I have to carry out/follow a procedure using SPID
- I’m waiting for a package from Amazon
- I’m waiting for a PEC to arrive
We spend many hours a day on our smartphone (or PC), our indispensable appendage, but when we actually have to give it up, we suddenly remember that this device is needed to make phone calls. The smartphone? For making phone calls? I really have backed you into a corner.
At the next request, in cases where the user had highlighted the need to be able to make phone calls, we proposed using the smartphone for 24 hours only in phone mode, with no data. A good number of those interviewed expressed general willingness, knowing full well that we would have had no way of checking, but some also pointed out the need to make calls with WhatsApp, while others remembered further obligations and unexpected issues to be dealt with digitally.
We thought we were carrying out a small sociological exercise, but instead we find ourselves stating one of the principles of dynamics, “For every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction”, or, to put it simply:
There is always a reason not to give up our smartphone
There is no doubt that the Internet brings useful, indispensable services with it; among the answers listed above we find the need to use SPID, our digital identity, the use of the smartphone as a digital wallet, the possibility of interacting with friends and relatives who are elsewhere, even far away, face to face via video chat or meeting platforms, and the sending of formal communications via PEC.
All very useful services, indispensable today, which we have been discussing on this blog for over a decade.
Digital payments, for example, reduce the circulation of paper banknotes, thereby limiting the possibility of contact and the spread of viruses and, of course, allowing accurate monitoring of transactions and tax obligations.
We are part of a digital transformation process that brings clear benefits.
But in the answers, in the unwillingness of all those interviewed to give up their smartphone, there is much more.
- There is F.O.M.O., Fear of missing out, namely the fear of being left out of chat conversations, new developments on social media, trending hashtags, everything that others do or say on the Internet
- There are dynamics of Workaholism, addiction to work, which leads people, 7 days a week, to constantly check incoming emails, work chats, news on LinkedIn, online meetings, …
- For some of us, there is a need to talk about ourselves regularly through social media or chats
- There is a need to be constantly online, to browse, click, acquire visual stimuli, receive new input
At this point in the article I began to write down rational conclusions, with the data in hand, but despite numerous drafts I was unable to avoid giving an emotional slant to the many indicators available to me; my conclusions always ended with “go for a walk, preferably outdoors, in the greenery, without your smartphone”, something that is not only rather unprofessional but also not very much in keeping with a blog that highlights the changes and benefits brought about by digital transformation.
I need a conclusion without emotion… idea! I’ll ask A.I.!
Who better than a conversational agent can provide me with a text without emotion.
I fed my article and my data to ChatGPT, asking for its opinion, which I reproduce faithfully below:
The experiment clearly showed that our relationship with the smartphone is more complex and deeply rooted than we think. The initial enthusiasm in saying “I could do without it” clashes with the reality of an interconnected world, where the smartphone is not just an accessory, but an extension of our daily life. Whether for work, personal or even emotional needs, our connection with this device goes beyond simple usefulness: it reflects a dependence that is not only technological, but also social and psychological. Switching off the phone for a day thus becomes not only a logistical challenge, but also an emotional one. This experiment invites us to reflect on how free we really are in managing our time and attention, and whether, from time to time, we should carve out moments without digital connections to rediscover the value of the “here and now”.
Darn, even A.I., in its own way, is inviting you to go for a walk!
I therefore feel obliged to end this article with the sincere invitation to really try, from time to time, to switch off your smartphone for 24 hours.
I know it is difficult, very difficult, to live without a smartphone in this World 2.0.
Mondoduepuntozero