There is only a correlation between phone usage and these adverse effects, so by no means does it mean that you will become depressed or develop sleep apnea because you use your phone too much. However, it is important to learn how to use a phone and to get the best out of it. As technology increases, we get introduced to more and more distractions, and because of the pleasure principal, our brains would much rather play candy crush than study for calculus, so it easier than ever for us to procrastinate and slack off at school. If we did not have these distractions, we would perform better in many aspects of life, but just because we are addicted to our phones does not mean we are doomed. If there was anything I was convinced of today, it was that phones are amazing inventions, but many people use them in a way that could promote adverse effects.
Thursday, December 3, 2015
Phones
Today, my stats class started off the day by analyzing the statistics of phone usage. According to the data, increased phone usage correlated with less sleep, lower GPAs and higher depression. Although correlation does not mean causation, it is easy to tell how increased phone usage can lead to such bad effects. For example, many people use their phones so much that they constantly expect to get a notification, so when they go to bed it is harder to fall asleep because they still expect something from their phone, and (according to Skehan) even when they finally fall asleep, it takes longer for them to fall into a solid REM cycle because their subconcious is expecting a notification from the phone.
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It surprises me that people stay up waiting for notifications. I like sleep, and it is more important to me than anything that anyone else has to say late at night or early in the morning. The perfect time to charge your phone is also at night while you are sleeping. The correlation probably exists because this this type of person makes generally poor decisions, as sleep is one of the most important things that we do.
ReplyDeleteIt is clear that negative effects of phone usage exist. I am commonly distracted by my phone but I do not feel as though it is an out of control issue for me, though it may be for some of my peers. With great power comes great responsibility.
ReplyDeletePhones obviously have their adantages and their draw backs. These advanced technologies have enabled us to do some pretty incredible things regaurding the connection of the individual to the outside world. However, being addicted to phones is a world wide problem. In spanish class, we read an article that said in Spain, these people are now called "Phonbies" (short for phone zombies), and its true. Phones can do amazing things, but it is important to remember that they can take a substantial toll on our daily lives.
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