Last week, I was at ITV studios in London as one of the many Londoners who made up a rousing audience for ‘The Jonathan Ross Show’.
Apart from the excitement that filled the auditorium when actor-Liam Neeson, Peter Andre, Oscar Award winner-Goldie Hawn and Danny Dyer were drilled by Ross, I left the recording of the Show with more than a great performance from Pixie Lott.
During one of the interviews, Jonathan Ross talked about how many of us cannot let go our smart phones, even when we are at dinners with friends or family. Interestingly, he pointed himself out as one of such people who cannot let go their phones—even for few minutes.
The guest on the Show at the time-Danny Dyer quickly noted that ‘our smart phones’ are taking over our relationships. He added that, because many people are unable to leave their smart phones for more than 30 minutes; his friends have come out with this ‘troubling idea’ of collecting all phones and putting them on a table when they go out for dinners or drinks. And that, whoever picks his phone first from the table pays the bill of the evening …
Jonathan Ross jumped in to say, he would have to always pay the bill if he was in the circle since he can’t let his phone off his sight—something the Mrs detest.
My point is; if you thought you were the only person who has noticed how people are glued to their phones, paving way for technology to define our relationships, then you are wrong—most people are aware of this just that they cannot seem to let go the bad habit.
Even if a person is able to force himself to disconnect from his mobile phone, you will catch see the same person scrolling through things on the ipad.
It seems we’ve ditched our sense of belonging, relegating the essence of personal interactions and relationships to the background. Instead of using technology to strengthen our human interactions and relationships, technology has taken over.
Like most people, I check my mobile phone every 20-30 minutes and even when asked to turn it off at certain places like the Cinema, I put it on silent rather. We do not disconnect from our gadgets and this is gradually stealing the best of human interactions we ought to have.
Whenever I wake up in the middle of the night, the first thing I reach out for is my phone, and I know I am the only person who does this.
As I stated in my article titled-Are You Losing Yourself To Robots? Get A Real Life With The Real World…; “No one seems to care about expressing real love with real world things anymore. I have kissed my girlfriend more times with smileys and emoticons than I have in real life. I think I have even said I love her more with technology than I have actually told her in person.”
Like many others, I recognise how my smart phone is getting all the attention, but do I have the WILL to disconnect from it when necessary—so I can build real human relationship with those who matter?
I’ve seen several couples seated around dinner tables and instead of having real time conversations; they will be on their phones…With everyone hooked to their smart phones, what is the future of real human interactions and relationships?
My phone fell into water 3 weeks ago and that was the end on a Saturday night meaning I had to wait till Monday to get a new phone, my life without a phone was very painful it hurt soo bad more than a breakup,I was restless, angry with everyone, when I finally got a phone, the smile on my face was just. Something. Else I was soo relieved, then I taut I really can’t live without my eye phone, this is what smartphones has done to me
It is a pity how smartphones have taken over our lives (me included). Human interactions have been affected more than we can imagine. reason why most relationships don’t last these days