AIBU to find it sad that staring at our phones has become the default human activity?

Basically ctos 2.0 type system.

If you might be interested in how tech companies have contributed to this then watch this programme from 2018: https://m.imdb.com/title/tt8669136/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk

Because a book is just a book. It doesn't analyse how long you spend on each page/sentence/word, or which other books you like to read, or what other people in your demographic like to read/buy/consume, and then use that information to tailor what you're reading, to keep engaged for longer and/or buy more stuff. Which is what a vast amount of the apps/sites we use are doing all the time.

I love my phone for so many things, but it has definitely messed with my brain.

I sort of agree. I justify it to myself in that I have my newspaper and kindle on my phone and no one would have been negative about someone reading the paper or a book, but to be honest a lot of the time I am on MN/WhatsApp/social media too.

But then humanity needs to spread to the star's and begin conquering the galaxies

TBH, I miss a lot with my nose in a book too! Including more than one bus.

@Hawkins0001

It will lead to a lot of unnecessary humans

I look at MN, BBC, TIK TOK and check messages on my I pad and phone on waking for an hour as I wake up while drinking tea, DH and I are not morning people and it has always been thus. I then look at my i pad and again messages in the late evening. So I look twice a day at my I pad and only answer my phone if it rings.

Master and slave to paper, how are books on paper different than screens ect.

But then why not use robots especially if they are better at x tasks

I think I probably am addicted but am
not on any social media apart from MN and LinkedIn for work. However I do use my phone to do crosswords and read the news etc. so I probably look like one of those people. I occasionally buy a newspaper to do the same thing which somehow seems more acceptable.

I go out for coffee every morning and spend 30 minutes checking and answering work emails then reading the news - if I have time I’ll come on here
if I’m in a cafe with someone else including DP, DC or friends or colleagues we talk to each other with phones away unless someone is waiting for a message or an update about something
I will only get my phone to check up on something eg last weekend DP and I were talking about car prices and we both went on auto trader to do research then compared and carried on chatting
when I am on my own I spend too much time on phone but it’s a mixture of YouTube, games, MN, online news and chatting to friends by text of what’s app or Instagram

Oh I totally agree about Wall-E

We have cars instead of floating chairs tho

"But it’s not a book. It can be a book but it has an insidious element inherent in it that books don’t have. A master and slave dynamic. People are slaves to screens."

This is utter nonsense - master and slave dynamic, my arse!

Are you me? I have been saying this about WALL-E for years, it is scarily becoming reality!

Yanbu and tbh I try to not be on my phone in the evening but then my H and older dc are sat on theirs so I sit there like a spare part

It's sad

It is not the same. A book takes concentration for the whole time you are reading. Scrolling through tik tok etc shortens people attention span, ask teachers. Even when not on the phone but having it nearby makes people concentrate less as they can't resist picking it up to check it even when they are having a conversation with someone beside them.

It's my biggest source of annoyance with DH, my two teens and now my oldest DS.
I'm not innocent of it but I can go hours without looking at my phone. The rest of my family can't go 10 bloody minutes!
Every Sunday I leave my phone upstairs for the whole day. I check in in the morning for 5 mins and before bed and that's it, the rest of the day I don't look at it. It's liberating and nothing untoward has ever happened as a result.

I'm watching Wimbledon, a great game but so many of the crowd are using their phones!

I think it’s sad. I was on the train recently and a group of 4 young people got on and sat on a 4 table together. As soon as they were settled they got their phones out and stared at them for the entire journey without speaking to each other unless it was to quickly show each other something on their phone. There was a young couple on the same train and they had ear phones plugged into their phones and ignored each other apart from holding hands for the entire same journey. I’m a people-watcher 😂

I know higher screen usage for me is directly linked to my mood- when I’m down/struggling/lacking motivation I spend way more time on MN/insta etc. It’s a vicious circle then as too much screen time makes me feel guilty/worse about myself. I don’t know the answer other than better self control!

You sound a bit snobbish to be honest, like you feel you are somehow superior because you like discussion and analysis.

That's what you got from my post, @snufkinhat ? It wasn't even long-form text. Granted, though, it was a bit longer than the average Instagram caption so perhaps you lost focus before the end.

An example for me, I love the woods, so I'll use the phone for some nature photography, then I'll see where I can sit eg bench or tree logs etc, then I'll catch up on any articles while enjoying nature, if I don't have the phone then it's a DSLR camera for photos and a book instead.

Similar when I'm at a cafe, I'll order then it's read a book, do paperwork or use Wi-Fi and mumsnet etc

YANBU at all! I’m terrible since lockdown and curse myself about it as I was so much more restrained prior. I now leave my phone in a different room so I’m not tempted when with the kids, that’s how often I reach for it when it’s next to me.

That is so sad. I was on the train today with a woman holding a little baby. She was on her phone 95% of the time and didn't look at her baby directly for most of the journey (2 and a half hours). Everyone on the carriage was staring at phones (including me) and this baby was watching us all. This will be her world. I regularly use to take my babies pre smart phones on the same journey and people would peekaboo them, smile, talk to them etc (not everyone but lots). It's quite scary.