Tony Reinke, in his book, 12 Ways Your Phone is Changing You, points out some things we who use these phones ought to consider. He catalogues what writer Jeff Haanen called collectively, a “quiet catastrophe.”
• Distraction – The average smartphone user checks his phone every 4.3 minutes.
• Hazard to others – People texting while driving are 23 times more likely to cause and automobile accident.
• Craving approval – Seeking it through what can become an “incessant autobiography,” and the hope and desire for responses or compliments.
• Idolizing celebrity – Having attention drawn to the latest headlines, gossip, etc.
• Getting lost in the digital noise – The average daily output on social media is larger than all the information stored in the Library of Congress. Yet, with all that flood of information, many seem to lack elements of basic common sense.
• Losing track of time – The wonders of people, nature, and even God himself, get lost in the whirl of all the rings, bings, and buzzing of the “important” notifications that must be checked.
Those who have developed an addiction to their smartphones have some common symptoms –
• a sense of loss and anxiety if they don’t have it with them
• a fear of missing out on something
• taking it to bed and picking it up first in the morning
• time on it measured in hours per day rather than minutes per day
• craving the newest and latest in smartphone technology
Many find the smartphone to be a useful tool and aid to their work, and can use it that way. If, on the other hand, you find yourself with some of the addict’s symptoms, you ought to take steps to overcome the problem. Psalm 119:45 And I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts.