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This is not true; there have been studies showing that the effects of smartphone addiction are similar to those of alcohol/drug addiction.[1][2] [1]: https://w

This is not true; there have been studies showing that the effects of smartphone addiction are similar to those of alcohol/drug addiction.[1][2] [1]: https://www.androidauthority.com/smartphone-addiction-drug-642320/ https://www.androidauthority.com/smartphone-addiction-drug-6... [2]: https://www.promisesbehavioralhealth.com/addiction/new-studies-compare-smartphones-cocaine-addiction/ https://www.promisesbehavioralhealth.com/addiction/new-studi...

superkuh 8y ago
I read the second article and noticed that they have no idea what they are talking about. See, > It stimulates neurotransmitter receptors in the brain’s reward center with a huge surge of dopamine — an organic feel-good chemical, or neurotransmitter. They're still repeating the same old wives tales about the dopaminergic systems being related to feeling good. This was known to be false even back in the 1970s. They encode for reward incentive salience, not actual feelings of pleasure. Given this the entire rest of the article can be disregarded. But, that leaves the actual study cited. This seems to be a 1000 person study of self reports of behavior by college students through text. Self reports are not going to tell you anything but the biases of the people involved. And at the very most, if we accept this study's conclusions at face value then all they're saying is that people have built up habits relating to phones. Dependence. This is the word you want to use. It is definitely not addiction.
Raphmedia 8y ago
There is a big difference between something that gives you pleasure and then create a bad habit and an actual addiction. What you are doing is the equivalent of saying that it's fine to play video games late because "people are addicted to it". Most people aren't. They simply have deep rooted bad habits. Playing Flappy Bird every time you commute isn't an addiction. Wanting to finish your level before logging off isn't either. An addiction is when your mind is always focused on the addictive behavior. You have an urge than can never be fulfilled. It's a shifting goalpost because your tolerance increases as you spent more and more time attempting to satisfy the urges. It gets so bad it takes over your life, become more important than your career and family. Actual gambling, gaming & internet addictions are life breaking. People die from it [1][2][3]. Entire families get broken from addiction. People lose careers over it. Don't throw the word around haphazardly. [1] https://www.cnn.com/2015/01/19/world/taiwan-gamer-death/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2015/01/19/world/taiwan-gamer-death/inde... [2] https://www.jacksonville.com/news/crime/2011-02-01/story/jacksonville-mom-who-killed-baby-while-playing-farmville-gets-50-years https://www.jacksonville.com/news/crime/2011-02-01/story/jac... [3] http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4137782.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4137782.stm
- munificent 8y ago
  > People die from it. Recall that the article that spawned this discussion is talking about people using their phone while driving and the subsequent 15% rise in car fatalities in the past year.
  - Raphmedia 8y ago
    Is the increase due to addicted people willingly risking their life an the lives of the people surrounding them or is it simply a bunch of people with bad habits living where the issue is not talked about enough? I look at education and laws around the world for the issue and my jaw often hit the floor. Either it's not talked about or doing won't get you in any trouble. Where I live (Eastern Canada) they made it so that first offence is $600. Second offence double that. If the person is on a probationary licence then they lose it. Otherwise you lose 5 of your points in the demerits points system[1]. Repeat offenders lose their licence for up to a month. They are investigating outright making it a criminal offence because the population consider the issue a serious one. Not only are you not allowed to hold a phone you are also not allowed to have it in a cup holder. You can only use it if attached to the vehicle and for navigation or vehicle performance analytics features. They have cops driving in raised unmarked trucks and bus to spot drivers using phones. We also saw at the same time an increase on government paid TV and radio ads educating about the issue. Those measures made it so that according to surveys, "97% of adult Quebecers consider that distracted driving is a very serious or quite serious problem". [1] Adults with full licenses have 15, young adult 12 and teens only 8. That means tha a teen who loses 5 points for having an active phone in the car will then lose their license for failing to obey a stop sign (-3 pts).

superkuh 8y ago

I read the second article and noticed that they have no idea what they are talking about. See, > It stimulates neurotransmitter receptors in the brain’s reward center with a huge surge of dopamine — an organic feel-good chemical, or neurotransmitter. They're still repeating the same old wives tales about the dopaminergic systems being related to feeling good. This was known to be false even back in the 1970s. They encode for reward incentive salience, not actual feelings of pleasure. Given this the entire rest of the article can be disregarded. But, that leaves the actual study cited. This seems to be a 1000 person study of self reports of behavior by college students through text. Self reports are not going to tell you anything but the biases of the people involved. And at the very most, if we accept this study's conclusions at face value then all they're saying is that people have built up habits relating to phones. Dependence. This is the word you want to use. It is definitely not addiction.

Raphmedia 8y ago

There is a big difference between something that gives you pleasure and then create a bad habit and an actual addiction. What you are doing is the equivalent of saying that it's fine to play video games late because "people are addicted to it". Most people aren't. They simply have deep rooted bad habits. Playing Flappy Bird every time you commute isn't an addiction. Wanting to finish your level before logging off isn't either. An addiction is when your mind is always focused on the addictive behavior. You have an urge than can never be fulfilled. It's a shifting goalpost because your tolerance increases as you spent more and more time attempting to satisfy the urges. It gets so bad it takes over your life, become more important than your career and family. Actual gambling, gaming & internet addictions are life breaking. People die from it [1][2][3]. Entire families get broken from addiction. People lose careers over it. Don't throw the word around haphazardly. [1] https://www.cnn.com/2015/01/19/world/taiwan-gamer-death/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2015/01/19/world/taiwan-gamer-death/inde... [2] https://www.jacksonville.com/news/crime/2011-02-01/story/jacksonville-mom-who-killed-baby-while-playing-farmville-gets-50-years https://www.jacksonville.com/news/crime/2011-02-01/story/jac... [3] http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4137782.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4137782.stm

munificent 8y ago
> People die from it. Recall that the article that spawned this discussion is talking about people using their phone while driving and the subsequent 15% rise in car fatalities in the past year.
- Raphmedia 8y ago
  Is the increase due to addicted people willingly risking their life an the lives of the people surrounding them or is it simply a bunch of people with bad habits living where the issue is not talked about enough? I look at education and laws around the world for the issue and my jaw often hit the floor. Either it's not talked about or doing won't get you in any trouble. Where I live (Eastern Canada) they made it so that first offence is $600. Second offence double that. If the person is on a probationary licence then they lose it. Otherwise you lose 5 of your points in the demerits points system[1]. Repeat offenders lose their licence for up to a month. They are investigating outright making it a criminal offence because the population consider the issue a serious one. Not only are you not allowed to hold a phone you are also not allowed to have it in a cup holder. You can only use it if attached to the vehicle and for navigation or vehicle performance analytics features. They have cops driving in raised unmarked trucks and bus to spot drivers using phones. We also saw at the same time an increase on government paid TV and radio ads educating about the issue. Those measures made it so that according to surveys, "97% of adult Quebecers consider that distracted driving is a very serious or quite serious problem". [1] Adults with full licenses have 15, young adult 12 and teens only 8. That means tha a teen who loses 5 points for having an active phone in the car will then lose their license for failing to obey a stop sign (-3 pts).