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Part of it is the social contract that is implicitly engaged when someone knows you have a cell phone. Basically, those people have a reasonable assumption that
by ryandvm 16y ago
Part of it is the social contract that is implicitly engaged when someone knows you have a cell phone. Basically, those people have a reasonable assumption that they can call you, and if they can't talk to you, at least they can leave a message which you'll probably respond to within a few hours.
A lot of people seem to think that turning your phone off while you take a hike is as the same degree of freedom as never having any of your extracurricular activities interrupted - ever. It's not.
Are there downsides to not owning a phone? Of course. I was just commenting that habitually being incommunicado is, for me, a peaceful state to find oneself.
- danneu 16y agoI'd actually reverse the point. Possessing a phone seems to give people the addiction of reaffirming their social value with little "New Text Message" nuggets throughout the day. Or the need to cater to every correspondence whim by immediately returning calls and texts. I think the loss of freedom is less contingent on getting a phone, and more indicative of the general social insecurities most of us share.