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I think I would excuse this behavior in large cities, or when you feel overexposed to stimulation. I mean, it DOES take a ton of effort to be attentive to every

I think I would excuse this behavior in large cities, or when you feel overexposed to stimulation. I mean, it DOES take a ton of effort to be attentive to every single human that you encounter, whether it's in an mundane setting like a subway/shopping mall, or at work. Especially if you live in a huge city like SF, or NYC. If you don't distract yourself once in awhile, by immersing yourself with something like a smartphone, I imagine it's very easy to get drained out with so much stimulation. I mean, if we lived in the caveman age, or even the medieval ages where we encountered the same 20 or so people every single day, then yes, there's no need for the smartphone, but in the modern day, I think it's almost necessary to survive mentally. I look at it this way: Humans were not meant to live in highly populated areas where they interact with a thousand strangers every single day.

spongle 13y ago
Isn't a better solution to live in a less populated area than stuff your face in a smart phone though[1]? This is what I'm working on, slowly. [1] I'm being a hypocrite there as I'm sitting in an ASDA car park on my smartphone at the moment.mm
- weland 13y ago
  It would. I've actually considered it and warmly recommend it to anyone who can. It's not an option for me due to personal reasons, but if I could do it, I wouldn't wait a single minute.
mercer 13y ago
So true. I'm extremely sensitive to my surroundings, so I find that the only way to comfortably be around lots of people is by having something that keeps me focused. This is usually my phone, sometimes a book, and occasionally a podcast (both of which could be on my phone). That said, I really hate this new phenomenon, so my solution to this is to have a smartphone, but no internet. As a result, when I do employ my device as a way to avoid being overstimulated, the 'distraction' is at least of some quality, be it a long-form Instapaper article, a chapter of a book, or a podcast that spends an hour on a single topic. It's not perfect, and I still put my phone away whenever I can handle my surroundings, but it works.

spongle 13y ago

Isn't a better solution to live in a less populated area than stuff your face in a smart phone though[1]? This is what I'm working on, slowly. [1] I'm being a hypocrite there as I'm sitting in an ASDA car park on my smartphone at the moment.mm

weland 13y ago
It would. I've actually considered it and warmly recommend it to anyone who can. It's not an option for me due to personal reasons, but if I could do it, I wouldn't wait a single minute.

mercer 13y ago

So true. I'm extremely sensitive to my surroundings, so I find that the only way to comfortably be around lots of people is by having something that keeps me focused. This is usually my phone, sometimes a book, and occasionally a podcast (both of which could be on my phone). That said, I really hate this new phenomenon, so my solution to this is to have a smartphone, but no internet. As a result, when I do employ my device as a way to avoid being overstimulated, the 'distraction' is at least of some quality, be it a long-form Instapaper article, a chapter of a book, or a podcast that spends an hour on a single topic. It's not perfect, and I still put my phone away whenever I can handle my surroundings, but it works.