Incredible, incredible devices.

A 10 year old kid can do more with his/her/their phone these days than my generation could do with the worlds greatest computer at the same age – plus they can fit it in their little satchel rather than need a giant warehouse to store all that immense computing power.

Then there’s the internet.

Wow.

We really do have the world at our fingertips. We are more ‘connected’ than ever…

…but at the same time we are also more ‘disconnected’ than ever.

Connected?

When we’re on our smart phone we are Connected with other people who are also on their smart phones, sharing, liking and commenting on the latest memes, posts, status updates etc.
To follow on from what I wrote last week (Stop Seeking Validation), for me there is a danger in this level of connectedness when we become slaves to these devices and crave (too much) validation from these connections. Some connection is good – using the smart phone/tablet as the amazing device it is to find people, places and information. Too much of the wrong type of connection could become obsessive – are you addicted to your smart phone?

Disconnected?

When we’re on our smart phone we are also Disconnected from our immediate environment. We’ve all been there, you’re out for a walk or a meal with friends or loved ones and they’re on their phones. You may comment on that and ask them to enjoy the moment, the conversation, the scenery. They tell you ‘Oh I am, I’m just on my phone at the same time.’ Really? So how come you completely missed the last 5 minutes of what I was saying to you? Do you want me to repeat it?

Final Thought(s)

Our smart phones are both connection and disconnection devices.

Trust me, it really is OK to put your phone down for a while. Even go out of the house and leave it at home (What???!???).

Try this: When your phone goes ping, don’t even flinch, just continue doing whatever you were doing and look at it later when you have time (unless you were literally doing nothing at all when it pinged).

Perhaps it’s worth considering using these devices for the right level of (good) connection whilst making sure we don’t become too disconnected from the moment, the conversation, whatever experience we are in here and now.

Because here and now is all we ever have.