Smart Phone Zombies are walking into traffic & off cliffs.

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Barbara
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Re: Smart Phone Zombies are walking into traffic & off cliffs.

Post by Barbara »

I had never heard of such a phenomenon ! We don't hear of the goings-on in almost any other country or region than
North America's. While I always deplore this, somehow it escaped me that people in other parts of the world are
addicts to 'gaming' - even the word sounds SO AWFUL to me - and gambling. Maybe the fact that gambling and gaming are almost the same word is a telltale sign.

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Barbara
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Re: Smart Phone Zombies are walking into traffic & off cliffs.

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I read this important description of the younger generation by Protopriest Andrei Sommer of Rocor-MP :

"Fr Andrei said that today’s youth are “a separate nation,” with their own language and culture, and a missionary preaching Christ to this “nation” must master their forms of communication. The new generation communicates in soundbites, eschews reading long texts, uses photos, stickers and emojis to express their thoughts and feelings. A missionary among the young must take this into account.

Fr Andrei also stressed that young people rely on gadgets, that they “go to sleep and wake up with their smartphones.” In this light, it is important to awaken within young hearts an interest in real life and socialization without the use of “virtual” intermediaries." - http://synod.com/synod/eng2018/20180531 ... youth.html

I was curious to find out what the dangers are of having such a cellphone addiction that the youth has to have the item near him or her through the night. I looked around the internet until I found this concise summary, written 4 years ago. How much more must have been learned in the meantime. The author is Australian and thus uses the British word "mobile" rather than cell phone :

"Symptoms and Health Risks by use of mobile phone:

— As and when, any mobile user starts feeling sleep disturbance, restlessness, depression, nervousness, headache, reduction of power in concentration, hot spot in the brain and partial overheating of brain, eyes and ears, high blood pressure, productivity problems (...exhaustion, physical weakness, genotype disturbances, changes in blood formations and change of readings glasses number, it is a clear warning that person with such symptoms is suffering one or the other dangerous diseases due to excessive use of mobile.

Precautions, the Mobile users must take

Never keep Mobile phone near your heart (left pocket), never allow children below 16 years and pregnant women to use Mobile phones, never cook food in a microwave oven, never give infants and children pre-heated milk or food from micro wave oven, never use premises for living and working where transmission mast / tower are installed.(effective range is 66 meters in radius), switch off Mobile phones when not in use, never keep mobile near to your bed side when sleeping, prefer the usage of land line if available, Use Mobile phones only in Emergency and for very short duration, never use other wireless gadgets for very long durations. Don’t use smart phones.

It is always advisable that mobile phone should not be treated and used like a land line. It should be used only as an emergency alternate to a land line. If you don’t have a landline, you can get a magicjack from Walmart and phone over the internet.

While it can be useful in emergency situations, daily use of a mobile can finish a life...."

http://www.relfe.com/wp/health/2-billio ... ncer-2020/

I am not sure what a magicjack is, but this is pretty sobering ! One hopes that ALL the youth, and those of ALL ages, everywhere, cease this frenetic cell phone use. Instead, they must learn what for them must be a new skill : interacting effectively and constructively with other humans, as the Priest said above.

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Barbara
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Re: Smart Phone Zombies are walking into traffic & off cliffs.

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Additional sobering news about the addictive quality of cell phones. However, this is a new twist on the damages done:


Image

(Natural News) ...The newest risk factor for obesity is of psychological origin and it all starts with the way we use electronics and social media.
Scientists now warn about “media multitasking.” Not only does excessive electronic use lead to physical inactivity, but switching in-between digital media throughout the day also impairs your self control. Excessive use of electronics rewires the brain to favor reward over self control. This psychological addiction to electronic stimulation influences the way you eat and interact with people.

Constantly checking social media throughout the day addicts the brain to short bursts of dopamine. Caught up in this pattern, the brain begins to seek short bursts of pleasure from anything in life, including sugary sweets. In America there is no shortage of sugary sweets and fast foods, so it’s easy for the brain to give in to this pattern.....

If you’re constantly feeling the urge to check your phone, tablet, or smart watch, your brain could be suffering. If you cannot control this urge, your brain has a tendency to seek short term stimulation. This pleasure-seeking addiction infiltrates other areas of your life, making you more apt to seek people’s approval..."
https://www.naturalnews.com/2019-08-17- ... ction.html
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Barbara
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Re: Smart Phone Zombies are walking into traffic & off cliffs.

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I checked the website and found this article, "How Big Technology Companies Control the Minds of the Masses Through Smart Phone Addiction" which concludes :

Are Smart Phones the “Cigarette” of the Century?

Ian Bogost, the contributing editor at The Atlantic and the Ivan Allen College Distinguished Chair in Media Studies at the Georgia Institute of Technology coined the phrase “The Cigarette of the Century” when referring to smartphones. [9]

In his 2012 article, he questioned whether smartphone addiction will become just as unpopular as cigarette addiction. He speculated, there may be a day when checking your cellphone at dinner in public will be condemned just as much as lighting up a cigarette at the table is today.

We are just beginning to learn about the harmful effects of smartphones and tablets. Until the full extent of social dysfunction, emotional damage, and physical harm is recognized by our society, the use of these small screen devices will keep growing. They will continue to be passed around like candy with little concern for the risks of addiction."

Another section of the article examines the manipulations by major internet companies who narcissistically demand that their customers pay THEM attention all day every day ! No amount is ever enough, an indication of addiction + narcissism.
A former executive at ugh-google left the highly suspect company to warn the public :


"Tristan Harris explains that companies such as YouTube, Netflix, Facebook, and Snapchat don’t want a few minutes of our time every day – they want hours and hours – they each want our entire day if we will give it to them.

The more time they capture, the more money they earn from their advertisers.

For example, YouTube starts autoplaying the next video that it has selected for you as soon as you finish watching a video. YouTube hopes to grab your attention and keep it fixed on their site for the time it takes to play the next video.

Netflix will start autoplaying the next episode in a series to keep you watching.

Facebook will autoplay news feeds to hold your attention.

The Snapchat texting service provides snapstreaks to encourage people to have daily contact with each one of their friends even if they don’t have anything to say. "
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