Interesting, Non Political News

Janx

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I'm no history major but...what?
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Cybsled

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Swastika was a common symbol in Asia before the Nazis decided they liked the design and stole it
 
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Aldarion

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This article was different and notable because the author doesnt pretend the issues are only with kids and phones.
Best of all is my new relationship with silence. With a smartphone, I almost never experienced it. I always used the smartphone to listen to a podcast or music, or I might be watching something in the background or just scrolling. Without a smartphone always within reach, I am instead in my own head more, and my thoughts now have the time and space to roam freely. My internal life feels so much richer and robust. I am living more like my creative, curious, phone-free children.

But then he ends it with this pathetic whine about how losers at his job still want him to have his idiotphone and he's too insecure to say fuck that.

Still, its progress, a step in the right direction.
 

Mahes

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Aldarion

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Yes
 
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Ukerric

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I'd be okay with the banning of smartphones, period, but I suspect even Hitler would be hardpressed to do it.
 
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Void

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Yes
Unfortunately that's not the problem. I don't know what some of you do for a living but in our construction-related business the amount of calls that come in here on the land line vs. how many come to individual cell phones has changed drastically in the past decade or so. I'd say 90% of the calls come to cell phones now.

And before you say that the problem is smartphones, not cell phones, I'd disagree with that too. If 90% of our verbal communication is via cell phone, then probably 75% of ALL communication is now via text or email, which you can't do without the smartphone version of a cell phone. So unless you are sitting at your computer all day long, having a device in your pocket that does those things is essential.

The REAL problem is simply people fucking around on those smartphones not doing work, looking at social media, tiktok, etc. And while getting rid of the "smart" part of a phone would eliminate that, it would kill a huge benefit along with it. And as evidenced by me right this minute, even sitting in front of a computer all day instead of being on a smartphone definitely doesn't limit the amount of time I can waste not doing my work. People found a way to fuck off and not do work before cell phones were ever invented; they are just the most obvious example right now. In the future it will be our Tesla Neuralink or whatever.
 
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MusicForFish

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Unfortunately that's not the problem. I don't know what some of you do for a living but in our construction-related business the amount of calls that come in here on the land line vs. how many come to individual cell phones has changed drastically in the past decade or so. I'd say 90% of the calls come to cell phones now.

And before you say that the problem is smartphones, not cell phones, I'd disagree with that too. If 90% of our verbal communication is via cell phone, then probably 75% of ALL communication is now via text or email, which you can't do without the smartphone version of a cell phone. So unless you are sitting at your computer all day long, having a device in your pocket that does those things is essential.

The REAL problem is simply people fucking around on those smartphones not doing work, looking at social media, tiktok, etc. And while getting rid of the "smart" part of a phone would eliminate that, it would kill a huge benefit along with it. And as evidenced by me right this minute, even sitting in front of a computer all day instead of being on a smartphone definitely doesn't limit the amount of time I can waste not doing my work. People found a way to fuck off and not do work before cell phones were ever invented; they are just the most obvious example right now. In the future it will be our Tesla Neuralink or whatever.
Raiding AoW on your brain chip while caulking a window frame?!
 
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Aldarion

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Unfortunately that's not the problem. I don't know what some of you do for a living but in our construction-related business the amount of calls that come in here on the land line vs. how many come to individual cell phones has changed drastically in the past decade or so. I'd say 90% of the calls come to cell phones now.

And before you say that the problem is smartphones, not cell phones, I'd disagree with that too. If 90% of our verbal communication is via cell phone, then probably 75% of ALL communication is now via text or email, which you can't do without the smartphone version of a cell phone. So unless you are sitting at your computer all day long, having a device in your pocket that does those things is essential.

The REAL problem is simply people fucking around on those smartphones not doing work, looking at social media, tiktok, etc. And while getting rid of the "smart" part of a phone would eliminate that, it would kill a huge benefit along with it. And as evidenced by me right this minute, even sitting in front of a computer all day instead of being on a smartphone definitely doesn't limit the amount of time I can waste not doing my work. People found a way to fuck off and not do work before cell phones were ever invented; they are just the most obvious example right now. In the future it will be our Tesla Neuralink or whatever.
This is the same arguments people make about why social media or onlyfans or tinder are actually fine. Cause "people always did this, now its just easier".

Its wrong for the same reason. Making it that much easier - literally putting it in everyones pocket 24-7 - was a big deal. It doesnt really matter that its somehow similar to something people did at a much lower rate pre-smartphones. The effect is a huge seismic shift in human behavior. Entirely for the worse.

Of course you're completely wrong that communication can't happen without smartphones - but thats just the smartphone addication talking. Trust me, it goes fine without a smartphone, its barely even an impediment. But I get that when you're used to smartphoning it 100% of the time its hard to imagine.

It helps if you think back 10 or 20 years. Things worked fine then. It still works fine.

This is a society-wide addiction and not a justifiable one.
 

Void

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This is the same arguments people make about why social media or onlyfans or tinder are actually fine. Cause "people always did this, now its just easier".

Its wrong for the same reason. Making it that much easier - literally putting it in everyones pocket 24-7 - was a big deal. It doesnt really matter that its somehow similar to something people did at a much lower rate pre-smartphones. The effect is a huge seismic shift in human behavior. Entirely for the worse.

Of course you're completely wrong that communication can't happen without smartphones - but thats just the smartphone addication talking. Trust me, it goes fine without a smartphone, its barely even an impediment. But I get that when you're used to smartphoning it 100% of the time its hard to imagine.

It helps if you think back 10 or 20 years. Things worked fine then. It still works fine.

This is a society-wide addiction and not a justifiable one.
You're doing the exact same thing though, assuming that everyone that has a smartphone is only using it to fuck around and waste time. Do you really think that jobsite foreman is using it all day to look at tiktok, or is he using it to find out where deliveries are, what time the concrete trucks are showing up, looking up how much it would cost him to just go fucking buy something at Home Depot instead of arguing with the supplier, getting a schematic for the electrical system so he can coordinate between the electricians and the guys installing the card readers because the guys in the office didn't do their jobs, calling and asking the plumbing contractor if they can move some stuff a couple of inches over to account for the framers fucking shit up, etc.

Sure, all of that happened before cell phones. It was just massively slower. You're just looking at the people abusing smartphones and making them the rule. Maybe they are the majority even, I don't pretend to know, but there are tons of people that use them the way they are actually helpful, and removing that would set us way back in terms of getting shit done. Crack down on people fucking around instead of penalizing the ones doing their jobs better because of those phones.
 

Aldarion

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You're doing the exact same thing though, assuming that everyone that has a smartphone is only using it to fuck around and waste time.
I have a weird habit I need to tell you about.

See, I used to travel with a laptop a lot. And while in the airports, etc., I would open my laptop and do regular laptop stuff. Email, FoH, whatever.

I noticed that people felt no hesitation at all about leaning over and checking out what I was doing on my laptop. Universally. Everywhere. Every fucking person felt they needed to have a look.

So I decided, about 10 years ago, that from now on I would return the favor. So when people pull out their bullshit smartphones in a public setting I check out what they're up to. You're reading this, thinking I'm creepy. I've given you the history to understand why I do this, and feel zero shame, and don't even try to not get caught.

After about a decade of doing this I have some info to share: 90+ percent of people who are on a smartphone in public - are on fucking tiktok or something like that.

You and I may think thats crazy or unexpected, but thats the world we live in.
 
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Bandwagon

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I hate Green Day, so :chefskiss:
 
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