"Now, the cell phone — an evil invention if there ever was one," writes self-made multi-millionaire Dan Kennedy in No BS Time Management for Entrepreneurs.
"People really feel compelled to answer these things 24/7. It is the ultimate interruption welcome mat, and it has amazing, mysterious powers over its owner.... Personally, I refuse to own or use one at all. I had one for two weeks once. Wound down the car window one day and threw it as far as I could. Never been tempted again."
At Dan Kennedy seminars, he imposes a $100 fine any time a cell phone "erupts" (as he put it). The offending phone is also confiscated for the duration of the seminar.
"I think restaurants and theatres ought to collect them when you come in and give them back when you leave," writes Kennedy, "like civilized saloons did with gunslinger's weapons in the Old West."
When I was an art student in Italy, our instructor had a similar policy. Once one of the students was in the restroom and the handbag beside their easel began to ring. And ring. And ring.
This was back in the day when cell phones still had long antennas sticking out of them. Our instructor (who like Dan Kennedy refused to own a cell phone) reached into the bag and pulled out the phone by the tip of its antenna — as if he was dangling a dirty rat from the tail. He then walked away with it. We heard the front door open and close and he came back, with a big grin on his face, as he wiped his hands.
Now, I assure you my art instructor wasn't concerned about getting cancer from cell phone radiation. He was a serious chain smoker. But he, like Kennedy, found they were the arch-enemy of creativity and productivity.
Yet smartphones are sold as being some kind of productivity tool — connecting you to Google Search, Wikipedia, ChatGPT, the cloud, your emails, your calendar, your to-do lists and endless YouTube videos of skateboarding cats.
In the end, whatever productivity benefits having a mini-computer with you everywhere you go seems far outweighed by the impracticality of typing on such a small screen that is bombarding you with endless distractions and notifications about things you aren't in a position to do anything about while you drive on an icy road in a snow storm with your kids talking to you in the back seat while the radio is playing.
Nonetheless, many people believe that we need this hyper-connectivity to function in the modern world; while a self-made multi-millionaire such as Dan Kennedy argues that they are not at all "effective" for achieving our most important goals in life.
One must also consider the health risks of being constantly exposed to wireless tech. That's where Nick Pineault (the "EMF Guy" from Montreal) comes in with his forthcoming 2024 EMF Hazard Summit. Dan Kennedy questions how "effective" wireless tech is at making our lives productive and efficient, while Nick Pineault questions how "safe" they are for body and mind.
The 2024 EMF Hazard Summit begins on April 11th. It's all online. And it's free to register. Nick and twenty expert guests are going to show people how to identify if EMFs are compromising their health — causing everything from anxiety and fatigue to skin rashes and cancer.
Obviously, not everyone's work or living situation will allow them, as Dan Kennedy did, to toss their cell phone out their car window. Nonetheless, almost everybody could be limiting their exposure (e.g. keep it out the bedroom) and putting in place counter-technologies (e.g. grounding cords) and methods (e.g. read a book) to mitigate the harmful effects. Such middle-ground alternatives are on the summit's agenda. You can sign up here.
John C. A. Manley is the author of Much Ado About Corona: A Dystopian Love Story, the forthcoming All The Humans Are Sleeping and other works of speculative fiction. You get free chapters from his novels by subscribing to his Blazing Pine Cone email newsletter at https://blazingpinecone.com/subscribe/
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I think when it comes to these types of issues about cell phones been bad or not, it has both advantages and disadvantages. It just depends on how we are able to balance both side. The same way cell phones can be good is the same way cell phones can be bad also
Cell phone is a technology, it's us who use it for good or bad :)
The health risks of cell phones are staggering, even though it must be used
I hate smart phones. I still do not own one.
The thing i hate most is that you can't program an application for it.
All the way back in the beginning, the Sinclari ZX-81, right out of the box, you could write code for it in Basic.
You can't do nothin with a smart phone.
You literally have to have a suite of applications on your computer if YOU! want to put a program, that you wrote, on your smart phone. If you want to do that with YOUR! iPhone, you have to have permission from apple.
The thing actually hides your data, and pretty much throws everything in the same directory so you can't find anything. However, any program you download, or accidentally download has complete access to all your data.
And the thing i hate the most is, you don't own it.
You literally are at the end of a long chain of custody, and can only use your phone by the will of all those companies.
Then we get to the shit it does to you mind, what you wrote about.
And the shit it does to your body, carrying around a little cancer device close to your body.
I agree, this tech is not good for us. Someday, we'll look back in horror seeing what it was doing to our bodies and minds, and how our personal data was being used.
Hopefully, we will learn to work with the technology. Like, when to put it down, and walk away for a while.
But, we really need to turn the smart phone into a tool that actually serves the user.
Or maybe we will just go full Amish on smart phones.
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We are just like that we have seen that because of mobile phone people have suffered a lot of problems and many dangerous diseases have also happened so we all have to reduce the use of it so that we can live a happy life.
I would not want to say that cell phones are extremely bad but the truth is that they are causing more harm than good to us
I agree with your opinion that cell phone is a social evil if we do not control its proper usage.
You've raised a very good point. Indeed, we have become deeply intertwined with technology. Previously, there were many ways of communication through which we stayed connected with our loved ones. Or there were various means to acquire information. But with the advent of technology, everything has become faster. However, the downside is that many people are wasting their time by excessively using it. How they could have utilized this time in a positive manner.
Phones are a constant distraction, people are not anymore concentrated because they get alienation there...kids suffer from ADHD and other crap like that, guess why
Smartphones are definitely some toxic items although I guess I am guilty as well on using it a lot..
Well, I think if we learn to control ourselves, it won't be a evil invention to us. It can really be a blessing
Only by reducing the use of mobile phones can our life be good again
#hive #posh
"One must also consider the health risks of being constantly exposed to wireless tech. "
From my experience, I do not think health authorities will consider this risk until we find an alternative technology that makes goverments collect more money
In that moment , will be an inminent danger for the health of people , the planet and even the whole galaxy
I used to charge my phone on my bedside table every night, now I charge it on the other side of the house and put it on airplane mode. I can't tell if it's helping my sleep, but I know that I can't wake up and grab my phone first thing... I make sure to get through my morning before grabbing my phone and connecting online again.
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