Have any of you called a halt to acquiring any new technology? (friendly, husband)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
You might want to look in to "whatsapp". We use it all the time for international travel, talk & text anywhere there is wifi. The real plus is the easy access to aquire your other "whatsapp" contacts.
Perry,
Thanks. I will check out whatsapp too. This webpage compares whatsapp and pinger
Exactly! Not to mention gas buddy for finding cheap gas prices when you are traveling, or any one of a number of sites where you can price shop for motel/hotel rooms. And one of my favorites is "sigalert", it's a great app that shows accidents, road closures, traffic jams etc. I know google maps can do this too but sigalert is better. Oh yeah, and Groupon for restaurant discounts
Waze is the app to have for traffic jams, speed trap warnings and other traveler info.
Biscuitmom requested that I supply articles which show and prove that dopamine jolts to the brain result from smartphones (and other devices) and are or can be addictive. There is addiction to texting, to use of the internet, use of social media, and gaming using smartphones, computers and tablets, but in red below, it explains why smartphone use is even more addictive because the smartphone is with a person at almost all times and so readily available.
Smartphone Addiction Now Has A Clinical Name
"A smartphone is just a more readily available access point to the Internet. My research has shown that the ease of access, availability, and portability makes it twice as addictive as other modalities," he said. "Convenience is the mother of addiction — the quicker you can get a hit back on the technology, the faster the intoxication."
"According to Dr. David Greenfield, an Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, an attachment to your smartphone is similar to other addictions in that it involves a dysregulation of dopamine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that regulates the brain's reward center, meaning that it motivates people to do things they think they will be rewarded for doing."
"Researchers tell us that when we hear a notification sound on our phone informing us we have an email or text, our brain gets a hit of dopamine, a chemical that increases arousal and energizes the reward circuits in our brain. The dopamine reward centers in the brain are the same centers that have to do with pleasure from eating, from sex, and from drugs and alcohol.
Sometimes it is the expectation of a reward- that someone has texted you, or has tagged you on Facebook- that leads to a higher shot of dopamine than the reward itself. Another problem is that when the brain reward center is activated by that elevation in dopamine, it shuts down access to the prefrontal cortex, the part of our brain responsible for most of our reasoning and decision-making. In addition, each time we look at social media or text or do anything else while behind the wheel and nothing bad happens, that reinforces our belief that we will be safe if we do it again.
David Greenfield, an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry for the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, is the founder of the Center for Internet and Technology Addiction. In a YouTube video entitled, “Why am I addicted to my smartphone?” Dr. Greenfield explains the similarity between the reinforcement our brain gets from those notifications on our smart phones and the reinforcement people get from slot machines, and how both can result in somewhat of an addiction."
"Experts say our brains get a hit of dopamine and serotonin – the chemicals linked to happiness – when our phones beep or ring. These are the same chemicals that give drug users their ‘high’!
We aren’t oblivious to our very real problem either – a recent opinion poll shows that 82% of the American public believe that smartphone addiction exists.
In fact, nomophobia (the fear of being without your mobile device) is now recognized as a serious issue – with rehab facilities available to help you deal with your problem!"
"James Roberts and Stephen Pirog, of Baylor and Seton Hall Universities, have recently published a study on the subject of cell phone addiction in The Journal of Behavioral Addictions noting that young adults send an average of 109.5 texts per day, and check their phones an additional 60 times."
"Our smartphones are affecting our brains without us even being aware of it. When we hear the ping of an incoming text, social media update or email, our brains get a hit of dopamine, a chemical that leads to an increase in arousal, energizing the reward circuitry in our brains. And that expectation of a reward -- Who's texting me? Who tagged me on social media? -- leads to a higher burst of dopamine than the reward itself."
"Next time your phone buzzes, and you reach for it expecting validation on social media or a news snippet, your dopamine levels will rise in anticipation. Once you have been properly rewarded with such information, a new pleasure-seeking habit is formed. In simple terms, this means that you are now hooked to your phone, and will wait in anticipation of rewards again and again."
"Much of what we do online releases dopamine into the brain's pleasure centers, resulting in obsessive pleasure-seeking behavior. Technology companies face the option to exploit our addictions for profit."
"It's not quite that simple. Thanks to neuroscience, we're beginning to understand that achieving a goal or anticipating the reward of new content for completing a task can excite the neurons in the ventral tegmental area of the midbrain, which releases the neurotransmitter dopamine into the brain's pleasure centers. This in turn causes the experience to be perceived as pleasurable. As a result, some people can become obsessed with these pleasure-seeking experiences and engage in compulsive behavior such as a need to keep playing a game, constantly check email, or compulsively gamble online. A recent Newsweek cover story described some of the harmful effects of being trapped in the compulsion loop."
"Most of us are attached to our smartphones at the hip — literally. In the digital age, roughly six out of seven billion of us own a mobile device, using it to talk, text, email, and even stream episodes of our favorite shows. This all seems to be harmless, habitual and automatic behavior that we hardly notice, but the popular gadget is doing a lot more to the mind and body than we think.
It can be hard to put our phones down because they tend to deliver bursts of dopamine — a neurotransmitter that affects our emotions, movement, and sensations of pleasure and pain. We achieve small goals when we play the game Candy Crush, for example. These achievements reward our brains with little bursts of dopamine. When we're rewarded with new content on the game, it creates a compulsion loop that has us coming back for more — this is the same loop that's responsible for the behaviors associated with nicotine or cocaine addiction."
"As a result, 93 percent of young people aged 18 to 29 report using their smartphones as a tool to avoid boredom, as opposed to doing so by reading books or spending time with friends. Others rely on their smartphones to appear busy or occupied so that they can avoid awkward social situations where they feel out of place. There’s even a term now to define the fear or anxiety of being without your phone — nomophobia.
Heavy cellphone use can also alter our brain function. Alpha rhythms are commonly associated with “wakeful relaxation” like when our mind wanders off, whereas gamma waves are associated with conscious attentiveness. Experiments have shown that when a cell phone transmits signals, like during a phone call, the power of these alpha waves significantly rises. This means phone transmissions can literally change the way our brains work."
"Dopamine is a chemical in the brain and is produced by the body. When something good happens to us, our brain releases a spurt of dopamine that acts like a little reward from the body. Dr. Greenfield notes that nomophobia, like many other addictions, occurs due to a dysregulation of dopamine associated with the use of our smartphones. “Every time you get a notification from your phone, there’s a little elevation in dopamine that says you might have something that’s compelling, whether that’s a text message from someone you like, an email, or anything,” Dr. Greenfield said in an interview with Business Insider. “The thing is you don’t know what it’s going to be or when you;re going to get it, and that’s what compels the brain to keep checking. It’s like the worlds smallest slot machine.”
Kent C. Berridge and Terry E. Robinson, What is the role of dopamine in reward: hedonic impact, reward learning, or incentive salience?: Brain Research Reviews, 28, 1998. 309–369.
Last edited by matisse12; 02-17-2017 at 12:19 AM..
biscuitmom requested articles about how use of smartphones (and other devices) deliver dopamine jolts to the brain. Yes, there is also addiction to use of the internet, use of social media, and gaming using computers and tablets, but in red below, it explains why smartphone use is even more addictive because the smartphone is with a person at almost all times and so readily available.
Smartphone Addiction Now Has A Clinical Name
"A smartphone is just a more readily available access point to the Internet. My research has shown that the ease of access, availability, and portability makes it twice as addictive as other modalities," he said. "Convenience is the mother of addiction — the quicker you can get a hit back on the technology, the faster the intoxication."
According to Dr. David Greenfield, an Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, an attachment to your smartphone is similar to other addictions in that it involves a dysregulation of dopamine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that regulates the brain's reward center, meaning that it motivates people to do things they think they will be rewarded for doing.
Researchers tell us that when we hear a notification sound on our phone informing us we have an email or text, our brain gets a hit of dopamine, a chemical that increases arousal and energizes the reward circuits in our brain. The dopamine reward centers in the brain are the same centers that have to do with pleasure from eating, from sex, and from drugs and alcohol.
Sometimes it is the expectation of a reward- that someone has texted you, or has tagged you on Facebook- that leads to a higher shot of dopamine than the reward itself. Another problem is that when the brain reward center is activated by that elevation in dopamine, it shuts down access to the prefrontal cortex, the part of our brain responsible for most of our reasoning and decision-making. In addition, each time we look at social media or text or do anything else while behind the wheel and nothing bad happens, that reinforces our belief that we will be safe if we do it again.
David Greenfield, an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry for the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, is the founder of the Center for Internet and Technology Addiction. In a YouTube video entitled, “Why am I addicted to my smartphone?†Dr. Greenfield explains the similarity between the reinforcement our brain gets from those notifications on our smart phones and the reinforcement people get from slot machines, and how both can result in somewhat of an addiction. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXmOrfgaOKc Dr. Greenfield estimates that 60-70% of people look at texts while driving fairly frequently.
Experts say our brains get a hit of dopamine and serotonin – the chemicals linked to happiness – when our phones beep or ring. These are the same chemicals that give drug users their ‘high’!
We aren’t oblivious to our very real problem either – a recent opinion poll shows that 82% of the American public believe that smartphone addiction exists.
In fact, nomophobia (the fear of being without your mobile device) is now recognized as a serious issue – with rehab facilities available to help you deal with your problem!
James Roberts and Stephen Pirog, of Baylor and Seton Hall Universities, have recently published a study on the subject of cell phone addiction in The Journal of Behavioral Addictions noting that young adults send an average of 109.5 texts per day, and check their phones an additional 60 times.
Our smartphones are affecting our brains without us even being aware of it. When we hear the ping of an incoming text, social media update or email, our brains get a hit of dopamine, a chemical that leads to an increase in arousal, energizing the reward circuitry in our brains. And that expectation of a reward -- Who's texting me? Who tagged me on social media? -- leads to a higher burst of dopamine than the reward itself.
Next time your phone buzzes, and you reach for it expecting validation on social media or a news snippet, your dopamine levels will rise in anticipation. Once you have been properly rewarded with such information, a new pleasure-seeking habit is formed. In simple terms, this means that you are now hooked to your phone, and will wait in anticipation of rewards again and again.
Much of what we do online releases dopamine into the brain's pleasure centers, resulting in obsessive pleasure-seeking behavior. Technology companies face the option to exploit our addictions for profit.
It's not quite that simple. Thanks to neuroscience, we're beginning to understand that achieving a goal or anticipating the reward of new content for completing a task can excite the neurons in the ventral tegmental area of the midbrain, which releases the neurotransmitter dopamine into the brain's pleasure centers. This in turn causes the experience to be perceived as pleasurable. As a result, some people can become obsessed with these pleasure-seeking experiences and engage in compulsive behavior such as a need to keep playing a game, constantly check email, or compulsively gamble online. A recent Newsweek cover story described some of the harmful effects of being trapped in the compulsion loop.
Most of us are attached to our smartphones at the hip — literally. In the digital age, roughly six out of seven billion of us own a mobile device, using it to talk, text, email, and even stream episodes of our favorite shows. This all seems to be harmless, habitual and automatic behavior that we hardly notice, but the popular gadget is doing a lot more to the mind and body than we think.
It can be hard to put our phones down because they tend to deliver bursts of dopamine — a neurotransmitter that affects our emotions, movement, and sensations of pleasure and pain. We achieve small goals when we play the game Candy Crush, for example. These achievements reward our brains with little bursts of dopamine. When we're rewarded with new content on the game, it creates a compulsion loop that has us coming back for more — this is the same loop that's responsible for the behaviors associated with nicotine or cocaine addiction.
As a result, 93 percent of young people aged 18 to 29 report using their smartphones as a tool to avoid boredom, as opposed to doing so by reading books or spending time with friends. Others rely on their smartphones to appear busy or occupied so that they can avoid awkward social situations where they feel out of place. There’s even a term now to define the fear or anxiety of being without your phone — nomophobia.
Heavy cellphone use can also alter our brain function. Alpha rhythms are commonly associated with “wakeful relaxation†like when our mind wanders off, whereas gamma waves are associated with conscious attentiveness. Experiments have shown that when a cell phone transmits signals, like during a phone call, the power of these alpha waves significantly rises. This means phone transmissions can literally change the way our brains work.
Dopamine is a chemical in the brain and is produced by the body. When something good happens to us, our brain releases a spurt of dopamine that acts like a little reward from the body. Dr. Greenfield notes that nomophobia, like many other addictions, occurs due to a dysregulation of dopamine associated with the use of our smartphones. “Every time you get a notification from your phone, there’s a little elevation in dopamine that says you might have something that’s compelling, whether that’s a text message from someone you like, an email, or anything,†Dr. Greenfield said in an interview with Business Insider. “The thing is you don’t know what it’s going to be or when you;re going to get it, and that’s what compels the brain to keep checking. It’s like the worlds smallest slot machine.â€
Kent C. Berridge and Terry E. Robinson, What is the role of dopamine in reward: hedonic impact, reward learning, or incentive salience?: Brain Research Reviews, 28, 1998. 309–369.
But so what? City-data is also addictive...posting and seeing how long before you get a rep point!...and seeing exactly what it is for...and checking back in again!
Besides, you can shut off notifications and only check your phone when you want...not a big deal.
reneeh63..... Biscuitmom requested that I supply articles which show and prove that dopamine jolts to the brain result from smartphones (and other devices) and are or can be addictive. So I did.
P.S. You might want to erase the part where you copied my entire post - it isn't necessary at all since my post is right before yours. Easier on the eyes not to have my post there twice. Plus I erased the youtube.com video in my post, but you captured it, and it is better erased.
Last edited by matisse12; 02-16-2017 at 11:59 PM..
I did not mean this thread to be a right vs. wrong kind of thread.. I think, like you and others have written, that people should do whatever works for them.
The main reason I posted this was to get an idea whether Retirement Forum posters think that living without Smartphones, etc. would even be "do-able" in another 20 years or so. I can't imagine that those of us who choose to do without all the gadgets would be FORCED to have them, in one way or another, but it seems to me that this is where we're heading as a society. Of course, I could be wrong about that, so I was wondering what others thought about this.
Thanks to EVERYONE who has posted so far!
P.S. It does seem like more and more companies are "penalizing" people who don't have Smartphones, though, by only offering making some discounts available if you have an app from that company. It seems that this would bring on a whole avalanche of "junk texts" (if that's the correct terminology).
Also, as some of you have implied, I am "cheap" that I don't want to spend hundreds of dollars on a Smartphone and then hundreds more dollars in monthly bills, when I can get along fine without it! I would also think that a lot of retirees on limited budgets would feel that same way.
We've been with T- Mobile for a long time. When work insisted I get a phone, T-Mobile was the best carrier where I needed it to work. And when I finally upgraded from my nearly dead flip phone to an I-phone, yeah...it cost a lot. But we redid our car insurance and it was a financial swap. It's been a boon for work, although people do love to think I'm wasting time on it.
But my bill is 60 bucks a month for two lines(hubby has a flip phone, too). Another 24 for the phone payment at 0 interest. I also get a very minimal amount of cell data at 4G, then, unlimited data at a slower speed. I don't use my phone for internet much outside of my home and wifi connection, so it suits me and isn't hundreds of dollars.
And it's pretty much my internet access at home. Works for me.
But I know a lot of older people who don't use the internet and don't care. The only one I thought was silly was the woman who insisted computers were the work of Satan, and they were evil....
I have found so many seniors to having gone high-tech is because they have younger family members, or high tech friends, to teach them how to use these gadgets.
If you're more isolated, like myself, with a Mexican roommate who's never been on the Internet, no children or close family to teach me what to do, or what gadget to buy, you're more inclined to procrastinate, or ignore it completely. And another fault: I'm loathe to ask others for help!
I don't own a Smartphone (the ultimate drug of the 21st century!), but I do have a flip-up, but had texting blocked 7 years ago. Want nothing to do that monkey business!
I even refuse to buy a new high gadgetry car, even though I could afford one, and stick to my old 1985 Toyota Supra, which doesn't "scold me" when I don't put my seatbelt on right away, after starting the car!
That "TV screen" I can do without, as I wouldn't use it anyway. Sheesh! I don't even trust my rearview mirror and I'm going to trust that "TV" to tell me if there's something I might back into?
Yes, I do rent one of these new "space crafts" when I go out of town, and it stresses me out to no end, driving one of them, like what's all these blasted buttons on the steering wheel for? If I press the wrong one, will the car suddenly come to a halt on the freeway?
Smartphone, that powerful drug? I have enough addictions to kick without adding one more to kick!
No, whatsapp only allows calls to other whatsapp users. I will have to check out pinger, too.
I find the addiction/dopamine articles interesting. I do not have an addictive personality. I have zero trouble not drinking, or smoking, not eating, or stop drug use after using for their purpose, etc. I have always been this way. I use my smart phone a lot, as required for work, and as a convenience for information access. I HATE getting pings and dings and when the phone rings. My phone is on silent way more often than on ring. DW constantly chastizes me with "why don't you ever answer your texts?" If I don't answer them for an hour or two or never. While I embrace technology, which I always have as an engineer, I am loath to the expectations of others that the device, in their mind, appears to carry with it the permission to interrupt my life at their convenience and implies I must respond in a timely manner.
If anything, as I write this, I realize I have always had a rebellious attitude at being told what to do, when it is at odds with my own personal decision process. As a kid, I hated being told when to get up, when to do homework, when to be home, who to be nice to. I'm not a rebel, counter pointing anything told me. I was wearing seatbelts in the front seat, way before I was driving, because common sense told me I would be safer in an accident, and my parents were terrible drivers. That actually used to drive my mother crazy. My parents NEVER wore them, my father still doesn't. I owned the first bicycle helmet (original Bell Biker) as soon as I could afford one, (and cycling gloves as soon as I discovered them) and never ride without them. I have to beg DW to wear hers.
I acknowledge that addictions are very real (I do love ice cream in general, but I don't have it everyday, or. even that often, and don't polish off a quart at a sitting), and am thankful that I don't succumb, but it still irritates me when people that have these addictions fail to do something about it when it is pointed out to them. Or worse yet, expect me to follow their addiction like they do. Very few things upset me more than seeing someone weaving in traffic while obviously texting. I simply never answer any texts while driving, and now only answer calls when handsfree is available.
So perhaps all the "I hate smartphones " people are just protecting themselves from becoming an addict, subconsciously knowing they would become the slave they see so many others become.
Last edited by Perryinva; 02-17-2017 at 05:42 AM..
reneeh63..... Biscuitmom requested that I supply articles which show and prove that dopamine jolts to the brain result from smartphones (and other devices) and are or can be addictive. So I did.
P.S. You might want to erase the part where you copied my entire post - it isn't necessary at all since my post is right before yours. Easier on the eyes not to have my post there twice. Plus I erased the youtube.com video in my post, but you captured it, and it is better erased.
Thanks for being such a good cd'er - you should put in to be a moderator.
We've been with T- Mobile for a long time. When work insisted I get a phone, T-Mobile was the best carrier where I needed it to work. And when I finally upgraded from my nearly dead flip phone to an I-phone, yeah...it cost a lot. But we redid our car insurance and it was a financial swap. It's been a boon for work, although people do love to think I'm wasting time on it.
But my bill is 60 bucks a month for two lines(hubby has a flip phone, too). Another 24 for the phone payment at 0 interest. I also get a very minimal amount of cell data at 4G, then, unlimited data at a slower speed. I don't use my phone for internet much outside of my home and wifi connection, so it suits me and isn't hundreds of dollars.
And it's pretty much my internet access at home. Works for me.
But I know a lot of older people who don't use the internet and don't care. The only one I thought was silly was the woman who insisted computers were the work of Satan, and they were evil....
Our T-mobile bill was $70 a month.... $10 of that was for the landline they grandfathered in for us to have.
If you don't text nor use your phone for internet you need to check out the T-mobile pay as you go program.
$3 a month. And you can refill when you want if you need more minutes/talk time.
Saving us a bundle every month.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
