I actually kind of need my phone
by Ebun Lawore, Staff Writer
There is not a single person alive who uses modern technology and is not aware of how we are all so addicted to our phones. We talk all about it all the time. We say that we need to delete Instagram, we talk about how screens are rotting our brains, and we make “it's that damn phone” jokes constantly. This particular addiction epidemic is interesting to me because everyone is so incredibly aware of it, but no one has really beat it.
Now, I know you’re probably thinking that I’m super wrong right now, and you’re probably thinking about Luddites as evidence of my wrongness. For those who don’t know what Luddites are: historically, they have been people opposed to modern technology, but now the term is colloquially used to describe someone who doesn’t use a smartphone. The reason that I bring up this group of people is that it is easy to look at them as people who have successfully “quit” the horrific grip that smartphones have over our society. However, they haven’t. Because “quitting” the smartphone is almost impossible.
A smartphone addiction isn’t really like any other addiction. In my head, there are two main kinds of addictions. The first one is just a harmful addiction. Think alcohol, nicotine, sugar, etc. All of these things have consistently been proven to be detrimental to your body, and the only reason why you would consume them is to feel good in the moment and satisfy your craving. The second kind of addiction is a good or neutral one that turns bad. Say that I was addicted to apples, for example. Apples are generally considered healthy foods, so if I was eating a lot of apples, no one would be concerned. However, if I got so addicted to apples that I wasn’t eating any other food, my body would suffer the consequences of not getting enough nutrients.
So what does this have to do with smartphones? Nothing. Smartphone addictions are unlike any of those addictions, because even when you quit, you still kind of need a phone.
Every time I’ve deleted Instagram, I’d realize that I was missing a lot of important information about events on campus. Every time I’ve tried to switch from Spotify to CDs, I get angry at how expensive they are. Every time I try to leave the house without my phone, I realize that I have no idea where I’m going. I need to be able to FaceTime with my family in Nigeria, to know what the weather is, to know what concerts are in my area, and to know what they’re serving for lunch at my co-op.
And yes, I guess you could argue that I don’t actually need these things. But to not have a smartphone is to live a life in which you are constantly behind everyone else, and in order to catch up to them, you have to ask for the help of those who have smartphones.
Take this for example. The other day, my two friends Lillian and Jasmine and I were walking to Sex Trivia with the SIC at the Cat in the Cream. During our walk, we were prepping for the trivia by making sure we knew basic information about the SIC. Lillian asked me what the room number of the SIC was, and I opened my phone to check if the hours were on their Instagram. But quickly I realized that I couldn’t look it up. I had deleted Instagram from my phone.
For some reason that information sent Lillian into a frenzy. We scrambled to open Instagram on her phone, but we couldn’t get service. We never found out what the SIC room number was. Luckily, they didn’t ask that question at Trivia, but what I learned from that moment is that if I can’t use my phone, and I am in need of information, I’m just gonna try to use someone else's phone.
Believe it or not, there is a good reason that we have phones. Having quick access to information and easy ways to contact others has saved many people’s lives in the 21st century. Our addiction to doomscrolling doesn’t really change that, and doesn’t really diminish our need for a phone. If you get rid of your phone, you’ll just have to rely on someone else’s. That makes you nothing more than the friend who “quit smoking,” but still begs their friends for cigarettes when they're drunk.
So what is the solution to our phone addictions? I have no idea. This seems like the kind of article that should end with an answer to the problem, but I genuinely have nothing.
