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posted by mrpg on Sunday August 12 2018, @06:52PM   Printer-friendly
from the turn-it-off dept.

Submitted via IRC for SoyCow1984

Our digital lives may be making us more distracted, distant and drained, according to research presented at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association.

For instance, even minor phone use during a meal with friends was enough to make the diners feel distracted and reduced their enjoyment of the experience, one study found.

"People who were allowed to use their phones during dinner had more trouble staying present in the moment," said Ryan Dwyer, MA, of the University of British Columbia, lead author of a study that was presented during a symposium on how digital technology is affecting relationships. "Decades of research on happiness tell us that engaging positively with others is critical for our well-being. Modern technology may be wonderful, but it can easily sidetrack us and take away from the special moments we have with friends and family in person."

Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/08/180810161553.htm


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  • (Score: 2) by Aiwendil on Monday August 13 2018, @06:56AM (1 child)

    by Aiwendil (531) on Monday August 13 2018, @06:56AM (#720856) Journal

    Decades of research on happiness tell us that engaging positively with others is critical for our well-being.

    (emphasis mine)
    How do they know that the baseline interaction is positive? I mean, how do they know that the always-connected people simply just doesn't have a higher (or different) baseline for "positive"? I mean, sure, they might have had a lower enjoyment of the experience but did they have a higher overall enjoyment for the timeslot?

    (Really, what is it with people and assuming a single person can fill enough mindspace to not make you bored enough that you start seeing how high you can get with mental fibonnaci-sequences?)

    (rant below)


    The vast majority of interactions I used to have with people was not in the "positive" realm, but then I started to shield myself off from large swaths of humanity and my average enjoyment skyrocketed.

    And guess what - in most cases the encounter is enhanced with the help of electronic gadgets (ehm, yes, both senses). Heck, I've even had a discussion on IRC with the person in my lap at times, it just was a more convenient method at the time.
    (And I wouldn't be surprised if quite a few here has been at gatherings with friends where everyone just pulled out a laptop/notebook/pda/smartphone and simply joined the same irc-channel and also privmsg'd each other quite a bit
    (Or for that matter demoscene parties))

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 13 2018, @10:16AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 13 2018, @10:16AM (#720885)

    but then I started to shield myself off from large swaths of humanity and my average enjoyment skyrocketed.

    Yeah, right, a skillful hand works wonders.