Numb. Charles R. Chaffin

Numb - Charles R. Chaffin


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apps, and devices that will never love us back. As you will see with many of the topics, there is an ongoing “chicken or egg” here, where it is unclear whether those who are lonely or struggling with choice are more attracted to their devices or whether time on these devices facilitates loneliness and many of the other factors mentioned throughout the book. If you are looking for a quick answer that summarizes the book, there isn't one (I am not sure I would tell if there was; why read further if the mystery is solved in the introduction?). However, I do think that if you have been thinking about your own relationship with technology and in particular, this information age, you may identify with some of the vignettes and research shared and decide for yourself how it all may be impacting you. I hope that the clinical psychologists, therapists, researchers, and everyday people who were interviewed as part of this book bring value to observation, relevance to research, and hopefully solutions to problems. I am grateful to each of them for their contributions in helping this book become a potential resource. I personally found their insights incredibly helpful to me in my journey towards living in this information age. I hope you will, too.

      Josh is facing a pretty normal Tuesday. The alarm on his smartphone rings at 7 a.m. and as soon as he turns it off, he immediately starts exploring his social media newsfeeds. One Facebook friend posted a picture of a sloppy Big Mac that he ate at McDonald's; another posted that she did not like the newest Netflix series (but is binge‐watching it nonetheless), and Josh's cousin shared a political rant predicting the end of the republic (again). Josh then questions his own selfie on Instagram and wonders if he should have used a filter; it had been two days and not many “likes.” He wonders whether he should take it down. Has his ex seen the picture? Does it look like he's gained weight? Josh then gets lost in a scroll of Instagram posts from friends as well as a slew of strangers whom he follows. He explores all of the vacation pictures that several friends posted and wonders why he hasn't had a vacation like that in years. He asks himself, “How do they find the time and money to travel around the world like that? I wish that were me.”

      Josh's only companion throughout the entire day is his smartphone. It is on the table in front of him during meetings, in his hand when walking to lunch, and next to him while he is at his desk. He averages about three to four hours of screen time per day. Sometimes he checks his phone to respond to a text message and sometimes he is reading a push notification via one of the news apps. As with his email inbox, he also has a tendency to scroll mindlessly through the endless newsfeed on social media between meetings and phone calls. Whether at work or at home, Josh will check his social media apps after posting something to see if anyone has responded and sometimes he picks up his phone to see if he has those three tiny bubbles that indicate a response to his text is forthcoming. And sometimes he checks his cell phone for no real reason. If his phone vibrates, Josh responds by at least looking at his screen, indicating that at least some portion of his attention is regularly focused on the device, even if it is facedown.


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