Life's great moments might be lost to your cell phone

Staff writer

link Joshua Lucero

Can you imagine life without a cell phone?

I know I can’t. I use my phone daily for work, conversations, and a plethora of other activities.

I find it mind blowing that for people in many of the world’s developed countries cell phones are almost an extension of the human body.

In form and function they are close to perfection, providing users with essential operations like calling, texting, calendars and alarms while being sleek and small enough to carry at all times.

At what point does having a phone at all times become detrimental to a person’s relationship to the world around them?

Phones allow people to record memories digitally so they can relive them later, but does that not take away from the experience they could have had in the first place?

Are the people at the concert incessantly recording every moment enjoying it as much as the people who are just taking in the moment?

When given a bit of thought, having a cell phone on your person at all times makes perfect sense. But 15-20 years ago the thought of having a device that plays movies, connects you to the world, and tracks your location and habits at all times would be something out of a strange science fiction alternate universe.

Now, it’s common place to find someone watching a movie or scrolling through social media while they wait in line or even while watching television.

When I was young I used to imagine how unbelievably cool it would be to have a portable television that was small enough to be hand-held. Fast forward 20 years and I now own a device that does that and thousands of other things I could not have fathomed as a child.

As a child, I also could not have fathomed how having so much at my fingertips would have distracted me from the experiences people generations before me would have cherished.

It’s difficult now to have a casual conversation with someone without an interruption from a phone.

Instead of getting lost in thought, people are getting lost in phone applications and games.

When I sit down for lunch with my family at least one of us, if not all of us, have a phone out.

We all know we should put the phone down, but with access to so much just a swipe away, it can be difficult to put it down and leave it alone.

I’m just as guilty as everyone else. I use my phone far more often than I should.

I use it to take the boredom out of everyday activities and to alleviate awkwardness when I’m in an uncomfortable setting.

I find myself asking this question frequently: Are phones depriving us of the human experience or are they simply adding to it?

I haven’t decided yet but I think analyzing how my interactions with my phone affect my interactions with the world is a good place to start.

Joshua Lucero is a staff writer for the Portales News-Tribune. Contact him at:

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