They say that the human body can go without food for 3 weeks, 3 days without water, usually 7-8 minutes without air. Did you notice that I just listed the 3 essential elements that are mainly needed to sustain human beings or life? The question is why I suddenly decided to bet on science or the encyclopedia.
What if I told you, conveniently ignoring our monkey evolution, we have evolved to a level where these three things are no longer the only things we need to sustain life? Knowingly, unknowingly, intentionally or unintentionally, slowly and steadily, it has made its way as one of the foundations of survival. Of course, I am talking about mobile phones and their minions (tablets, smart watches and stuff).
If we’re all honest with ourselves, I guess 90% of people will agree with me when I say that we can’t live without our cell phones for more than a minute. Call it a force of habit, being enslaved to them or whatever, but that’s the sad truth that none of us want to face. With social media playing a critical role in the lives of people of all ages, it seems that people are imbued with the need to get ‘cool’ and as a result the need for mobile phones has increased dramatically. That vibration and the sound of receiving a message have become more imperative than eating, sleeping, and all day-to-day activities.
Phantom notification syndrome (someone’s tendency to believe they received a notification when they actually didn’t) is not just an observation about young people, but for almost everyone with a “smartphone” these days. It’s like we’ve been programmed to check our phone every minute or two for no suggestive reason. And if it is not to check our zero messages, it is to take a selfie, or simply to console ourselves, we are fine, or to play. In a very rare case, it is a task outside of these 3 categories.
And if we take a look at it objectively, after messaging / texting / tweeting / posting on Instagram, people’s next favorite thing is to tire their fingers playing.
After WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, this is what all devices have in common. So simple and so addictive. The craze for online gambling is such that, at one point, even I started playing it and I don’t remember how the next month went by. I mean, there cannot be a single person who is not inundated with requests for games every day. It’s hard to put into words what makes the mobile game so addictive, its incredible sound effects, its increasing difficulty as you progress, its simple interface, or what is a mystery yet to be solved. But there is one concrete thing: it will definitely remain a favorite among people for a long time.