Totally Connected

Since the recent tragedy of Steve Jobs’ death and the highly anticipated release of the newest iPhone, there have been many documentaries and articles examining how modern technology has helped change and shape our lives. Apple being one of the largest and most successful technology companies of all time composed of extremely devoted consumers, some of whom have only come on board since the release of the iPod and others who have stayed true to Apple since the beginning, there has been no question of the obsessive like behaviors that those who are true Apple lovers exude. But can we really classify our necessity for our tech toys as an addiction. Martin Lindstrom, in “You Love Your iPhone. Literally” attempted to investigate the question of how close we actually are to being truly “addicted” to modern technology.

In one experiment using fMRI tests, he looked at brain activity as subjects viewed consumer images and advertisements and religious images. Lindstrom found that the brain was active in extremely similar ways when subjects were viewing both categories of images. More surprisingly he gathered a group of 20 babies ranging in age between 14 and 20 months. Handing each baby a BlackBerry, he observed that they swiped their fingers across the screens as if to unlock an iPhone, seemingly expecting every device to function in the simplistic and as Lindstrom said, “ the Apple approved way.” Sparked by the feeling of nervousness and uneasiness that seems to accompany leaving our mobile device at home, Lindstrom looked at the most powerful sounds in the world, finding that a vibrating cell phone was third on the list. This makes sense based on how many times we check our phone each day even when we haven’t received a signal that a new message is present. This is sometimes accompanied by what Lindstrom calls phantom vibration, where we think that our cell phone vibrated only to be sadly met with the fact that we had not received a message.

Lindstrom’s studies have shown that saying we are “addicted” to our phones may not be the correct way of characterizing this need for our technological devices, but more accurately it could be said that we are in love with them. A study was done with eight males and eight females between the ages of 18 and 25. The 16 subjects were separately exposed to auditory and video stimuli of a ringing or vibrating cell iPhone. The study showed that although they were only actually experiencing one of the two stimuli, they, in fact, experienced the other stimuli as well. The synesthesia that they experienced was not the only amazing thing about the study but fMRI imaging showed that the insular cortex, which is associated with love and compassion, was also activated. This showed that the brain responded to the ringing or vibration of a cell phone in a similar way that someone would respond to seeing his or her significant other or a family member.

Lindstrom only touches on a very important point at the end of this article. Lindstrom says, “ My best advice? Shut off your iPhone, order some good champagne and find love and compassion the old-fashioned way.” The world that once seemed immense has become interconnected through modern technology and has been made to be a lot smaller. Through the Internet we have a seemingly unending supply of information and through networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter we are able to stay and contact with and connect with people from all over the world. These new technologies, although fantastic and life changing, can in some ways push us away from focusing on the real relationships that we have with the people actually surrounding us. Countless times I have been out and observed, especially in restaurants, two individuals supposedly sharing dinner together, but each person is either texting someone, on a phone call, or updating their Facebook status. The studies done by Martin Lindstrom, although fascinating, point out a scary reality of the world today. We are often consumed by the technology in the world and trying to stay interconnected with everyone at the same time. It is necessary that we realize these issues and view Martin Lindstrom’s studies as a warning to put down our cell phones, computers, and iPods sometimes and connect with the people and the world directly around us.