Phone Addiction in Humans and Gorillas

I don't have a teenager.
But I do see many people so attached to their phones that life seems to be passing them by. People share a table and lunch, but all or both have their phones out. People walking down the street seem oblivious to their surroundings.
www.newsweek.com...

Excessive screen time among human adolescents has been tied to physical and mental health risks, multiple studies have shown, and the pandemic dramatically drove up children's time on their phones. A 2021 study led by UC San Francisco researchers found that non-school-related screen time for 12- to 13-year-old children in the United States doubled in May 2020, shooting up from 3.8 hours a day to 7.7.

Seems this addiction/phenomena isn't just in humans. Other primates can get addicted to that damn screen.
This gorilla is even missing a rite of passage in the gorilla world.
worldnewsera.com...

Amare, a 415-pound gorilla at Chicago’s Lincoln Park zoo, has been staring a little too frequently at the screens of cellphones from visitors who show him pictures and videos through the glass wall – including selfies, family photos, pet videos and even footage of Amare himself.

He has apparently become so distracted as a result that last week, when another teenage gorilla rushed at him in a show of aggression, Amare did not appear to notice.

people.com...

Officials at Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago have had to step in after a teenage gorilla named Amare has become increasingly consumed by visitors' smartphones, which they show him through a glass partition, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

"It's probably a cyclical phenomena: the more he shows interest, the more people want to engage in it," said Stephen Ross, director of the zoo's Lester E. Fisher Center for the Study and Conservation of Apes, adding: "It's something we've noticed and have talked about a lot in terms of a strategy to address it."

Maybe it's time humans need to step away from their phones. The internet. The news.
Could we be addicted, too???

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

Maybe it's time humans need to step away from their phones. The internet. The news.
Could we be addicted, too???

I can quit whenever i want!!

Besides, yall would miss me!

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

I'm always addicted to something. It just seems to bounce around every now and then, going from one thing to another, but there's always a few simultaneous addictions going on. Always been that way. Always will be.




eta: If they're really concerned about the gorilla, they could take him home and set him free.... He may be able to find a phone in the jungle, but at least he won't constantly have kids showing him their phones/pics.

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

I'm not addicted to my phone, but I am addicted to my laptop and the internet.
I think it's rude when people are in a restaurant and not speaking to each other because their noses are buried in their phones.

a reply to: Night Star

I think its rude when mods call me an ape!

Primates wished they had my finger flicker ability!

To my good friend DTOM
Yes, there is a silence in the room of companionship these days.
Sadness in ones heart at the dinner table with the phone attached to their habit of the spaceless and mindless journeys of once was communication.
Times have changed in the big cities.
I live in the countryside where we still have oxen to plow our fields, life is grand here. we even still use human poo to fertilize our rice paddies.

a reply to: Night Star

We once saw a couple dining out who appeared to be texting each other rather than talking.
It was weird to see,

a reply to: JinMI

LOL!

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

Man, that IS weird!

originally posted by: Night Star
a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

Man, that IS weird!

Yep.
They were there rather regularly.

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

My wife and I had two of my daughter's friends living with us for several years after their high school graduation. I would take all of us out to eat every week, but they learned very quickly that phones were not allowed at the table. I don't mind treating people to dinner, but they need to have enough manners to put down those damn phones!

I sound like a grumpy old man...I guess I am, lol.

originally posted by: DontTreadOnMe
Maybe it's time humans need to step away from their phones.

Maybe it's the Aliens and Clones who need mobiles because they CANNOT do normal human conversation.

I'm the only person I know that doesn't own an Iphone, or any sort of mobile phone. I suppose it could be dodgy if my car breaks down in the middle of nowhere.

Gorillas posting too? That would explain a lot of social media posts. Poor buds are confused!

For me, I think it is a seasonal addiction, which sounds weird.
Winter, yes, I'm on it more, but still prefer a book, and do other things.
In the summer, I general do not even take it outside with me, and I will be out there all day long.

This turned out to be an issue once, when hubby crashed his golf cart and ended up in the hospital, but his buddy just showed up at the house to let me know.
He was fine.

But hubby knows I don't carry it, and he is fine with it, he hates his too, and I allow him to ride the golf cart again. He had to but brakes on it first. LOL

It's a big problem IMO. Remember the videos of people phone distracted while walking into things? It was played off as humorous, but that behavior is deadly serious, akin to a high level disability.

I don't think too many people have any situational awareness or personal safety concerns while glued to their phones or other devices. With earbuds, these types can become totally focused on their device, oblivious to anything going on around them.

I rarely even carry my phone much less have it out while carrying it. It's a phone to talk to people when necessary (or snap a shot of big foot or a UFO if I get the chance, I jest).

originally posted by: Night Star
a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

I'm not addicted to my phone, but I am addicted to my laptop and the internet.
I think it's rude when people are in a restaurant and not speaking to each other because their noses are buried in their phones.

Me too. Get on the laptop every morning with my coffee, and whenever my "other" watches TV shows in the evening I don't care for (and that is most of the new shows on TV these days)

But cell phones in restaurants or when visiting with families or friends is rude and erodes relationships.

My grandchildren are sullen about the family rule of no cell phones at the table, let them be, the table is a place to connect and socialize.

However, I LOVE airports these days, nice and quite, no blaring CNN (thank God!), and everyone buried in their cell phones. It is possible to read a book and actually hear flight announcements.

Cell phone addiction is real for people. My "other" was literally addicted to a cell phone game that kept pinging him for $ until I pointed out it was changing his behavior and he was ignoring the grandchildren. He quit.

It is no surprise gorilla's would get addicted, social media and games are designed to be addictive and ping "feel good" hormones into flooding your brain. Why wouldn't it do that for our closest "species".

My dog is addicted to TV, our dog sitter said she is one of 2 dogs that she sits for that love TV and watch it and enjoy it. She even interacts with it when a horse, dog, or other 4 legged animal is on. She will stand up, get close, and "talk" to animals on TV and seems to follow some story lines.
So whenever we leave the house we put the TV on for her on Animal Planet.

Magnet I have on my fridge. Sad truth for some people.

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

Chicago zoo concerned that exposure to phone screens has teen gorilla addicted

You just make my day Zoo is concerned, but us humans we don't worry at all. I witness so many times that parents gave phone to small children just to keep them occupied with something it is probably much easier than planning with them.

a reply to: MichiganSwampBuck

We mostly use our phones for things like checking radar and when in the car.
It's got a pretty good camera, I'll say that for it.
Other than that....occasional texting.
I rarely use it as a phone.