Distracted walking or driving can literally end up killing you, as New York Post writer: Maureen Callahan points out with vivid examples of pedestrians and drivers who died with their cellphones in hand. Consider these headlines?
Man Dies After Walking Off a Cliff in San Diego While Distracted by Electronic Device
Man Falls To His Death Trying to Take Perfect Picture of Sunset
Distracted Driver Dies After Posting on Facebook About the Song “Happy”, Taking Selfies.
Callahan refers to a Time Magazine poll that found:
20% or respondents in 8 countries check their phones at least once ever 10 minutes
75% percent of 25-29-year-olds admitted they go to bed with their phone right beside them
Stories like these have gotten Callahan to reflect:
“How has it become unbearable to drive, walk, climb subway stairs, wait for a green light, or push a baby stroller without being on our phones?”
“The cellphone has become the equivalent of an adult pacifier, and users increasingly have the self-control of toddlers: When did it become acceptable to play music, video games or movies without headphones? When did the three-dimensional natural world, or the human being across from you at the dinner table, become less appealing than a screen?”
“There’s something remarkably sad about cultivating our own lives online — lives we wish we had, think we want, hope other people will envy. How much of that now motivates our decision-making — where to eat, what to buy, where to travel? How much of that explains why we’d rather record an experience than live it?”
As the singer Adele said to a member of her audience:
“Can you stop filming me with that video camera. Because I’m really here in real life. You can enjoy it in real life.”
Source: New York Post 06/18/2016
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