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Thursday, November 17, 2011

I Left My Cellphone at Home this Morning, and I Feel Naked

Posted by on Thu, Nov 17, 2011 at 8:33 AM

I never forget my phone, but somehow I did, and it's surprising how anxious I feel without it. It's not even like I'm expecting an important call or anything, and I have a perfectly good land line phone sitting right here on my desk. (Well, not perfectly good. It's got a quarter inch of accumulated Stranger filth on it, and it's held together with Scotch tape. But it works.)

A late adopter (well, cheapskate), I didn't get my first cell phone until a decade ago, when I was almost 38, so it's not like I grew up with one. So I'm surprised at how incomplete I feel without one. It's totally irrational. Amazing how technology can sink it's taproots so deeply into our psyches.

 

Comments (21) RSS

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Allyn 1
Yes, I feel helpless without mine. I can go a couple of days without using it and I have all my vital numbers memorized... but I NEED to have my phone with me.
Posted by Allyn on November 17, 2011 at 8:44 AM
2
admit is Goldy your sick with worry that the maid will find your collection of photos of naked 10 year old boys.

You should relax.

Fucking hairless boys is a rite of passage for heterosexual men.

Yes, it's True.

It's the Tisinai Effect....
Posted by Rob Tísinai on November 17, 2011 at 8:57 AM
NotSean 3
I too was a very late adopter, and I too feel naked withoout one now, every minute of the day.

Here's what I realized:

I never really needed a cell phone, and still don't much.

I've always needed a personal digital assistant, and now more than ever.

It's the PDA I can't live without.

Posted by NotSean on November 17, 2011 at 9:01 AM
Kinison 4
Zzzzz
Posted by Kinison http://www.holgatehawks.com on November 17, 2011 at 9:04 AM
sikandro 5
You'll feel even more irrational if there are no messages waiting for you when you get home!
Posted by sikandro on November 17, 2011 at 9:09 AM
6
Goldy you silly goose you feel naked because you forgot to put your pants back on after you got off the bus.....
Posted by MetroMania! on November 17, 2011 at 9:16 AM
Max Solomon 7
i take mine on hikes. they work on the tops of mountains.
Posted by Max Solomon on November 17, 2011 at 9:17 AM
8
Amazing how technology can sink it is taproots?
Posted by Wheedle on November 17, 2011 at 9:25 AM
gloomy gus 9
It's a way of feeling connected, a fetish in the ancient sense, to wear on our person as we move through the scary world. Think of the "phantom vibration syndrome", when people feel their phones vibrating in their clothing when they are not vibrating, sometimes when they are not even carrying their phone. Psychologists call it "hypothesis-guided search". I call it spooky.
Posted by gloomy gus on November 17, 2011 at 9:27 AM
chimsquared 10
Dammit. And I just texted you about how great liquor privatization is.
Posted by chimsquared on November 17, 2011 at 9:32 AM
Supreme Ruler Of The Universe 11

Every time I get into my car without my cell phone I always imagine that is one time I will run out of gas, breakdown, get into an accident...

I still have trouble remembering what people used to do in those situations....walk a mile to a gas station. It all seems so impossible these days.
Posted by Supreme Ruler Of The Universe http://www.you-read-it-here-first.com on November 17, 2011 at 9:34 AM
Irena 12
I dream of living in a cabin with no internet. But I would keep my cellphone.
Posted by Irena on November 17, 2011 at 9:46 AM
Vince 13
Don't have one, probably never will. I just don't feel the need to spend that much money. If I were a journalist, I know I would need one.
Posted by Vince on November 17, 2011 at 9:57 AM
14
We live in sad, sad times.
Posted by larf2k on November 17, 2011 at 10:00 AM
Fifty-Two-Eighty 15
I hardly ever use the "phone" part of my BlackBerry. The other features, though, get used pretty extensively (including typing this comment). I don't leave home without it.
Posted by Fifty-Two-Eighty http://www.nra.org on November 17, 2011 at 10:21 AM
MacCrocodile 16
Goldy, for all the shit we give you for your reactionary posts and your sensationalism, this is the first time you've upset me. Please don't ever discuss your nakedness in front of us again. I need to go cry now.
Posted by MacCrocodile http://maccrocodile.com/ on November 17, 2011 at 10:37 AM
dangerousgift 17
Too bad your forgot your phone or we could send each other pictures of ourselves feeling naked.

Too far... or not far enough?
Posted by dangerousgift on November 17, 2011 at 10:55 AM
Will in Seattle 18
At last night's Italian Film Festival party, I was talking with another rich person about how we love not having cell phones.

Electronic leash, or servant gold chains - you decide.
Posted by Will in Seattle http://www.facebook.com/WillSeattle on November 17, 2011 at 11:04 AM
19
Are you familiar with the theory of Externalism? It is an outgrowth of a bourgeoning movement in psychology and behavioral science called Embodied Cognition. Its premise is that it is arbitrary to say that the mind is contained only within the boundaries of the skull. According to the theory, external objects like notepads, phones, computers, and anything we use to keep track of information are all part of the mind.

If you're a scientist or philosopher who subscribes to that theory (like I am), then it makes perfect sense that you would feel distress at the absence of your phone. You're missing an important part of your extended cognition.

You have lost your mind.
Posted by rob in portland on November 17, 2011 at 11:32 AM
Vince 20
@19 I feel that way about teh interwebs. When I don't have my computer, I start asking questions I can't answer. It's how I imagine a stroke feels.
Posted by Vince on November 17, 2011 at 11:51 AM
Dougsf 21
I love forgetting my phone at home, it's a nice break. Forgetting my headphones for even my quick train commute? Fucking abysmal.

It's funny that for every step forward technology takes to try and make our lives "easier", it's an equal step forward in what is now expected of us. Kinda makes it all a wash.
Posted by Dougsf on November 17, 2011 at 12:34 PM

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