Notes
You’re at a restaurant and you don’t even know what color your date’s eyes are because they’ve been looking down at their phone the entire time. We can all agree that’s pretty rude. It is, however, socially acceptable to have your phone on the table and check it occasionally. If you’re feeling extra courteous, perhaps you’ll even flip the phone over face down. But here’s an argument for completely putting your phone away at the dinner table:
“Phones are disruptive by their mere existence, even when they aren’t in active use. They’re distracting because they remind us of the world beyond the immediate conversation, and the only solution, the researchers wrote, is to remove them completely.”
In Irresistible, Adam Alter references a study by Andrew K. Przybylski and Netta Weinstein. Strangers were asked to engage in conversation in pairs. One group conversed in the presence of a smartphone, while the second group conversed in the presence of a paper notebook. The researchers found that all pairs bonded to a certain extent, but those in the presence of the smartphone had difficulties connecting and viewed their conversation partner as less empathetic and trustworthy. The overall quality of the relationship was lower.