www.artsy.net: According to recent estimates, by 2018, there will be 2.59 billion smartphone users on planet earth. That’s around a third of the world’s current population. Yet despite their ubiquity, what smartphones do to our brains over the long term remains murky.
21 comments:
It seems to me that for as long as humanity has been evolving, older generations have always been wary of and viewed negatively the technology of younger generations, which I find completely baffling. Technology is our way of evolving as a species now, in real time. There is nothing wrong with a smart phone or computers or better cars or any of that. All of these things have been great advances for our society as a whole. That is not to say that technology has not changed the way we live and work, but who is to say that is a bad thing? We have to figure out how to balance the new tech with the ways in which we live our lives and have lived our lives before it came around. It is always important no matter what new thing is being developed to remember that these thing are meant to be tools to aid us and make or lives better and more efficient. They should not be viewed as replacements or shortcuts for anything, but rather supplements and additions.
This article is really interesting because it offers a ton of information into the psychology behind the use of cell phones in an art museum, and also while test taking. I like to think that I'm not "addicted" to my phone, but rarely am I ever without it. If I am, I usually run into problems like logging into CMU's web pages because of duomobile, or just logging in to check email on a seperate computer because they send messages through your phone as a security measure, constantly. I do think, however, that in a museum you really do not need your phone when you're looking at art. Why would you take a picture of it if you can find a better picture of it online? It may just be worth it to start taking a small notebook and noting the ones you have an interest in on there, because how often are you going to look through your camera roll and be interested in all of those works of art if you weren't interested in them in the first place? All in all, I think this article may have changed my perspective on cell phones in a museum, and I think it offered a lot of really good information.
The seriousness with which we should take this article's claim, that art is better viewed without cellphone interaction, I think directly correlates with the level of interaction we want to have with the art. Passive museums visitors may not want or need to have as deep an interaction with the art as someone in the creative industries. The tone of this article suggests that all museum visitors should put away their cellphones and keep them away for the duration of their visit, which is not realistic and belies, as Cooper said, somewhat of a fear of technology. I also think the design of a museum definitely impacts the level of engagement of the visitor. While I appreciate the merits of sticking art in a beautiful building and making the building part of the exhibit, well-thought-out curation of a gallery can improve the concentration and interaction of the visitor with the art.
This is an interesting thing to talk about. Now that smartphones have become so integral to our daily lives its hard to see the negative effect that they have on us through all of the positive one that we perceive that the technology brings to s. As artist and creatives, we experience art quite often. Weather that is going to a show or a concert or going to a gallery, experiencing art is a common occurrence. But yes, at least for myself, I always tend to have my smartphone with me because I feel like I need to have it on me. Sometimes it makes me check it more instead of being present in the moment with the art. This article also brings up the bigger question of photography and art. I hope this question continues to be asked and that we get more research done surrounding it over the years so we can have statistical evidence to support or refute this question.
Woah, the closer your phone is to you, the lower your brainpower?!? That is completely horrifying! I suppose it makes sense that the allure of being able to outsource memory would make you want to think less and remember less. Philosophers in Ancient Greece spoke about how being able to write things down would ruin people’s memory and ability to think. I’m sure that in many ways, that is true. School children used to have to memorize many things, but that is not how we teach anymore, so no one really practices memorization. We used to be able to remember people’s phone numbers before you could just save them in your phone, but no one remembers numbers anymore. If you tell your brain that it doesn’t have to remember something, it won’t. Writing down your to-do list tells your brain that the paper is remembering it for you. Taking a picture tells your brain that it doesn’t need that memory, because the camera has it for you. Having Google at your fingertips tells your brain that it doesn’t really need to work that hard. How do we counteract all of these subtle messages that we don’t really need to think now that we have smart phones? This is probably going to be the main research for psychologists, doctors, and philosophers until the next advance in technology again changes how we think and relate o the world.
I wholeheartedly agree that smartphones greatly decrease attention span and retention of information, particularly in a museum setting. I know all too well that the sense is nowadays that you can capture anything you want on your iphone camera and you will be able to preserve it and remember it forever. In reality though, I hardly ever look back through the pictures I take, and by taking out my phone and photographing the moment instead of simply experiencing it, I feel like the memory and experience is somewhat lost. With art particularly, it is more about how it makes you feel in person, not when looking back on it through your phone screen. If that is all we wanted to get out of a museum visit, we could just as easily look up the artworks on google and admire them impersonally for free.
Oh boy, give me another one of these smart phone hating articles. I'm ready! I'm not going to argue that since smart phones entered the general populous the average attention span of the average person hasn't gone down. I'm very pleased that this article didn't blame one generation on this lack of attention, but instead applied the studies to all ages. SI like the studies reviewed, especially "The other, less intuitive form of phone distraction is more passive and internal. The mere idea that you could take out your phone to go on the internet or other apps can distract you, especially if you’re doing something without immediate gratification." Oftentimes I see a lot of people pick up their phone, unlock it, and then immediately lock it again. There was no reason to do that, except compulsion. With how normalized smart phones are in the classroom now a days it's concerning to think how much information is being absorbed by students at any given time.
This article makes a lot of great points and has very interesting research. I agree with a lot of what they are saying and I am also part of the problem they are talking about. I am addicted to my phone and waste a lot of time just looking at random things when I am supposed to be doing something else. I can totally understand how being on your phone at a museum does not help you remember what was actually there. I feel like a lot of times people take pictures of art because it is the cool thing to do and post it on social media so other people can see they are at a museum. I know that I take pictures of certain things that are popular pieces of art that I want proof on my phone that I saw. I understand how if you zoom in on a part of a painting, you might remember it more because there was a certain reason you zoomed in and it is more engraved in your mind when you are more engaged in what is happening instead of just pointing and shooting your phone to get a picture.
It is very interesting to read an article that has a more negative outlook on social media and smartphones when most articles discuss the positives and how we can use our phones in association with art. I definitely think that there is a large part of technology that pulls us away from actually seeing and experiencing art, but in this day and age, it is almost impossible to separate ourselves from our phones even temporarily, which is why it is so much more important to integrate our phones into the art. I think there is definitely something said about being present with an art and being present in a place of art, but technology is so prevalent in our daily lives that it is impossible to escape. I truly think the benefit of this new world of technology is the integration that we can incorporate into art and the ways it can create new outlooks on an artistic perspective rather than hindering it.
I like reading about studies and opinions on the use of cell phones and how they effect use in our daily lives when we are not using them. There are a lot of other studies out there that think they prove technology is making us smarter and we are more focused because of the resources we have at our finger tips, so I do wish this author acknowledged the other side more. I have also seen other articles like this one with findings of how we as humans are diminishing our experiences with cell phones. I think that their is a balance and it will affect you as much as you let it. My 18 month old cousin knows how to unlock a phone and often demands to watch videos on phones. That is crazy to me, I fully support the idea of letting boredom bringing out creativity and I hope that the young generation move that way. But, I think in general this argument is so based in generational thoughts as everyone had a different upbringing and that relationship to technology.
Oh my gosh this is absolutely ridiculous. Come on, if you have taken the time out of your day to actually get out of your house and go to a museum, you probably also are one of the people who is willing to turn off their phone to be engaged. Even before technology was around, we have had passive visitors at museums. The invention of technology didn’t just turn people into art-haters. Sylvi made the wonderful point about the ancient Greek philosophers thinking that writing would take people’s ability to think. A cellphone will not send little monsters into my head and take away the bits that appreciate art and being in a museum and being engaged. I am sure that smartphones haven’t helped our attention span, but guess what: having a cellphone won’t just eliminate a passion someone has. That is simply not how it works. People still appreciate art. Young people still appreciate art. People will always appreciate art.
Even before I read this article I already had an opinion about the very divisive title. Personally I do not think that smartphones are keeping us from appreciating art. I think that if you were going to appreciate the art you will no matter whether you have a smartphone or not. This article shows correlation and not causation. And even better the correlation is useless because almost everyone has a smartphone nowadays. I really resent the idea that just because you have a camera you are going to pay less attention to a work of art. In my opinion, the smartphone helps to appreciate art because if you are particularly touched by a work of art you can take a photo and document it more precisely than if you were just able to try and remember with, to quote Death Cab for Cutie, “a faulty camera in our minds”. People who just take photos of everything they see don’t appreciate art anyways, and if they didn’t have a camera they wouldn’t care anyways. Sometimes it seems like people are basically just playing Pokemon, looking for the next famous photo they can take a photo of until they’ve photographed them all.
I honestly think this article is a load of BS. I think that, yes phones have changed the way we interact with the world but that doesn't mean it has changed it for the worst. I agree with Copper when he says that it seems as if older generations always seem to look down on the younger generation and how they conduct their lives. This article just seems like another way of doing that. I think that when people talk about the ways that technology has harmed us, they fail to mention the great improvements technology has made to our lives. So yes, maybe having a phone within reach is distracting. But having a phone also means that we can keep in contact with our loved ones from across the world. It means that we learn about important world news quickly. It means that, though we might take a bit more effort to remember the art we see, we can see art from all over the world without having to spend the money to get there. Besides, lots of people like museums and lots of people don't. The ones who don't and are going to be distracted by their phones wouldn't recall the art they see anyways, even without the phones.
Phones getting in the way of people experiencing art? This seems like an ever-growing problem that is slowly changing how we and others experience the world. This doesn't just affect the way the user of the technology sees things but also changes the way others around them see things. It was interesting to see that in the study they head people interact with art and their phones differently to see in what ways it would impact the retention of it. I find it interesting that when they were asked to engage in another way, more than just taking a picture, which they were able to retain much more. The retention increase holds true for many things. When required to engage with anything the more in-depth and more hands-on or interactive we become with something the better it is set into our minds. This isn't helped by the snapshot culture that we are growing. We don't take a picture to print and look back upon as a deep memory. Photos have just become a momentary aid to help us remember when we go back and reference, not a preserved moment.
As the article states, "research has found that even the presence of a phone in your pocket can distract you," and I certainly believe it. In the past ten years, I can say that there have only been a couple times where I have purposely left my phone at home before going somewhere. And for the first half, I am anxious, but most of the time, would be able to get over not having it. When I went to Europe in 2004, my phone plan was not going to work overseas, so I left it. I can't imagine that now, but then it was not a big deal. Going on walks in the woods or out to dinner without a phone feels scary-as if you are cutting ourself off and exposing yourself to danger should some sort of emergency occur, but it is also nice to really be in the moment, and not experiencing the moment through a phone screen. I often try my best to practice this when I am at home in Atlanta. I leave my phone in my bed room, or on the counter in a friends apartment and don't pick it up again until it is time to go somewhere else. It helps me connect to what is right infront of me in a way that having it in my pocket is almost impossible to do--since it is our nature to constantly be checking and chronicling our life.
It is unbelievable to me how much the world has changed since the first model of the iPhone came out. I remember the day my dad came home with the very first phone, and my family crowded around it like the spectacle it would soon prove to be. Luckily I had most of my childhood without the use of iPads and smartphones for the majority of the time, and can still remember an era of playing with legos and being bored often with no screen in front of my face to cure it. I think that the advancement of technology provides a fascinating multitude of opportunities to collaborate, communicate, and digitize art beyond what we could ever possibly dream of being capable of. However, at the same time I think it's important to divorce yourself from your phone often when appreciating art. Obviously this is easier said than done, as I often struggle to put my camera away when at a museum or art festival out of fear of missing any moment. Yet when we bring our smartphones to places like museums we run the risk of capturing moments to simply document the fact that we were there than actually enjoying the moment itself.
Technology is moving forward, and for some reason society seems to think that smartphones are going to end the world. Think of it this way: television did not always exist, right? Before television, people were entertained in a very different way and appreciated life differently. Then, boom, television exists, and cable television with all of the channels you can dream of followed suit. Adults and kids alike sat on the couch together, watching sports and news and cartoons, and controversy about brain development came right with that. Now, we don’t think twice about television or Netflix or any of that; it exists, it’s part of our society, and that’s that. Now, we even have curved TV’s, or 3D ones! I think smartphones should be viewed the same way, they are just the norm now. I take my phone everywhere, because it has my calendar and ID stored right in it. Now, in regards to smartphones appreciating art, what makes a smartphone any different than a camera? Phones are a quick way to truly capture something that speaks to you. I love taking photos at museums, and use my photos for inspiration all the time; I really don’t think this is as pressing a problem as the article makes it out to be.
This is a conversation I have with my mother a lot. She is a teacher, a cool one, and often struggles with what to do with phones in her classroom. She doesn't want to take them away but she also doesn't want them to hinder her student ability to learn. he also struggles with it with me and my sister when we are taking in art. Sometimes when I watch TV I also look at phone or text, and she is constantly asking me if I saw something that happened or if I am paying attention and I think she just can't do both things at once, partly because she didn't grow up doing it. I don't think tha technology makes it harder for us to take in art, in fact I think it makes it easier because we are able to experience more, and experience it faster. I read more than I ever did from books on my phone or in articles I basically live on the NYTimes app, and I am constantly taking in new music and videos and that is something I couldn't do without technology. I think as we move forward more art will become technology based, and I really believe that it will only enhance the artistic experience.
I think that problems with memory and retention in relation to smartphones lies largely in how we perceive them and what they can do. I am not surprised that retention decreases in relation to smart phones; why should we retain anything, when the ability to look it up is right there? I think this is an even greater problem for kids who have grown up in a smartphone saturated world. For me, smartphones really started taking off when I was in middle school, and for this I am grateful. Having a sense of a world without smartphones really frames how I interface with them. I do find the study about how a phone's proximity to a test taker can apparently alter their performance on the test. I suppose many smartphone users are conditioned to always keep an ear out now for the ding of a text or the buzz of a notification, a low level constant awareness that would detract from being able to focus on something else completely.
I have read a lot of articles regarding the usage of iphones and the effects it has on people, especially those of my generation since we have been growing up with this kind of technology. I admit I am constantly distracted by my phone. I am constantly communicating with my friends and my phone for the most part never leaves my side. I really hate this addiction. I never thought about how it affects people at museums. It was interesting to read that there was a study that showed that people who just took a picture of a piece of art didn’t remember it as well or at all compared to someone who just starred at it. I also found one of the studies interesting, the one that proved that phones even just being near can be distracting. The students who performed well on their tests had their phones in the other room while the ones who didn’t do as great had their phones in their back pockets or on their desk.
Right off the bat I disagree with the title of this article, “Are Smartphones Keeping Us from Appreciating Art?”, considering the content of it. I dislike when article that touch on the problematic ness of smartphones, by arguing points against them, fail to point out the positives of the smartphones in relation to the other subject. In this case smartphones do have a positive effect in relation to use appreciating art. Personally without my smartphone I wouldn't have has much access to find new artists and art. On pinterest I have found many artists which I have gained inspiration from. Though I completely agree with the points made by the article, and personally agree with the idea of not using your cellphone while at the museum. This is a complex issue. I’m all for raising awareness of the ways of cellphones can negatively affect the quality of life. By touching on the positive points and then bring up the negative points and even arguing against the impact of the positive points the argument can be stronger.
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