In a world where the typical smartphone user touches their digital appendage approximately 2,617 times a day, some people are asking themselves: "Do I really need to be this connected?" Enter the "dumb phone," a technological throwback akin to a paleolithic tool in the Silicon Age. It's like swapping your car for a horse because you're tired of traffic.
Sara Kuburic, existential psychotherapist and better known as the "Millennial Therapist," recently confessed to her 1.7 million followers that she's switched to a flip phone during weekends. This is the equivalent of a tech detox, or what some might call, "going off the grid while still being able to call your mom." These relics of the past can only make calls and send texts—no apps, no internet, no chance of accidentally liking your ex’s new partner’s photos at 3 AM.
Why, you ask, would anyone willingly give up the boundless knowledge and power of a smartphone? Well, Kuburic claims it’s because she was "overwhelmed and overstimulated." It seems counterintuitive that giving up Google Maps would make life less stressful, but here we are. It’s a bit like deciding high heels are too comfy so let's try hobbling on cobbles in bare feet.
The dumb phone is celebrated as a fortress of focus, a bulwark against the ceaseless siege of notifications. But let’s be honest, calling them "dumb" might be a tad harsh. They're like the loyal old dog that can’t fetch your slippers but will happily lie on your feet, warming them with steadfast simplicity.
Psychologist Thijs Launspach calls the stress induced by smartphones "techno stress," which sounds like a rave gone wrong. He explains that smartphones are engineered to tap into our dopamine systems with their likes, pings, and endless streams of content. It's the digital equivalent of a Las Vegas casino, and your phone doesn’t want you to leave.
But is reverting to a dumb phone really the answer? Kuburic bought one, looking for peace and found, well, inconveniences. During a trip, she left the dumb phone at home because—surprise—navigating the real world requires Google Maps, not a compass and the position of the sun. Texting became an exercise in nostalgia and frustration, as T9 Word Predictive Text isn’t quite as snappy as modern-day autocorrect.
Yet, for all their quirks, these phones apparently have superpowers too. Kuburic reports that without the siren call of the smartphone, she became "more present" and her relationships deepened—presumably because conversations weren’t interrupted by the buzz of a new meme or the allure of a viral cat video.
Let's be real: switching to a dumb phone might feel like solving modern life's complexities with a hammer when what you need is a scalpel. Sure, it might keep you from falling down YouTube rabbit holes, but it also means you can’t Uber your way home when you're lost, or find the highest rated taco stand in a three-block radius.
Launspach suggests if you can’t handle a full digital detox, perhaps just rearrange your apps or use features like "Do Not Disturb" to help maintain boundaries. This is akin to keeping a diet in a house full of snacks by hiding the cookies on the top shelf—out of sight, but not out of reach.
In conclusion, whether a dumb phone is the messiah of the overstimulated, or just another way to feel morally superior about your screen time, is up for debate. One thing’s for sure: in an era where we’re all grappling with the digital overload, any port in a storm is tempting. Even if that port takes you back to 1999.