Why I Don’t Have A Cell Phone – 14 Questions To Ask A Potential Cell Phone User

Over the years people that don’t know me or my family are a little surprised that none of us own cell phones or have ever owned cell phones.

Have we used them before?

Sure.

My mom and dad along with my older brother have never owned a cell phone. Recently I was explaining this to a guy named Dan and he was pretty surprised I had never owned one.

As a computer person and somebody involved in the “tech” business per se, people do find it to be rather strange. But I say it’s strange in the opposite way. Isn’t it strange that people want to create a life in which there are no boundaries? Is it strange that we jump into new technologies without ever asking ANY questions at all?

Am I saying technology is bad?

Not at all.

I’m just saying let’s ask questions before we jump aboard and do things just because other people are using them. In fact it’s quite easy to not have a cell phone these days. Since everybody has one, I can just borrow theirs if I never need to.

Am I saying I don’t think they’re useful or amazing?

Not at all.

I think they’re the most amazing things ever and incredibly useful. So why wouldn’t I get a cell phone? There are lots of reasons why I prefer to avoid them as much as possible.

Before I get into that you might think that here I am using the internet, computers and software and think I might be high and mighty because I don’t use a cell phone. I’m not saying you shouldn’t use one. I’m saying here’s why I don’t. In fact I want you to use one. If everybody has one and I don’t, then that makes it easier for me to avoid ever getting one.

Are computers and high speed internet connections dangerous? To some degree, yes and probably as much as the cell phone. On a purely physical level I’ve adopted practices to offset some of the damaging effects of using them. I have a standing desk so I don’t sit for 10 hours a day. I have a program called “Flux” where it lowers the blue light being emitted from the computer screen. I have a grounding pad in order to offset some of the electromagnetic fields coming off my screens.

Can some of these things be used on cell phones? Of course. Flux is available for cell phones, grounding pads are as well and most of the time you’re standing with a cell phone. The problem isn’t the cell phone, it’s us. It’s what it’s doing to us and the fact that we jump into things without any regard for anything or any body else. We don’t care how our decisions and actions might be affecting those around us or even our own health.

So in this article I’m simply going to ask some questions that perhaps you’ve never considered when it comes to technology and cell phones. I’d rather somebody have a cell phone and have asked these questions than not asking any questions at all.

Again it’s not the cell phone, it’s us. The annoying guy standing in line having a loud argument on his cell phone is going to be annoying no matter what you put in his hands.

It comes down to our level of awareness. Having enough awareness to even ask questions is where we need to start. We need to have enough awareness to see how our actions are effecting other people around us. Cell phones just allow annoying people to simply be more annoying that’s all.

I don’t think I’m the first one to consider this my version of a Digital Detox.

Here’s a few questions I’d like to ask you when it comes to cell phones…

Have you measured the EMF radiation being emmitted from it?

There’s a famous quote that usually relates to time management and productivity, but it goes something like this: What gets measured, gets managed.” And this goes for electromagetic frequency.

Have you studied it at all? There are many studies suggesting it can cause cancer. My point is not to try to convince you that EMF is bad or that it causes cancer. My point is to get you to ask a question and do research. Why would you use something for 120 hours or more per month and not know if it’s killing you or not? Aren’t you smarter than that?

Don’t you feel stressed by always having to respond?

People call you, leave text messages and your voicemails are piling up and you think you have to somehow figure out a way to better manage that. Here’s a way to manage it, get rid of it. Do you like going to bed each night with all of these people needing something from you?

If you do, then get ready for some added stress in your life, which is fine but you’ll now need a way to manage that.

Do you like always being connected?

If you have a cell phone you can’t go anywhere without feeling like at any moment your phone could ring and somebody will need you. Some people feel almost naked if they forget their phone in the car or at home. They don’t like the idea that they’re not connected.

My contention is that that emotion is exploited by having a cell phone. We’re not able to even be alone for a few minutes without feeling some kind of depression and sadness.

Why is that? Are we so dissatisfied with our lives that we must always have some meaningless and trivial interruption available to us at all times? Again, the problem is not the phone, it’s us.

If you were living a happy and completely fulfilling life, you could probably give up your cell phone pretty easily along with your other lifestyle addictions.

Here’s a funny video about how people simply can’t be alone for a few minutes without texting.

Do you think cell phones prevents your ability to grow?

Let me lay out a very familiar example for this one. Let’s say Kate is at the grocery store and picks up the wrong brand of eggs or something. If she had a cell phone, would it be easy for her to simply call me right then and there to see which brand I wanted?

Of course it would. Is simple always better? You decide.

But let’s say she doesn’t have a phone and gets the wrong brand. Let’s say I couldn’t wait to get these eggs and was so excited about getting them only to have her walk in with the wrong ones.

At that moment I can choose to have attachments, I can choose to have a story and I can choose my emotions. I have the choice of giving into my lower self and yelling at her or I can choose to rise above and “forgive” her for not writing it down.

The point is I get to choose how I want to respond. As a result of that choice I dig deeper grooves into my personality. By yelling at her, I allow the grooves I don’t like to become more established and as a result used again. By acting as the higher self I can mold my personality so I can create new pathways for growth.

Having a cell phone would prevent all of those choices from happening. I realize that that might not be the best example but it’s something to think about.

It’s similar to taking medications to mask the symptoms of the flu. When you allow your body to go through it and fight it off, it becomes stronger as a result. Life’s circumstances are an opportunity for growth. In some cases cell phones prevent the ability to experience the negative and positive events in our life and thereby prevents us from being able to grow as a result of our reactions to those events.

Does your cell phone create dependence?

As in this grocery store example, having a cell phone creates a situation where one person becomes reliant on another person. Each time we give our power away and rely on other people, we create those same grooves where we can’t live without their emotional support.

You’ve seen the examples of the old widow who can’t live without her husband and the mom who has that empty nest syndrome now that her daughter has gone off to college. Cell phones create more dependency on people thereby stunting personal growth.

Each time we just make a decision about something, we create a mini “inner victory” within ourselves. We did something for ourselves, all by ourselves and let the chips fall where they may.

This causes more self confidence as a result.

Does your cell phone prevent you from having a good memory?

Why take the time to remember numbers when you can punch it into your cell phone and call somebody just by clicking one button? Again this comes down to reliance. What if your phone breaks and you need to call somebody? You’ve never taken the time to use your actual mind to remember something so now you’re screwed.

By not exercising your mind you’re robbing yourself of the opportunity to have a stronger ability to recall and access information. That’s just what we need with so many older people coming up with Alzheimer’s Disease these days isn’t it?

Do cell phones cause you to be lazy with planning?

What happened to the days when you could speak with somebody on a Tuesday afternoon and tell them you’ll meet them at some location in two weeks at a particular time, and actually meeting them there? In today’s world we have to send 35 text messages and emails confirming the encounter.

Can you imagine setting an appointment for two weeks out, not talking to the person once (via any medium) and actually have them show up on time? The chances are pretty unlikely that in today’s world that would happen.

Cell phones allow us to be wishy washy with our plans and break our bonds with people. They allow us to just send a person a text message saying we can’t show up in the event something better comes along.

What happened to being a person of your word? What happened to honoring commitments? I’m not saying cell phones cause us to not keep our word, I’m saying they make it much easier for us to break them.

Are your calls monitored?

I don’t watch much news at all but I do know that this whole Richard Snowden thing revealed some things that were coming out about how the CIA and government were now “eavesdropping” on our conversations.

Talk about a ridiculously easy way for them to track who you’re talking to, where you’re going and even where you’re located. As if smart meters weren’t enough of an intrusion of privacy now we have cell phones.

Or is it the other way around?

I realize that I’m sure all of our calls are monitored but since I don’t have a cell phone at least that’s one less avenue in which I can’t be tracked.

Who does Apple employ in 3rd world countries?

Now I’m not making the case here for or against hiring people in 3rd world countries. I’ll save that for another article. But what I am saying is have you looked into it? If they are employing people in third world countries, and the workers are treated great and that’s something you’re okay with, then have at it.

My goal here is to have you ask the question. Does this affect you and your moral principles? Again I’m not making a case either way but we need to be mindful that where we put our money is what gets supported.

We vote with our dollars. What we spend money one we’re voting and saying, “yes I’d like more of that”. So at the very least look into it. We all should think about these things for everything we buy. I realize there are some things where were going to have to bite the bullet but again I just want to raise the issue so we’re mindful of these deeper issues.

Do you like keeping up with the latest technology?

Do you somehow feel less of a man or women when you realize that your iPhone is 4 years old? Do your friends make fun of you? Are you a consumer slave that spends hours standing in line the next time a new model comes out?

Keeping up with technology can be stressful and frustrating because there’s always a sense of “need” that’s created each time something new comes out (which happens to be every 6 months). Having our happiness and sense of joy wrapped up in trinkets and things is the wrong way to go.

Things will never make us happy and neither should they. But once you get into the habit of always wanting and feel like you need the latest generation of something, the seed has been planted.

If you continue to give into your desires the seed grows. And if you aren’t living with that awareness than that seed will grow into something you probably won’t like.

What company are you supporting by buying one?

Does your moral code and ideologies align with Verizon, AT&T or Apple? Do they support things that you’re ethically against? If so, you’re giving them money to support the very causes you are against.

Just food for thought.

What are you a slave to?

In some capacity many people will say we are all slaves to some degree to certain things. But do we really want to be a slave to AT&T or Verizon? Do we really want to be reliant upon those companies for our happiness?

People these days are not only addicted to their cell phones but they can’t live without them. They’ll have withdrawals if they can’t have access to their phones. The more we can be self reliant and not addicted to devices as such the better off we’ll be.

Are you living in the moment?

How often do I look around and people are texting while walking or sitting down texting at the dinner table with 3 other friends and they’re all staring into their cell phone screens? Do they have any idea what’s going on around them?

Life is passing people by and they don’t even know it because they’re staring into the screens of their smart phones. I see it when people are taking a thousand pictures with their camera phone instead of simply enjoying the moment as it’s happening.

We’re a culture living life through the lens of cell phones.

How are cell phones affecting your eyes?

Have you ever thought how unnatural it is to stare into a screen for 16 hours a day? We work all day sitting in front of a computer and then spend hours on end the rest of the day looking into a pixelated mini computer screen on our smart phones, tablets and e-readers.

Let’s be mindful of how unnatural it is for our eyes to be staring into these types of devices. How much is your eyesight worth? Why do so many people have cataracts, glaucoma or macular degeneration these days?

Could computers and cell phones be related to these eye issues?

Were our eyes ever intended to stare into such screens?

If it’s not natural, we probably shouldn’t do it or figure out a way to mitigate the damaging effects of it as much as we can.

Is instant information a good thing?

Because we can look things up and get information in an instant, is that really a good thing? When we can have instant communication all knowledge is possible but what about wisdom and the application of that knowledge? If we’re constantly being interrupted by phone calls and text messages how can we think about a particular subject or issue in our lives long enough to develop a rationale that has merit?

We can’t think about any one subject long enough to develop a line or reasoning and carry that from beginning to end in our culture because everything is fragmented and interrupted. Everything is bite sized and made into sound bytes. Look at commercials and TV shows, every few seconds the scene and camera angles are changing.

Why?

Because our attention span is about 5 seconds before we get bored. Why do you think people can’t follow arguments laid out in books or read technical documents? Our attention span has been trained by media, culture and technological devices to last for a few seconds before we need to move on to something else.

The ability to spend time with ourselves and think deeply about one subject matter has been lost. People have lost the ability to reason and build a constructive argument for something these days and it’s probably the result of a decreased attention span.

In Conclusion…

I’m not saying cell phones are bad. I’m just saying let’s ask some questions about if we should use them the way we do. How often should we use them? How is my conduct when using my phone impacting the lives of others around the world and around me? Is it possible my actual DNA is changing as a result of using this device? How can I use it less? How can I use it in a way that will mitigate the health effects of my and those around me?

There are a thousand questions that we can ask ourselves but I feel like we need to start with at least one. It’s becoming harder and harder to live without one there’s no mistaking that. I feel like as a culture we jumped on the bandwagon of these things without any awareness of asking these types of questions.

Perhaps before getting a cell phone people need to take a class on some social etiquette before they’re allowed to get one.

Maybe that’s taking it a bit far but at the very least let’s start asking some questions before we start integrating these things into our lives.

Don’t you think that makes sense?