Have cellphones become apart of ourselves?

By: Leilani Bruce

This week I got to read the article “smartphone and self-extension: Functionally, anthropomorphically, an ontological extending self via the smartphone “ by Chang Sup Park and Barbra K. Kaye. This article talks about how people are heavily reliable to their phones. It talks about how cell phones have become a ‘part of themselves and influences their identity.’ The article also goes into detail about different terms that were conducted in connection to these smartphone additions.

This article was very interesting to me because it talked about all things that society is wrapped around and that is cellphones. The use of telephones and cellphones in general is a fairly new concept if you think about it but yet has the biggest impact on people and the way they act, and think. Cell Phones have come a long way from what they were before, and now that they have so many features that make life easier for the average person, no one is going to give that up.

The cellphone has become sort of a necessary tool for people in society. It seems like in today's day and age, if you do not have a cell phone there is little to nothing you can do socially in terms of school, transportation, and emergency situations. I know for me personally, I have been without a phone for at most three-days when it requires repairs, and I did not know what to do, and that happens to a lot of people. I was overcome by a feeling of loss. For example, I didn't realize that I use my phone to set my alarm every morning, so I then had to ask roommates to wake me up. Not only this but I also realized that I would pick up my phone multiple times an hour or even ten-minutes and when I did not have it I felt a sense of panic.

Even though I do not love to admit it, I am 100% reliant on my cell phone and am frankly lost without it. In relation to the article, yes, cell phones have become a part of ourselves, influences and identities and people would be completely lost without them. But with this comes the reason as to why no one can think for themselves anymore. What I mean by this is that people are influenced everyday on the current news, and trends and it is hard to form an opinion on something without being influenced by others since everyone has an opinion and there are many different platforms to show these opinions.

Overall, I am glad that cellphones have found a way to help improve our daily lives, but at the same time, we as a population have become so reliant on our cellphones that we often miss out on what is going on around us and who we are as individuals. We are all in fact obsessed with our handheld technology and I guess you just have to decide for yourself if this is something that you are okay with.