People That Ignore Texts & Calls Are Happier

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You know that text you sent me yesterday? I didn't read it or respond because I am trying to be a better person. :D

Happiness is resisting answering your mobile: People who can ignore texts or calls are likely to be more contented. New study revealed phone addicts are less likely to be happy. Those who can't resist a ring are also more likely to suffer anxiety. Social network sites also listed as sources of stress.
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My phone is often ringing with emails and texts... I eventually look at them.
 
And my students always look at me in amazement when they find out I don't even have a cell phone. "how do you text" why do I need to text? "what about friends?" I have a home phone if they really want to call. "what about your social life?" I'm married, social life takes a huge drop when you get married, and when I did have a social life, only rich people have cell phones, and they were only phones nothing else.
 
the world was better back in days before cell phones...back then you needed to be at home with your land line to make/receive calls...people nowadays think they can't live without their smartphones but people got along fine for centuries without one...I actually don't like the fact that I can be contacted at any time day or night now
 
sfsuphysics said:
And my students always look at me in amazement when they find out I don't even have a cell phone. "how do you text" why do I need to text? "what about friends?" I have a home phone if they really want to call. "what about your social life?" I'm married, social life takes a huge drop when you get married, and when I did have a social life, only rich people have cell phones, and they were only phones nothing else.
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I have a Galaxy S3 and while I like it I don't use it nearly as much as lots of people do. I do some calling and texting, but the thing I like most is web access, how else can one read [H] on the go? :)
 
Yes I am a very happy person, I will get to your text when I damn well feel like it. Cept my fiance always wants me to see who it is incase it is important or w.e, but I just say give me a few minutes damnit I'm watching TV.
 
I am defiantly less happy now that I receive work emails/calls on my phone :(
 
I wish.... I ignore one text from my wife (when driving in shitty weather, too), she starts calling. Ignore that, and she's freaking out that I wrecked and am dying somewhere.... I ignore texts/calls when driving. Sometimes, I pretend I'm driving just so I can ignore them...
 
Ur_Mom said:
I wish.... I ignore one text from my wife (when driving in shitty weather, too), she starts calling. Ignore that, and she's freaking out that I wrecked and am dying somewhere.... I ignore texts/calls when driving. Sometimes, I pretend I'm driving just so I can ignore them...
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Haha same thing here, oh man she can get angry if I don't answer right away. But I do it anyways because people need to realize I am not always available and sometimes I just don't want to answer my phone right then and there.
 
When I get home from work my phone goes in a cabinet with my ring, watch and wallet, not to be touched till the next morning when I go back to work.

It drives my family and (small number of) friends nuts. Pisses off the wife if she works late too. Oh well!
 
On dates, my phone is in my pocket on silent. All things ignored, my lady is the sole focus of my attention and I make sure she knows and she does the same for me. When I'm driving, i have that feature that replies with, "I'm driving. Call me back later" to anyone.

You know the world needs more of these people walking in front of trains:

funny-gifs-texting-girl-falls-in-mall-fountain2.gif
 
Ultima99 said:
I have a Galaxy S3 and while I like it I don't use it nearly as much as lots of people do. I do some calling and texting, but the thing I like most is web access, how else can one read [H] on the go? :)
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As a work phone, I actually preferred my old Blackberry Curve 9330. As a mobile media device, my S3 is leagues ahead. I can ignore calls, email and text on both, just as easily.
 
polonyc2 said:
people got along fine for centuries without one
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One of the worst arguments against something, ever.

People also got along fine without a computer or internet for decades, now what? Wanna hand/type write an essay/thesis/report and hand it in/send to clients via stamp and postal service?

Different time/age.
 
MrGoodbar said:
On dates, my phone is in my pocket on silent. All things ignored, my lady is the sole focus of my attention and I make sure she knows and she does the same for me. When I'm driving, i have that feature that replies with, "I'm driving. Call me back later" to anyone.

You know the world needs more of these people walking in front of trains:

funny-gifs-texting-girl-falls-in-mall-fountain2.gif
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCAntD1-DIk

Bear with it.;)
 
I believe the implied causality is backwards. It isn't that people who spend less time futzing with the phone are just going to be happier, it's that happier people spend less time futzing with the phone.

If you're already a tweaker, you won't stop being a tweaker if you set the phone down, but if you improve your outlook you'll likely find you aren't worrying about the phone nearly so much. Not surprising news, of course.
 
sfsuphysics said:
And my students always look at me in amazement when they find out I don't even have a cell phone. "how do you text" why do I need to text? "what about friends?" I have a home phone if they really want to call. "what about your social life?" I'm married, social life takes a huge drop when you get married, and when I did have a social life, only rich people have cell phones, and they were only phones nothing else.
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I'm surprised a physics professor would be so obtuse in regards to technological change. Just because we didn't have a technology at a previous point doesn't mean we are better off without it (as a whole). Even if the technology is of no personal importance to you, I'd expect your vision to be more penetrating than your own surface reflection.

Bah, who needs steam power when we have horses. I could use a telegraph, but why bother when I can send my transatlantic message by a steamship instead? Heck, why bother with the wheel at all when we can just drag stones across the dirt. All these newfangled things aren't needed since they didn't exist when I came into existence.
 
I can definitely see people who ignore their phones to be better off. So many people are obsessed with their phones it's unbelievable.

Imagine if Ivan Pavlov could continue his research today! :D
 
canna said:
I'm surprised a physics professor would be so obtuse in regards to technological change. Just because we didn't have a technology at a previous point doesn't mean we are better off without it (as a whole). Even if the technology is of no personal importance to you, I'd expect your vision to be more penetrating than your own surface reflection.
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Ummmm I'm not quite sure where you think that I'm berating technology as a whole. I don't have a cell phone, and my students look at me as if I'm Amish. Me explaining to them why I don't have one does not translate to "technology is the devil and all you sinners need to be smitten by He who is without carrier!"
 
hmm, while reading this the love of my life texted me after ignoring me for nearly 2 months... I guess I'll ignore her :(
 
Youn said:
hmm, while reading this the love of my life texted me after ignoring me for nearly 2 months... I guess I'll ignore her :(
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What if she wants to get it down with you? Just call her back and say, "If you want to talk - we have to got to hit the sack hard." :p

Then text her two months later "Thank you."
 
When I need a cell, I can't live without it, when I just want to tune out for a while, the cell feels like an anchor tied to my neck. Not a Luddite, but god it feels good to just turn it off for a while.

I must admit, I hate how cell phones have become nearly a requirement for daily life for so many. It's like an addiction for some. It's to the point that I have a hard time enjoying a drive/ride for fear of the morons fiddling with their phones or texting while driving. Once upon a time, I only really had to worry about drunk people after dark on a weekend. Now people more impaired than your typical drunk are out at all times of the day and night. Many of them will even defend their right to drive while so impaired. Even going so far as to claim superhuman abilities in multitasking.
 
Jon855 said:
What if she wants to get it down with you? Just call her back and say, "If you want to talk - we have to got to hit the sack hard." :p

Then text her two months later "Thank you."
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You have won this thread I think :p
 
I've got half my family blocked on my cell.
Best move ever.
I can't stand talking to idiots and thankless bastards.
 
sfsuphysics said:
.... Me explaining to them why I don't have one does not translate to "technology is the devil and all you sinners need to be smitten by He who is without carrier!"
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Now that's funny! I carry two smartphones. One is mine and the other is work. I like to go on cruises or other places outside of the CONUS. Why? Because I leave both of them in my luggage turned off. There is no Verizon/Sprint out there and I'm not paying for international rates. I do have them in case of emergency when I return from vacation, such as when my limo service hasn't arrived at the airport.
 
sfsuphysics said:
And my students always look at me in amazement when they find out I don't even have a cell phone. "how do you text" why do I need to text? "what about friends?" I have a home phone if they really want to call. "what about your social life?" I'm married, social life takes a huge drop when you get married, and when I did have a social life, only rich people have cell phones, and they were only phones nothing else.
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I'm surprised anyone would live without a cell phone these days. You can live without one just like you could live without one 20 years ago... but it's just so much more efficient to have one than not. Even if you don't have a social life, just having one so your family can get in contact with you, so you can let them know if you're running late, if you want to organise something on the fly, etc. Most the calls I get are from my family or close friends.
 
Tudz said:
I'm surprised anyone would live without a cell phone these days. You can live without one just like you could live without one 20 years ago... but it's just so much more efficient to have one than not. Even if you don't have a social life, just having one so your family can get in contact with you, so you can let them know if you're running late, if you want to organise something on the fly, etc. Most the calls I get are from my family or close friends.
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A good friend of mine lives without one. It's quite astonishing really, and inconvenient if something comes up at the last minute and we need to change hangout venues. lol
 
GORANKAR said:
I must admit, I hate how cell phones have become nearly a requirement for daily life for so many. It's like an addiction for some. It's to the point that I have a hard time enjoying a drive/ride for fear of the morons fiddling with their phones or texting while driving...
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Yeah, even where it's illegal, it still happens a lot, and it's scary.

Call me a Luddite, but I don't feel the need to be connected 24/7. I have a "dumbphone" that's only used for making/receiving necessary calls.
 
1) I never setup voicemail for my phone, and never will. Voicemail is the worst invention ever. I'm not going to listen to each and every voicemail from beginning to end trying to decipher what a person is trying to say through their thick accent, static noise from poor signal, volume sliding, sequential-audio stream. I would much rather look at a small paragraph of text that provides 100% clarity and virtually instant whole/simultaneously-readibility; anywhere from a split second to a couple seconds vs nearly a minute of voicemail per person with no clarity, transcription, and instantaneous-comprehension guarantees. It's like SSD (small paragraph of text) vs magnetic tape at snail speed (voicemail) but without the reliability and integrity of magnetic tape (think overused-3.5" floppy-unreliable).

If for business purposes they require voicemail, I'll bill them for a Skype Number and setup voice mail on that.

2) I always keep my phone on vibrate, unless, as of recent, they put me on call.

Do you know what would make me feel even better and happier? No cellular device at all!

3) I don't have a landland or VoIP phone at home, and I don't ever plan on it (at least not until I get married *IF* I do). I absolutely hate phones that ring at home -- why not just unplug it and throw it away for good. Besides, telemarketers seem to avoid cellular numbers and flock to landline numbers
 
jbltecnicspro said:
A good friend of mine lives without one. It's quite astonishing really, and inconvenient if something comes up at the last minute and we need to change hangout venues. lol
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Yeah, I know a few people who don't have them... they're all weird people or old people. As you say, for the most part it's frustrating for OTHER people rather than the person themselves. If you've made plans to do something and want to change, the one idiot who doesn't have a phone destroys any chance of that. If you need to get in contact with them to ask them some simple thing before you can progress with work, work halts until they decide to grace you with their presence.

We once got a guy on the team who didn't have a phone. We ended up not being able to give him any job beyond cleaning the workshop because if we gave him anything more important and needed to contact him about it, it fucked everyone else over until he came in. He didn't last long on the team and since then we had to add a question to the sign up sheet "do you have a mobile phone?" to make sure we didn't get another phone-less person.
 
Tudz said:
We once got a guy on the team who didn't have a phone. We ended up not being able to give him any job beyond cleaning the workshop because if we gave him anything more important and needed to contact him about it, it fucked everyone else over until he came in. He didn't last long on the team and since then we had to add a question to the sign up sheet "do you have a mobile phone?" to make sure we didn't get another phone-less person.
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Ya know what? If you expect me to have a cell phone for my job, you can provide it. I don't want work calls coming in at all hours on my personal cell.
 
Lethal said:
Ya know what? If you expect me to have a cell phone for my job, you can provide it. I don't want work calls coming in at all hours on my personal cell.
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If the schedule says I'm not on call, I drop unknown / numbers I don't recognize. :D
 
Lethal said:
Ya know what? If you expect me to have a cell phone for my job, you can provide it. I don't want work calls coming in at all hours on my personal cell.
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In that particular case it was a voluntary position. A desirable voluntary position because as an engineer it was something good to have on your resume, more people were turned back than were let on.

I agree if your work requires you have a cell phone, it should be provided. But even if it doesn't, not having one is often just a huge inconvenience to everyone else.
 
sfsuphysics said:
And my students always look at me in amazement when they find out I don't even have a cell phone. "how do you text" why do I need to text? "what about friends?" I have a home phone if they really want to call. "what about your social life?" I'm married, social life takes a huge drop when you get married, and when I did have a social life, only rich people have cell phones, and they were only phones nothing else.
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^^^ I finally got a cheap at&t phone, paid $100 for a year of use ($0.10 min call/text) and occasionally turn it on when the family is on the road or I need to coordinate my office departure/home arrival.

Texting is connectionless, as such it cannot take the place of a face-face message where you know the message is received. It's an inefficient means of meaningful communication and time suck.
 
I don't get why so many people think a cell is something that can't be lived without. I used to have one that my work gave to me, but when I got one for myself, I just could never find a good reason to pay so much money for something I never used. So yeah, cellphone-less and not old. It's really a good thing because that ~$100 dollars a month can turn into a lot of spending money or help savings/retirement funds. Go compound $100 a month in an online interest calculator from when you're 19 until you're 65 and it turns into like a million dollars in extra money. That's totally not worth giving up just so people can call and text me and I'm happy some people lots smarter than me told me about that or I'd probably feel like I needed one too. Maybe when there are little CreepyUncleGoogles running around, I'll get a tracfone or something for emergencies.
 
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