Cell Phones

Helping Mother Earth, Recycling, Picking up Litter.

What are your thoughts on cell phones?

1. You have a cell phone and don't care what its impact to self or the Earth is.
0
No votes
2. You have a cell phone and are unaware or uninformed of the impact of self and Earth.
1
3%
3. You have a cell phone and always use hands free while driving and dispose of e-waste properly.
6
21%
4. You only have a cell phone
8
28%
5. You have cell phone and land line.
3
10%
6. You do not own a cell phone.
3
10%
7. You sometimes wish you could get away from your cell phone.
8
28%
 
Total votes: 29

User avatar
Firebird
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 8213
Joined: Tue May 10, 2011 12:03 am
Gender: Female
Location: So. Cal.

Cell Phones

Post by Firebird »

PLEASE READ BEFORE MAKING SELECTION.
In this poll, choose one from the first three, one from the second three, and the bottom question is optional.

I am concerned about the use of cell phones.
Once upon a time it was thought the increase in use was killing bees, that has been mostly debunked siting a tiny mite was the trouble, in any case, whether or not they have an impact on the critters that utilize the airwaves, they seem to be sucking the brains out of people.
We became separated as a species when we chose to live in single family dwellings and set aside our tribes, clans, and groups. Now we have stepped back a bit further by isonecting ourselves (isonection; connected through isolation) with the entrance of computer age. Communications are largely through text, we can't even pick up the phone to see if someone can join us for lunch, and if we do choose to gather together and eat, much of that time is spent looking at a device instead of who we are eating with.
Now what about the impact on our health? The data is slowly trickling in about the cell waves possibly causing cancer, brain, breast and groin related types due to the areas the phone is in proximity to. Jury is still out, too soon to tell, we seem to wait until it is too late. As with most environmental issues.
Next we have the massive influx of e-waste. How many people do you think are really responsible and do the right thing when it comes to disposal of the "telecommunicators"? I'm horrified to think. And that is just in our country. 3rd world nations or the arrogant and ignorant care even less. What will be the long term impact to the earth?

Now that I got that rant out, Here comes another...More and more people are getting frustrated and even angry that I do not have a cell phone. I managed to live this long without one, even located people we planned to camp with in the backwoods of Canada, in the middle of the desert, and tropical islands ....all without a cell phone. Granted a land line was the main mode of communication in arranging such events, but mail (even general mail) worked and once a telegraph. Beyond that a sign posted at the entry to camp always found our party. I drive quite a bit and someone is forever trying to make me get a cell phone for the journey, which brings me to my final rant on it's dangers.
I already know of 2 two many people that were killed due to texting and driving. I'm not even sure hands free communication is that safe, people blank out when on a phone and driving. How many times have you been talking on the phone and missed your exit.?
Ha...one more rant, the use of navigation devices via phone or built into cars have taken folks the long wrong way more than once resulting in their death, or near deaths. We are allowing the device to navigate when we should learn to use a map. What will you do when the battery dies and you can't find your way home, it's ridiculous.

Thanks, Firebird
“There are things known and things unknown and in between are the Doors.”
― Jim Morrison
“All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen.”
― RWEmerson
:mrgreen:
User avatar
Astro Logical 1
Posts: 82
Joined: Sun Dec 23, 2018 10:01 pm
Gender: Male
Location: B.C. Canada

Re: Cell Phones

Post by Astro Logical 1 »

I use mine way more than I should.
I'm addicted to knowledge. The problem is that learning is useless if you don't use it for anything.
I don't really worry about the health effects. And here's why- my grandparents lived as healthy as anyone possibly could. My grandfather passed away 3 yrs ago at 92 yrs old. My grandmother has Alzheimer's and when she is cognizant, she's done. She doesn't want to keep going. But her physical body isn't giving in anytine soon.
She's ready to go but trapped.

Myself, I have fibromyalgia. I live in constant pain and have major issues with fatigue and about 50 other symptoms that severely impede my ability to live a fulfilling life.

The truth is, I don't really want to drag this out for 50 more years. The last 10 years have been so difficult to just function. It's excruciating to my hands right now to even type this.

So one one hand, the cellphone is offering me a window to the world I otherwise would be removed from. And on the other hand it might be destructive to my long term health. At this point, I don't care. It beats staring at the walls.
Love and Blessings
User avatar
SpiritTalker
Banned Member
Posts: 6237
Joined: Mon Apr 11, 2016 9:51 am
Gender: Female
Location: Earth temporarily

Re: Cell Phones

Post by SpiritTalker »

I'd had a cell phone back before they switched to digital. When I fell down the stairs in 2007 I laid looking up at my purse which held the phone &'hung on a doorhook I couldn't reach. So it didn't help in that emergency which is the only use I'd make of one.

I have this blinkin' 4-year old iPad & have no idea how to upgrade or where to go for such services. I have an EMF protective shungite disc taped to it.

I don't have a tv - or a microwave (in spite of loving popcorn). I don't want to be in touch with the whole population. I want my privacy & the right to have a gun (if I wanted one). Land line, computer-dialed, fake medicare sales calls are an abomination of the Chinese (I'll match you rant for rant).
User avatar
YanaKhan
Posts: 2155
Joined: Tue Sep 24, 2013 1:19 am
Gender: Female
Location: Sofia, Bulgaria

Re: Cell Phones

Post by YanaKhan »

I have a cell phone and use it quite a lot (which is strange, because I don't even like talking to the phone :D ). I do sometimes wish I could get away from it, it tires me, but I do have it with me all the time. The main reason has nothing to do with the conventional usage of cell phones - I use mine to read books. I know, I know, it's not like a real book and I agree, but as much as I would like to purchase all the books I want, I can't afford it. Besides, sometimes I read books I can't find in Bulgarian stores or they haven't even been translated. So yeah, I do use my phone too much.
User avatar
SnowCat
Banned Member
Posts: 4744
Joined: Sun Oct 14, 2012 6:29 am
Gender: Female
Location: The Spirals

Re: Cell Phones

Post by SnowCat »

My cell phone is my primary internet access. I also use it as an alarm clock. If I don't want to be bothered, I put it on airplane mode.
Daughter of Sekhmet
greycat
Posts: 29
Joined: Sat Oct 13, 2018 8:57 am
Gender: Female

Re: Cell Phones

Post by greycat »

I have a deep aversion to cell phones, I won't use the one my partner bought me. Other technology is hard to learn but I will at least try, but cell phone forget it.
mistycr
Posts: 6
Joined: Wed Jan 16, 2019 4:48 pm
Gender: Female

Re: Cell Phones

Post by mistycr »

While I would love not to have a phone, I do need it for my work, and keeping in contact with my 12 yr old. When the whole family is at home I keep the phone in the bedroom and I spend time with my family instead of being glued to the screen or social media.

What I do try to do, is keep my handsets for as long as they still work and not just replace them when a new model comes along. I have also found a brand called Fairphone (I'm not affiliated, feel free to google) that is modular so you can replace/add parts as you need. It's going to be my next handset when my current one stops working.
User avatar
SnowCat
Banned Member
Posts: 4744
Joined: Sun Oct 14, 2012 6:29 am
Gender: Female
Location: The Spirals

Re: Cell Phones

Post by SnowCat »

I've been about ready to pitch mine lately. I get too many spam calls. I resorted to saying, "hello. there is no one here who wants to talk to you. Stop calling."
Daughter of Sekhmet
User avatar
Shekinah
Posts: 436
Joined: Fri Dec 11, 2015 9:16 am
Gender: Male
Location: USA, Florida

Re: Cell Phones

Post by Shekinah »

Like most new toys we humans can't wait to abuse what should be wonderful tools. The WWW is magickal and a source of vast information. The first thing we did was corrupt it with spam, viruses and erroneous search results. The laser opens a world of possibilities in science and medicine and here we go blinding aircraft pilots, duh. Now we have cute drones with great potential and here we go again playing tag with passenger aircraft. "is there any intelligent life on earth?" makes you wonder. The cell "smart phone" is a computer in our pocket, a GPS navigator, a communication device, a camera and so many more things. Here we are again cluttering the bandwidth with personal irrelevant garbage, hundreds of "selfies" using it as a hub to control our homes and our life. WE keep adding Wifi devices and flooding the environment with electromagnetic waves frivolously. We have a microwave emitter in our pocket that constantly "pings" a handshake with the world and is irradiating our bodies slowly and insidiously cooking our brain cells. We have become slave to our Lord the I-Phone and are left totally dysfunctional should (god forbid) it ever fail.
Yep I have one and can't find my way home without the GPS.
Truth and Reality are highly guarded secrets. Nothing is as it appears. "The ONENESS sleeps in the stone, breathes in the plant, dreams in the animal and awakens in man" (Indian proverb)
Florenna
Posts: 17
Joined: Thu Jan 17, 2019 1:23 pm
Gender: Female
Location: Europe

Re: Cell Phones

Post by Florenna »

More than wishing I could get away from my cell phone I wish I could get away from other people's cell phones :lol: Everywhere you go nowadays there are tons of people conducting (what I would consider) private discussions on their mobiles - every shop, every bus or train, anywhere you go, you just can't get away from them anywhere in public, not for a second. (Literally everywhere - I've even come across people talking on mobiles in public toilet cubicles.) And that's not even taking things like people constantly snapping selfies & photos into account... :roll:
User avatar
Firebird
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 8213
Joined: Tue May 10, 2011 12:03 am
Gender: Female
Location: So. Cal.

Re: Cell Phones

Post by Firebird »

Florenna wrote:
More than wishing I could get away from my cell phone I wish I could get away from other people's cell phones
That made me laugh...seriously, I really do not like getting the wind of someone else's argument and whatever else is going on in their lives, what happened to being discreet?, and our privacy is eroding. :annoyed:
“There are things known and things unknown and in between are the Doors.”
― Jim Morrison
“All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen.”
― RWEmerson
:mrgreen:
User avatar
Sollomyn
Posts: 45
Joined: Sun Feb 10, 2019 10:56 am
Gender: Male

Re: Cell Phones

Post by Sollomyn »

I have a cell phone, but I probably don't even use it a full five minutes a day lol. I use it as an alarm clock to wake me up, and I use it to check in with my mom when she's running errands. Once in a blue moon I'll look something up on it, or just ask Siri to tell me what I want to know. I've only used the GPS feature a few times. I don't really like having a cell phone either; mostly because I don't like the idea of having a tracking device on me; been a little paranoid ever since finding out about that Snowden thing.

I'm planning on heading out into the wilderness for a Year and a Day this year, and I'd like to leave my phone, (I just want to run into the woods butt naked haha), but mom wants me to take it so we can stay in contact with each other. I told her we should use a courier pigeon instead; always liked that form of communication haha; the original snail mail. :D

Or Dreamwalking; the original snap-chat. :lol:
User avatar
Siona
Posts: 666
Joined: Sun Sep 15, 2013 6:54 pm
Gender: Non-binary
Location: NH, USA

Re: Cell Phones

Post by Siona »

Like any new technology, cell phones seem to be blamed for a lot of things. I mean really, people complained about how ease of access to books was going to ruin everything. Kids don't know how to write on slate anymore, and it's terrible. Studies have shown that electric lights mess up our sleep cycles and the lives of night animals and insects, but I don't see many people speaking out against them. I suppose time will tell with cell phones.

My partner and I do cross country drives every year, have for over a decade now, where we visit family along the way. (The spread of family isn't new, of course, people have been immigrating forever. But now it is easier than ever to keep in touch with those who move to new places...) We relied on the old paper maps, travel books, weather forecasts on TV, etc. It was alright. Well, until one day where the weather hit a sudden change and we had a too close for comfort run in with a tornado storm. That's when we decided to get smart phones. They have made many aspects of traveling safer and easier. And no, there's no texting/calling and driving. (Battery dies? We charge in the car...)

I use my cell phone a good bit for reading. I have severe allergies, so I have to keep anything I physically own dusted. Which doesn't pair well with narcolepsy, not having the energy to clean a ton. Not having tons of physical books, but still having the books in digital form has been a blessing. (Not to mention moving. My first big move, trying to move cases of books, ugh...) But it's also opened up a world of reading works that aren't published, never would be. Same with art. Or just access to information in general. Or hell, podcasts and music. I used to do that thing where you held up a tape recorder to the radio to get your favorite songs onto one tape, lol. These days I can carry around my entire music collection without issue, thank god for that!

I communicate with people in person the same amount as I used to, which is to say not a whole ton, being chronically ill and all. Texting allows for greater contact with people and their lives. The internet in general allows for greater communication with people who share similar interests... Don't know any Hellenic polytheists nearby. But I am still able to discuss the gods with fellow practitioners, often through my phone.

Tracking is questionable, we can probably all agree, but at the same time find my friends lets me keep an eye on my grandfather walking the dog in the woods, since he was injured once doing this - but it's something he loves to do, and now he can do it without as much worry.

People complain about selfies and the number of pictures people take, but I dunno, maybe I come from unusual families... y'all ain't got boxes and boxes and boxes of physical pictures in your house? Cause my family, both sides, certainly does. So does my partner's family. So that's never felt like a new thing to us...

Is it all perfect with cell phones? Of course not. I've noticed a lot of older folks in my life feel like they have to answer every call that comes through. Recognized number or not. Leading them to getting more and more spam. Or it leads them to being connected to work 24/7, feeling more like a trap. In general we see the 'perfect' lives of people on social media, leading one to try to keep up with the Joneses. Although again, not a new issue. But it adds another layer. They certainly make shopping easier, for better or worse. Of course a big gripe I think many have with some cell phone companies is planned obsolescence. But I do think it's a shame that some can only see the downsides to cell phones, when even if not personally useful to some individuals, they are quite useful tools to many.
User avatar
YanaKhan
Posts: 2155
Joined: Tue Sep 24, 2013 1:19 am
Gender: Female
Location: Sofia, Bulgaria

Re: Cell Phones

Post by YanaKhan »

SnowCat wrote:I've been about ready to pitch mine lately. I get too many spam calls. I resorted to saying, "hello. there is no one here who wants to talk to you. Stop calling."
That's actually extremely irritating. Lately (right around the time I started my new job where I do get paid well) I started receiving many spam calls offering me to get a credit card. As a person who used to work in a bank, I simply don't want a credit card. But I think I cured them from the desire to call me - I said I was interested in getting one and then when I got the "where do you work" question, I said "Well, been working a while there, then got fired, now I'm not working, nor do I intend to, because if you give me a credit card, I would get money without haiving to work". Haven't received a call for a couple of weeks.
User avatar
SpiritTalker
Banned Member
Posts: 6237
Joined: Mon Apr 11, 2016 9:51 am
Gender: Female
Location: Earth temporarily

Re: Cell Phones

Post by SpiritTalker »

Have pity on me. Please.

I unwillingly concede that a cell phone is forced upon me. I have some idiot level Q's I hope someone can help me with.

3 years ago ATT sent me a phone in a box. Contents: phone, charging cord, battery (I assume).
Instructions say go to a dealer to put in the battery. That's annoying.

1. Can I make a call once it's charged or is there some set up needed?
2. Can I make a call on the phone while the battery is charging? (I can use my iPad while it's on charge)

I figured out how to plug it in; it lit up (that's good) & screen displayed "no battery".

3. Could I make a call without a battery while it's plugged in?
Post Reply

Return to “Environmentalism”