I was drinking drinking tea with one of my friends. Unlike me, some people are so socially busy that they have the compelling need to constantly check their phone even when they are with someone else.
(Yes, I know, I've complained about this before. This situation is different so please, bare with me)
While we were talking her phone rang quite a few times. What was particular about this situation was her ringtone. Every time she got a message, her phone vibrated and made a bell sound. After five or six messages, she was still talking to me but I could no longer focus on what she was saying. It was too late, the parallel between Pavlov's bells and dogs had been made.
For those that didn't study psychology, Pavlov was a scientist that discovered classical conditioning with dogs. Shorty, every time Pavlov fed his dogs, he would ring a bell. The dogs would associate this bell with food and soon became to salivate when they heard the bell without any food needed.
Now I'm not calling this girl a female dog. She is a highly intelligent individual with nothing canine about her. Nor was she salivating every time the phone rang. Her conditioning went further. It was rooted deeply on an emotional level. The inevitable and normal question was of course: ''Is whatever happening on that phone so important and interesting that she needs to check it right away?''. Any respectable person would get annoyed (if not mad). However, I did not. All I could think of was: ''Poor girl, she is so possessed and conditioned by her phone that she doesn't realize what she's doing''. I still didn't do anything about it.
(Yes, I know, I've complained about this before. This situation is different so please, bare with me)
While we were talking her phone rang quite a few times. What was particular about this situation was her ringtone. Every time she got a message, her phone vibrated and made a bell sound. After five or six messages, she was still talking to me but I could no longer focus on what she was saying. It was too late, the parallel between Pavlov's bells and dogs had been made.
For those that didn't study psychology, Pavlov was a scientist that discovered classical conditioning with dogs. Shorty, every time Pavlov fed his dogs, he would ring a bell. The dogs would associate this bell with food and soon became to salivate when they heard the bell without any food needed.
Now I'm not calling this girl a female dog. She is a highly intelligent individual with nothing canine about her. Nor was she salivating every time the phone rang. Her conditioning went further. It was rooted deeply on an emotional level. The inevitable and normal question was of course: ''Is whatever happening on that phone so important and interesting that she needs to check it right away?''. Any respectable person would get annoyed (if not mad). However, I did not. All I could think of was: ''Poor girl, she is so possessed and conditioned by her phone that she doesn't realize what she's doing''. I still didn't do anything about it.
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