美国国家公共电台 NPR Smartphone Detox: How To Power Down In A Wired World

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

We're going to spend the next few minutes talking about the devices that have come to rule our lives.

(SOUNDBITE OF RINGTONE)

MARTIN: Yeah, we're talking about smartphones. This week, Apple shareholders¹ are meeting, and two major shareholders have raised concerns that smartphones are harming our children. But what about us adults? NPR's Michaeleen Doucleff looks at smartphone addiction² and how to cut back.

MICHAELEEN DOUCLEFF, BYLINE³: Right around 1900, a Russian scientist named Ivan Pavlov ran a landmark⁴ experiment. He gave dogs a yummy treat.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOG BARKING)

DOUCLEFF: But right before he handed them the treat, he played a sound.

(SOUNDBITE OF BUZZER⁵)

DOUCLEFF: Yes, a buzzer, not a bell. The buzzer came to have a special meaning for the dogs - food was coming, and dogs actually started drooling just when they heard the sound, even when no food was around. The buzzer had become pleasurable. David Greenfield, a psychologist at the University of Connecticut, says smartphone notifications...

(SOUNDBITE OF SMARTPHONE NOTIFICATION)

DOUCLEFF: ...Are doing the same thing to our brains.

DAVID GREENEFIELD: It's elevating the neurochemical dopamine, and dopamine is a pleasure chemical.

DOUCLEFF: So the phone has basically turned us all into Pavlov's dogs.

GREENFIELD: That's exactly what the phone has done. We are all Pavlov's dogs.

DOUCLEFF: A growing number of doctors are concerned about people's relationship with their phones. There's a debate about what to call it. Some say a disorder⁶ or problematic behavior. Others think it could become a behavioral addiction, like gambling⁷. Anna Lembke, a psychiatrist⁸ at Stanford University, says there's a wide range of severities and symptoms.

ANNA LEMBKE: It's a spectrum⁹ disorder, so there's a mild, moderate and severe forms.

DOUCLEFF: And for many people, there's no problem at all. In this way, Lembke says the phone is kind of like alcohol.

LEMBKE: So I'm not saying, you know, everybody get rid of their smartphones, they're completely addictive¹⁰. I'm saying let's be very thoughtful about how we're using these devices because we can use them in pathological ways.

DOUCLEFF: Lembke says signs of pathological use are, for instance, does the phone make you stay up at night and not get enough sleep, or does it reduce the time you interact with friends and family? Or is it making you rude?

LEMBKE: When you're in the middle of having a conversation with someone, are you in the middle of that just dropping down and scrolling¹¹ through your phone, and maybe doing it totally unaware¹² that you're doing it?

DOUCLEFF: Also heavy usage may squelch¹³ your creativity.

LEMBKE: It really deprives you of a kind of seamless flow of creative thought that generates from your own brain.

DOUCLEFF: So what can we do? Well, for starters, Greenfield says turn off notifications - all notifications.

(SOUNDBITE OF SMARTPHONE NOTIFICATION)

DOUCLEFF: Get an old-fashioned wristwatch or an alarm clock so you don't have to sleep with your phone. And keep the phone away from meals. Don't even set it on the table.

GREENFIELD: There is some research that shows that if you have the phone in the room with you, even if it's face down or off, your cortisol levels, which is a stress hormone¹⁴, actually elevate.

DOUCLEFF: Finally, Lembke says, try a short digital detox.

LEMBKE: Put your smartphone away for 24 hours.

DOUCLEFF: After a few hours, you may start to have cravings, but...

LEMBKE: If you can make it to 24 hours, what you'll find is that you're no longer compulsively thinking about the need to check your phone, and you're having some original thoughts.

DOUCLEFF: In fact, Lembke thinks this detox can reset¹⁵ your brain circuitry a bit so that when you hear...

(SOUNDBITE OF SMARTPHONE NOTIFICATION)

DOUCLEFF: ...You probably won't drool quite as much.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOG BARKING)

DOUCLEFF: Michaeleen Doucleff, NPR News.

1 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

2 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 landmark   

n.陆标，划时代的事，地界标

参考例句：

• The Russian Revolution represents a landmark in world history.俄国革命是世界历史上的一个里程碑。
• The tower was once a landmark for ships.这座塔曾是船只的陆标。

5 buzzer   

n.蜂鸣器；汽笛

参考例句：

• The buzzer went off at eight o'clock.蜂鸣器在8点钟时响了。
• Press the buzzer when you want to talk.你想讲话的时候就按蜂鸣器。

6 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

7 gambling   

n.赌博；投机

参考例句：

• They have won a lot of money through gambling.他们赌博赢了很多钱。
• The men have been gambling away all night.那些人赌了整整一夜。

8 psychiatrist   

n.精神病专家；精神病医师

参考例句：

• He went to a psychiatrist about his compulsive gambling.他去看精神科医生治疗不能自拔的赌瘾。
• The psychiatrist corrected him gently.精神病医师彬彬有礼地纠正他。

9 spectrum   

n.谱，光谱，频谱；范围，幅度，系列

参考例句：

• This is a kind of atomic spectrum.这是一种原子光谱。
• We have known much of the constitution of the solar spectrum.关于太阳光谱的构成，我们已了解不少。

10 addictive   

adj.(吸毒等)使成瘾的，成为习惯的

参考例句：

• The problem with video game is that they're addictive.电子游戏机的问题在于它们会使人上瘾。
• Cigarettes are highly addictive.香烟很容易使人上瘾。

11 scrolling   

n.卷[滚]动法，上下换行v.（电脑屏幕上）从上到下移动（资料等），卷页( scroll的现在分词 )；（似卷轴般）卷起；（像展开卷轴般地）将文字显示于屏幕

参考例句：

• Another important detail required by auto-scrolling is a time delay. 自动滚屏需要的另一个重要细节是时间延迟。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• In 2D visualization and drawing applications, vertical and horizontal scrolling are common. 在二维的可视化及绘图应用中，垂直和水平滚动非常普遍。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

12 unaware   

a.不知道的，未意识到的

参考例句：

• They were unaware that war was near. 他们不知道战争即将爆发。
• I was unaware of the man's presence. 我没有察觉到那人在场。

13 squelch   

v.压制，镇压；发吧唧声

参考例句：

• The President wants to squelch any perception that the meeting is an attempt to negotiate.总统想要消除任何视本次会议为谈判尝试的看法。
• You cannot squelch wanting.你不能压制要求。

14 hormone   

n.荷尔蒙，激素，内分泌

参考例句：

• Hormone implants are used as growth boosters.激素植入物被用作生长辅助剂。
• This hormone interacts closely with other hormones in the body.这种荷尔蒙与体內其他荷尔蒙紧密地相互作用。

15 reset   

v.重新安排，复位；n.重新放置；重放之物

参考例句：

• As soon as you arrive at your destination,step out of the aircraft and reset your wristwatch.你一到达目的地，就走出飞机并重新设置手表时间。
• He is recovering from an operation to reset his arm.他做了一个手臂复位手术，正在恢复。