Scientifically in love with iPhones

In today's modern world, about how many times a day do you spend checking your phone for texts, emails, or calls? It's an interesting question considering most of us know that we check our phones even when they didn't vibrate or ring, thinking we got a text or a call. In his New York Times opinion piece "You Love Your iPhone. Literally," author Martin Lindstrom writes about the "love" this generation has for their iPhone. This piece sparked my interest because even though I don't have an iPhone (but I really want one!), I have many friends and family members who do. The variety of connections to apps and the Internet is addicting. But, scientifically speaking, Lindstrom under covers that your addiction to your iPhone is actually love. It was very interesting to find out that in Lindstrom's experiments, the activity levels in a part of the brain that are related with love and compassion were equal in response to an iPhone and the presence of a loved one. With the many actions that can be performed on an iPhone, it is not surprising that our closeness to our phones is more than an addiction.

In Martin Lindstrom's New York Times opinion piece "You Love Your iPhone. Literally," Lindstrom proves to his audience that he is valid and creditable on his subject. He is a branding consultant who is very knowledgeable on the history of Apple as a company and its products. Not only is Lindstrom's knowledge on Apple valid, but he also writes of his numerous experiments that prove the love for iPhones. Lindstrom has performed many experiments that support his claim. One was a brain activity test between famous brands and famous symbols of religion, that showed very similar results. Another was giving babies Blackberries and watching them try to slide their fingers across the screen as you would for an iPhone. Lindstrom found that the vibration sound of a phone was the third most affecting sound in the world. A final experiment that Lindstrom performed was the brain activity level in the insular cortex. The levels were the same between an iPhone's sounds and the presence of a loved one. All this evidence mounts to Lindstrom's claim that we are in love with our iPhones. However, Lindstrom does not agree with the "love" to check our iPhones constantly, but expresses his opinion to try life with your iPhone off. Martin Lindstrom proves that our generation is in love with our iPhones in his opinion piece "Your Love Your iPhone. Literally."

Source: Lindstrom, Martin. "Your Love Your iPhone. Literally.." The New York Times 30 Sept. 2011: n. pag. The New York Times. Web. 2 Oct. 2011.