On a recent visit to London, my phone did not connect to the
networks abroad when I landed. Within seconds, I was filled with anxiety; as
someone who is constantly texting, using social media, and consuming
information on my device, I felt empty and exposed and couldn’t let loved ones
know that I made it over the pond. I had visited London on many occasions and
knew exactly where I was going, but being disconnected felt awkward and isolating
and I was truly uncomfortable as I made my initial way from Heathrow into
central London. While en route, however, my unease began to abate. After about
thirty minutes, I was overtaken by a feeling of euphoria that I had not felt since
years ago when constant connectivity was not the norm and I had to interact with
the real, physical world around me as opposed to consuming a constant flow of
stimulus from a tiny screen.

Well over a decade ago, when I would visit a place other
than home, I talked to as many others as I could, I did not rely on various
sites and social media companies to tell me where to go and what to see, and I
did not feel the need to check in and document every moment of my experience—I
was living in and paying attention to the world and people around me rather
than a small screen in front of me. I had this experience once again in London,
where I managed to talk to so many and hear some amazing life stories in public
and third-place settings as varied as pubs to the tube, on a host of experiences
ranging from the then-upcoming Queen’s Jubilee and geopolitics to the unusually
warm British weather and the football season. While many were surprised that I
was not staring at my phone with a headset on and actually wanted to talk, after
some initial shock, most were quite happy to open up. I felt connected to
others and places in a way that I had not for quite some time. And despite
missing various “insider tips” from digital sources, a sense of wonder,
opportunity, and joy returned for the day I had no phone service.

The next day, I was able to fix my SIM card and suddenly
resumed my usual habits of fixating on my phone rather than the people and
places around me. Although I was riding a different transit system and eating
or shopping in vastly different locales, my use of the phone actually kept me
cocooned and isolated from real people and experiences. Of course, this is not
to say that there is no real value to digital products and technology, nor that
socialization and connections are not improved in some cases by virtue of
omnipresent connectivity. But having a working smartphone changed how I was
thinking about London and its streetscape and how I engaged with the many
others around me. I was still in London, but the sense of spontaneity—a bit of
danger and unknown—and being able to connect and explore changed; I was notably
less social and less open to connecting with others.

I share this experience because so many—from academics to
public officials—are concerned with how to reinvigorate the civil sphere and
rebuild communal social capital in this era of division and polarization. One
simple step that could help create connections to space, place, and people would
be to put one’s phone down and actually talk to others and experience life in various
settings. This statement has nothing to do with the polarizing views and echo
chambers of social media—although that remains a huge problem that impacts our
discourse and ideas about our fellow Americans. Rather, it is a call for
pausing our addiction to technology and being online at all times. We need to
look up and speak with others in real space and time, where we can create more
meaningful connections, share ideas outside of 180-character tweets, and perhaps
find common ground and shared humanity as I did for a brief moment of cellular
disconnection in London.

Certainly, our cell phones can and do help so many connect
with others, from dating apps to Facebook and TikTok groups. But they have also
created distance in the public sphere, with phones atomizing and disconnecting
citizens from others. A typical New York subway ride today often involves
riders with ear buds all staring at their phones in silence, as opposed to
locals talking about the news and events of the day as was the regular case
decades ago. Shutting down phones more often and looking up at others will not
fix our impoverished civil sphere, nor will it necessarily make Americans more
interpersonally social. But I certainly connected with others when my cell phone
stopped working and learned much from it, and there is little reason to think
that other Americans would not benefit from a little time offline, too.

Samuel J. Abrams is a professor of politics at Sarah
Lawrence College and a nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise
Institute

The post Landing in London without a Connection appeared first on American Enterprise Institute – AEI.