Most people will agree that we as a society, at least in the United States, have become dependent on cell phones. But exactly how dependent have we become? If all cell phones were to disappear tomorrow, would people be able to deal with it, or would everyone go crazy?

When I was in college, my teacher gave us an unusual homework assignment. The assignment was to not talk for an hour. For one hour, we were supposed to remain absolutely quiet. It didn’t matter if someone spoke to us first, we weren’t supposed to answer. Then, at the end of the hour, we had to write a report on what it was like to stop communicating verbally.

Now, needless to say, I cheated on this assignment. I tried for about 5 minutes but quickly realized that when my roommates asked my questions and I didn’t respond I looked like a real jerk. I’m sure this social experiment would be easier nowadays but in college where social interaction is non-stop it was pretty much impossible.

Luckily I didn’t need to go an hour without talking to realize what my teacher was trying to prove. Humans are conditioned to be constantly talking. So many people aren’t comfortable with silence, and simply can’t go about their lives without as much social interaction as possible. Before cell phones you had no choice but to go without conversation at certain times, like when you were driving. But thanks to modern technology, we can now talk to someone whenever we want. And many of us are taking full advantage of that opportunity. How many people really NEED to talk on their cell phone while driving? 1 out of 100? That might even be high. There just aren’t that many emergencies going on at one time. Yet everywhere you go, people are talking and driving, talking while walking, talking while waiting for the train, and talking in every other conceivable situation. People aren’t comfortable with silence and therefore will talk on their cell phones to anyone willing to listen.

This doesn’t apply to everyone. Some people don’t like spending too much time on the phone. And if you do love talking constantly, there’s nothing wrong with that. But what would happen if cell phones disappeared tomorrow? I honestly believe it would cause a MAJOR problem for a lot of people. I’m talking, like, people suffering mental breakdowns. Once we become accustomed to something as a society we have a tough time giving it up. Think back fifteen years when most people didn’t have Internet. Even those who did have it, it took them twenty minutes to get online. Now everyone has the Internet, and we get frustrated a website takes 5 seconds to load. No one used to have cell phones, and now we get upset when we can’t get specific Cricket ringtones.

The point is, talk all you want, but once you take your cell phone for granted or become completely reliant on it, you’re setting yourself up for a major disaster if you do have to go awhile with it.

Oh, and just like you, I’m addicted to my cell phone and my AT&T ringtones. So don’t think I’m judging.