How come nobody's come up with a satisfying explanation as to why cell phones never show up in our dreams if we're using them for all day every day?

tomyvercity · 2023-09-18T08:53:12.398866Z

10 replies · 11 votes · c/RandomThoughts

#RandomThoughtsby@tomyvercity

Comments10

@jrl55

I'm thinking the cell phone's EM radiation interferes with the brain's abilities to form memories.

@vikingcub reply

X to doubt

@whoup reply

Funny how we tend to view our brains from a third person pov. YOU are the brain. The EM radiation makes YOU not form memories.

@yd reply

You're close, it's not entirely cellphone EM radiation though. Some apps on the phone are designed to reduce how often you form memories.

@jrl55 reply

As an electronic engineer with a minor in computer science, I do not understand how that could happen. I would be very interested to hear a moderately-detailed explanation.

@yd reply

The explanation is written in a book called Hooked by Nir Eyal. It's more psychological than computer-related.

A lot of apps are designed to form habits. This happens at such a subliminal level that most people don't even know they're being funneled into a habit. One of the main requirements to forming a habit is to reduce the tendencies of forming memories.

@charming

My Tesla seems to be the only piece of tech that shows up in my dreams.

@spongebob

I've dreamt about owning a ps5 for a long time now

@yeetmeoutawindow

While there is no scientific explanation to this, I guess it's because the brain filters visual stimuli that we experience very often. Basically loss of novelty.

It's the same reason why we don't dream of brushing our teeth or taking a bath.

@yd

I stopped using my phone for a week (was doing a digital detox), and I got one dream where I was using my phone.

Then I started using the phone again and no more dreams of my phone.