Glued to our ear or screwed into the palm of our hand, our smartphone never lets go of us. But how did this tiny glass screen get such a central place in our lives? And is the name ‘smartphone’ really deserved? This is what the writer Olivier Bourdeaut wonders (Waiting for Bojangles) at the microphone of Augustin Trapenard on France Inter.
Guest on Boomerang for the release of his latest book Pactum Salis, the author gave an edifying reflection on his relationship to this everyday object. In the form of an ode to boredom and observation, he revealed that he had freed himself from his smartphone seven years ago. A decision he does not regret. Because not scrolling your screen as soon as a moment of emptiness disrupts our routine is to allow your mind to wander. In short, give yourself the chance to get bored every now and then.
I don’t think I would have written novels if I hadn’t been so bored as a kid. It’s good to let your mind wander, hold your eyes to details, I think it structures the brain – at least my little brain for me…
Olivier Bourdeaut, Boomergang on France inter
Two primary activities of the human brain
During his passage in the literary program, Olivier Bourdeaut admitted that the… “smartphone had many qualities”but he also regretted the fact that he “the fiercest enemy of those two useless activities of boredom and observation. This charming object, so practical, so necessary, so vital, gradually makes two essential activities of the human brain disappear.”he pointed out.
Why be bored when you can watch videos of kittens in a waiting room, and why your neighbors watch in the same waiting room when you can see all-important Facebook notifications, or idiots spilling a bucket of water on their faces to have a baby? save panda or lower the temperature on earth?
Olivier Bourdeaut, Boomergang on France inter
“I realized seven years ago that I was way too sensitive to kitten videos and Facebook notifications to resist”he continues. “So I decided to get rid of this phone that was so smart it drove me completely stupid…”
Since then, when I came out of a waiting room I know how many people there were, I tried to guess what they did for a living, what disease they could have had and I built in my little brain full of boredom the romance of their lives. The world is no longer in my pocket but in front of my eyes, and that’s enough to make me happy.
Olivier Bourdeaut, Boomergang on France inter
A rant full of common sense that invites us to reconsider our relationship with this banal object. What if we left it at the bottom of our pockets a little more often?