In deep waters with the mobile phone: Imran Rashid shows a path towards healthy digital habits

09-05-2019

Doctor and specialist in healthy digital habits provides an explanation for what happens with our brain and our sense of community, when we turn on a mobile. According to him, before we can start incorporating healthy digital practices at sea, such “basic biological needs” as getting enough sleep, nutritious diet, clean drinking water must be met.

What does the day room look like once your watch is over? Are the crew gathered together around pancakes and ice cream? Are they cheering on the ship’s assistant, who is just about to beat the chief engineer in FIFA on the Playstation? Or is the day room empty as the crew members have left the common rooms for the confines of their private cabins? And is the joystick replaced by a mobile and has the soccer match turned into a battle over the ship’s one megabit of broadband internet? Then continue reading.

What happens to us when we pick up our mobile phone?

“On the one hand, you can say that the technology of the mobile phone has made it possible for us to meet our social, biological and psychological needs. With a mobile phone we can quench our thirst for social interaction. For example, by staying in touch with family and friends when being away from home. There are certain advantages in, among other things, taking delight in knowing that those back home are well. BUT, on the other hand, using a mobile comes at a price, only very few are aware of. Namely, the time we spend in front of the screen is the time taken from social relations in real life. Vital social relations. Few of us are aware of how crucial it is for us to interact with other people in the physical world, if we want to stay healthy and happy. Without any human contact, there is a danger of getting sick from loneliness, which, in turn, can be fatal. And if you feel lonely, a mobile phone is simply a really poor replacement. That would be the equivalent of chewing gum when being hungry.”

How does the mobile and loneliness go together?

“The mobile is constructed in a way that makes you the main character of its universe. It presents the best (or worst if you like) from Hollywood, transmitted directly to your pocket by Silicon Valley. It gives you a feeling of being in a movie where you are the main character and where something is always going on around you. The features of the mobile are designed in a way that makes you keep returning again and again. Who wrote you today? Who liked you? Who reacted? Which of your friends has done something that concerns you? The only thing you need to do is to pull the lever at the slot machine and the next episode of your life will magically appear. This self-centered soap opera gradually makes you less interested in, and less prone to engage with, people around you in the real life."

Is it possible to become addicted to a mobile?

“Every time you use your mobile it triggers the release of the transmitter substance, dopamine. It is also known as the ‘happy’ hormone, which feeds your ego and is therefore highly addictive. It is similarly released in the brain when we drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes, when drug addicts take drugs or, when we are in love. Being a highly addictive hormone that gives you a feeling of pleasure, dopamine makes you constantly return to your mobile. It is the same that happens with a gambling addict and a slot machine. It is not really the prize that is alluring. It is the expectation of winning the prize, just like the expectation of the next episode of your own soap opera. When, however, we are together with other people in real life, looking into a person’s eye, giving somebody a hug or a high five, the hormone oxytocin is released. It is a hormone that is associated with social interaction and makes us bond with other people. It corresponds to having a healthy and nourishing meal when being hungry. To put it simply, dopamine corresponds to sex, drugs and the feeling of rock’n’roll, whereas oxytocin relates to hope and the feeling of love. And it is the latter that is essential for fellowship."

What happens over time when we spend too much time on our mobile?

“Your brain is wired in such a way that what it does most of it becomes best at. Furthermore, it will always seek to do what it does the best. It means that at some point you will no longer be able to register that, when you are bored - you are automatically reaching for the mobile, and when it is not there - you feel its absence. That means that you have trained your brain and developed an unconscious habit of using the mobile. It is an evil circle because there are specifically two things that can eventually be lost, if we are always on the mobile.The first thing concerns our ability to reflect upon relations, this social ‘ping-pong’ that strengthens relations between people, thereby releasing oxytocin and establishing fellowships. The second thing relates to our ability of incorporating new knowledge, as well as staying focused and attentive. Both factors have serious implications for both your work life and private life with your family and partner back home. And it is harder for you to be present and engaged with your child, if you have been spending all of your spare time onboard with your mobile."

1. Basic biological needs should be met
First and foremost, fundamental basic needs have to be satisfied before we can talk about healthy digital habits. Here we have to go all the way back to Maslow's hierarchy of needs. The seafarer has to have proper food, clean water, a bed to sleep in and sufficient sleep. If we do not get enough sleep, we become more primitive. We become increasingly controlled by our impulses and act by instincts and reflexes - we simply do what we feel like, e.g. pick up the phone when we are bored. Only when the basic needs have been met, we can ask the question of how to make sure that every crew member - every day - feels like a part of a fellowship.

2. Sense of community through collaboration
People need a sense of community. Everybody must be able to answer the question of ‘Why are we here?”. This can be achieved by having certain activities during the work day, e.g. through team building and tasks which can be solved in partnership with others. Collaboration and lifting a load together create a “we-are-there-for-each-other”-feeling. We need to talk to each other when we work together. It would be boring as hell not to talk to each other when we work right next to each other all day anyway. Professionally, it also makes a lot more sense to work out problems together. For one, you exchange experiences with each other, but also because a feeling of friendship between colleagues makes you better at completing your tasks.

3. Culture neutral fellowships
Create fellowships through culturally neutral activities e.g. in the workout area, eating together in the mess hall or watching a movie together. The feeling of being part of a larger whole is the same for everybody - no matter where in the world they are from. All of us need to feel noticed, feel heard and feel connected to people. If these needs are not covered, we will eventually develop the same symptoms. Loneliness doesn’t care about skin colour or culture.

4. Potted plants and coziness
Community feeling also develops simply by staying in surroundings that are nice and cozy. That is why something as basic as cushions and potted plants can contribute to the community feeling on board. Some people have a natural talent for creating fellowships (see below).

5. More women at sea
What I am about to say is strictly my own personal opinion, but women’s brain is far better developed than men’s. Women are genetically disposed towards a more refined view on caretaking. That is why the shipping industry should focus on making jobs that are more attractive for women. That would significantly contribute to the sense of community on board.