When the stalemate ended and I finally re-charged my dumbphone, I found myself returning to the same routine. Someone would pull out her phone, and I would too. She would cycle through Twitter, emails, Facebook, or whatever else… and I would repeatedly open and exit my no-name GoPhone’s menu.

I caught myself doing this, remarked to my friend “look at my Pavlovian response!” and yet the next time her phone came out, mine did too. The motion is completely automatic, and it seems to not matter that there’s absolutely nothing to be done on my phone — it’s the button presses and screen flicker that pacify.

Paul Miller (Senior Editor bei der US Tech-Publikation The Verge) lebt offline und berichtet über verstörende Alltagserfahrungen. http://www.theverge.com/2012/5/11/3005412/offline-paul-miller-ghost-limbs