WEBVTT

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The cell phone has greatly 
changed our lives.

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In many ways,
it's more practical.

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We can talk
to almost anybody

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from almost anywhere.

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But there's also ways

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that the cell phone
has impacted lives

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that you maybe
not aware of.

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You see,

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our brain has a natural 
chemical response

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to the cell phone.

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It's a release

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of the chemical in the brain
called dopamine.

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Now, I know it's
the dopamine

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is the chemical 
that makes you feel good.

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But that's not 
actually the case.

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Dopamine,

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is the chemical that's 
responsible for our seeking.

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So we look 
for something,

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and we find it,

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and we get 
a dopamine release.

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And we look for
something else,

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we get another
dopamine release.

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This is 
what's known as,

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again, the dopamine loop.

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This is the same
thing that occurs

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when you get on the internet
and you're doing a search,

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say, for a recipe for dinner.

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And you find yourself, 
an hour later,

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light years away 
from where you started.

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Now you're reading
about designer breed dogs

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(Laughter)

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and dinner
still isn't ready.

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(Laughter)

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The cell phone has greatly 
impacted our lives,

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and - in some ways 
we become dependent again.

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Here's my story.

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I had the original cell phone 
that came with my plan.

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It wasn't fancy,
no text, no camera,

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but it was practical,
and I kept it in my purse

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and I used it
when it was necessary.

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Then came the iPhone.
(Laughter)

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Now I had camera, 
internet, email,

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and a whole host 
of phone applications,

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in an all-in-one
hand-held unit.

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And I found myself,

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really developing 
a dependence on this phone.

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I would carry it with me
from room to room in the house,

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even taking it 
in the backyard,

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when I went to garden.

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But my dependence worsened

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when I get into 
a relationship with a texter.

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I found myself,

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on an emotional 
roller coaster.

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(Laughter)

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I so looked forward

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to the texts 
I would get from him,

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and when I got them 
I be elated and excited,

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but when they didn't come in,
I found myself really low.

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(Laughter)

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So this intrigued me.

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And I started looking
at how other people

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use their cell phone.

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Families on cell phone.

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Parents talking on the phone 
instead of to their kids,

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kids on the cell phone.

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I go into restaurants,

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and whole tables,
everybody on the cell phone.

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(Laughter)

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So, I decided 
to do some research.

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It turns out that

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everything about
this technology

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is designed to rope us in,

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from the alert that it emits

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to the amount of text 
you can see on the screen.

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And we buy into it,

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because we become 
information seekers.

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Even the text 
on a news media.

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audios, visuals

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and texts scrolling 
across the screen,

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and we go for it.

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The most common
use of cell phones

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is occurring 
in college students.

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They're receiving
about a hundred texts a day,

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and checking for their texts,

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an additional sixty times a day.

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Now, their compulsive addiction

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isn't to the cell phone,

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it's to the dopamine they get

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every time they get a message.

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Think how you feel 
when you check your messages

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and you don't have any,

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versus when you do.

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Elated, valued, kind of important.

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The cell phones also,

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change the way we think

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and we communicate with people.

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We'd rather communicate 
in snippets of text,

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rather than way through
a voicemail or email message.

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And our focus 
and our attention span,

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is shorter.

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We split from topic to topic,
and idea to idea,

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hardly ever finishing anything.

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And even in the Google age,

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with all this information
provided to us,

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we're willing to take 
the first response supplied,

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rather than 
really verify it.

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Her's another thing.

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How do you feel 
when you drive away

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and you realize you've left 
your cell phone behind?

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(Laughter)

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Do you turn around 
to go back for it,

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no matter how
late you are,

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to wherever 
you're going?

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(Laughter)

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Well, as it turns out,

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there's been a reported 
increase in anxiety of this kind,

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and there's 
a medical condition

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associated with it.

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Nomophobia.


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(Laughter)
No, really.

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(Laughter)

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No mobile phone phobia.

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And it's the condition that arises

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from the anxiety 
that we feel

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when we don't
have our cell phone,

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or when you don't 
have communication.

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So, I want to offer you 
a challenge today.

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For the next two weeks,

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put your cell phone 
out of your physical location,

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for an hour a day.

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For one hour a day,

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be without the cell phone.

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Focus on something else.

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Your surroundings,

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the people 
around you,

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or just gaze into

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these beautiful New Mexico skies.

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One hour a day,
dopamine free.

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(Applause)
Hello, mum...

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(Applause)