“Best decision I made was getting rid of my “smartphone and upgrading to a wise phone.” - Anna in an email to me.

You know what a smartphone is.
You know what a dumb phone is.
But what is a wise phone?

Introducing the Wise Phone

A wise phone is not a brand of phone or a style of phone. It is lifestyle phone. A wise phone makes calls. A wise phone uses sms text messages.

That is all the base model does.

Some opt for more complex options such as GPS, music or camera.

If it sounds like it will be less convenient it will be. It is the hard way.

But a lot of good things come from doing hard things. Here is a list of benefits that I experience.

Lowering

  • anxiety

  • irritability

  • frustration

Increasing

  • Free Time

  • Presence with others

  • Happiness

  • ability to focus

Plus is it generally cheaper than any smart phone.

But despite these advantages people still doubt these benefits are real. The most common objection I hear is that they could not live without a smart phone. Or why would you even want too?

Sometimes it is difficult to see the cause of problems we face. It is part of being human.

If you sit in a bar or pub filled with cigarette smoke. After a while you do not smell smoke or at least you smell it less. But if you walk outside for a few minutes and then walk back in the smoke overpowers you. You smell it again.

Your smartphone is like the smoke.

You might not even notice that your phone is driving your insecurity and/or anxiety.

That is why people like Laurence Warner advocate for taking a break for one week a month from your smartphone. That is a good start. But I think the time has come to make more radcial choice.

Wise Phone Name

In a youtube rant I said that the world needs less information and more wisdom. Once Anna gave me the term Wise Phone - I decided to use it and make it stick.

A basic definition states that being Wise is “marked by a deep understanding, keen discernment and a capacity for sound judgement.”

Let me offer more nuanced definition.

Neil Postman in his 1999 book “Building a Bridge to the 18th Century” defined Wisdom as “the capcity to know what body of knowledge is relevant to the solution of sigificant problems”

Nicholas Carr commented in a talk that the more dangerous part of smart phone use is that it has the ability to influnce if not direct WHAT we think about.

When we couple these 2 together you realize that smartphone and even internet use keeps us from finding solutions to our problems. Instead we have less focus and remain distracted.

If you do not believe me, leave your phone behind for 2 hours and go out into the world. Shop or go to a coffee shop. Then report back to me what you see.

Is it a wonder that the self help space is a 11 Billion dollar industry?

Most are searching for something to add to their life when the answer is to subtract.

The Path Forward

There is a growing group of people moving to wise phones. I do not think it is a fad.

When I show people my Sunbeam Daisy flip phone, they are curious but conclude they could NEVER do it. They could not live without a smart phone. You can join my [priviate email list](Flip Phone Files (ck.page)) where I work to help you overcome that fear.

I have started to interview people about their experiences using a wise phone in hopes that it might make an impact on you. Here is a link to my Youtube playlist of those.