I WAS TEASED YET AGAIN recently about when I’m going to get a smartphone.

And yet again I supplied one of my stock reasons (*) for continuing to use my Stone-Age flip phone.

I don’t deny smartphones are useful. On a recent trip to Colorado, my wife and daughter used their phones to navigate to restaurants, research bicycles, and take photos of our hikes and the beautiful mountain scenery. Occasionally they even used them to make phone calls.

But as has become so apparent lately, it’s easy to get too absorbed in all this connectivity. And a new catch phrase has appeared to describe it: digital obesity. Like the term implies, it’s meant to correlate with the problem of physical obesity.

This article in Fastcoexist sums it up pretty well. (Excerpt condensed.)

The more people eat (and consume, in general), the better it is for those that provide food. That’s the point of the…food additives that every consumer unwittingly ingests every single year. These substances are the lubricants of over-consumption … That is the same principle that is happening when you use Facebook or your smartphone. The food industry actually calls this “cravability.”

A new kind of obesity is now looming with our information, data, and media diet. [T]here is already way too much of information available, and it is way too tasty, too cheap, and too rich. Not a single day goes by without yet another service offering us…more news, more music, more movies, more, better and cheaper mobile devices, and a seemingly total social connectivity. Many of us are likely to pig out like we’re at an all-you-can-eat buffet.

Never before is so much information available at a moment’s notice. And it’s so easy to gorge on digital content that the rest of our lives can suffer. Time we used to spend interacting (in-person, I mean) with family and friends, or in solitude and reflection, is instead spent binge-watching Netflix or playing video games online.

And what about physical activity? The flood of data has carried there too. Smartphone apps, GPS watches, and fitness trackers give us real-time information on just about any vital sign or body function. But I wonder if people who buy data force-feeding gear actually benefit. Do they use the data to exercise more or exercise better, leading to increased fitness?

My guess is that it depends on one’s attitude toward fitness. Just buying the gear isn’t going to turn a couch potato into a gym rat. They can even backfire when the information they supply is blindly believed, as this article describes.

My wife bought a fitness tracker and uses it to track her walking goals, such as 10,000 steps in a day. But it was part of her general plan to increase her fitness; she was already walking more and going to the gym. Her device is a support tool, not a change agent. And I use a Garmin GPS watch while running, but I can run fine without it (although I reflexively tap my wrist when I stop).

For me, exercise time is “disconnect” time. Running, cycling, Aikido, and gym workouts are my way to step away from the data buffet. (Believe it or not, I still print paper maps for my long bike trips instead of a nav app.) Disconnecting quiets my mind, allowing the subconscious to process the information I’ve taken in. Many people use meditation for the same purpose.

Not owning a smartphone also saves me from some of the digital flood that creates Poke-zombies and distracted drivers. But my laptop supplies all the digital food I could want. Just reading emails would take up an entire day if I let it. And Quora is my favorite junk food – it has far too much interesting content to be good for me.

There’s more I could say, but for now I have to go. Can’t wait to find out if “an Imperial Star Destroyer is well designed from a military point of view.” Yes, that’s an actual Quora question, and someone provided a detailed answer. Check it out, if you dare – it’s addictive. You have been warned.

(Note to readers: thanks for stopping by my digital restaurant. I assure you my posts are non-fattening, and full of nutritious bits. And they’re organic, too. Honest.)

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(*)  These include high cost of data plan, fragility on trails, and lack of situational awareness, which is the one I chose this time.