They say that the human body can go without food for 3 weeks, 3 days without water, typically 7-8 minutes without air. Did you notice that I just listed the 3 essentials that are primarily needed to sustain humans or life? The question is why I suddenly decided to take all the science or the encyclopedia with you.

What if I told you that while I conveniently ignore our evolution from monkeys, we have evolved to a level where these three things are no longer the only things we need to sustain life? Knowingly, unknowingly, intentionally or not, it has slowly and steadily worked its way into one of the foundations for survival. Of course, I mean mobile phones and their minions (tablets, smartwatches and so on).

If we’re all honest with ourselves, I guess 90% of people will agree with me when I say that we can’t live without our mobile phones for more than a minute. Call it a force of habit, being a slave to them or whatever, but that’s the sad truth none of us want to face. Since social media plays a vital role in the lives of people of all ages, it seems that people feel the need to become “cool” and as a result, the need for mobile phones has increased dramatically. That vibration and sound of receiving a message has become more imperative than eating, sleeping, and all day-to-day activities.

Phantom notification syndrome (the tendency for someone to believe they’ve received a notification when in fact they haven’t) is not just an observation on the young, but on almost everyone with a “smartphone” these days. It’s like we’ve been programmed to check our phone every minute or two for no suggestive reason. And if it’s not to check our zero messages, it’s to take a selfie, or to console ourselves that we look good, or to play. In a very rare case, it is a task outside of these 3 categories.

And if we look objectively, after messaging/texting/tweeting/instagramming, people’s next favorite thing is to tire their fingers playing.

After WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, this is the common thing on all devices. So simple and yet so addictive. The craze for online gaming is such that at one point I even started playing it and I don’t remember how my next month passed. I mean there can’t be a single person who isn’t inundated with game requests every day. It’s hard to put into words what makes the mobile game so addictive: its cool sound effects, increasing difficulty as you progress, simple interface, or whatever, is a mystery yet to be solved. But there is one thing set in concrete: it will definitely remain a favorite among people for a long time.