Scroll and stroll: How phones are disconnecting us from the real world
Australians may be so absorbed in their screens that they are effectively “walking blind” through the world around them.
That’s according to CQUniversity educational neuroscience expert Dr Ragnar Purje, who says the growing habit of scrolling while walking is doing more than distracting us – it can affect what we see, hear and pay attention to, potentially creating physical and cognitive risks.
“We scroll while waiting for the bus, walking the dog, having coffee and even crossing the street,” Dr Purje said.
“We are changing what we see, hear and pay attention to in the world around us – potentially putting ourselves at risk of serious physical and cognitive consequences.”
In a new article published in Psychology Today, Dr Purje, a CQUniversity Adjunct Senior Lecturer, explores what happens when scrolling becomes a dominant rhythm of daily life, arguing that the brain adapts to the behaviours and patterns of attention we repeatedly practise.
“Most of us scroll without noticing we’re doing it,” Dr Purje said.
“Fingers and thumbs move, the screen lights up and the world narrows to whatever appears in front of us.
“We also scroll and stroll – and when our eyes, brain, mind and attention are on the screen, the objective fact is that we are also walking blind.”
Dr Purje said headphones could take the disconnection even further, creating a situation where people were effectively both “blind and deaf” to their surroundings.
The concern, he said, was not that technology itself was bad, but that constant exposure to rapid visual shifts, novelty and fragmented information could influence how people use their attention.
“Because of brain plasticity, the brain is always responding, firing, rewiring and adapting to whatever we think, do, say, learn and choose,” Dr Purje said.
“When scrolling becomes the dominant rhythm of daily life, the brain adapts to those choices and behaviours.”
CQUniversity Head of Educational Neuroscience Professor Ken Purnell said the issue went beyond simply how much time people spent looking at a screen.
“Attention is one of the most important resources we have,” Professor Purnell said.
“It shapes what is learned, what is remembered, how relationships are built and ultimately how life is experienced.”
Professor Purnell said every moment spent absorbed in a digital feed was also a moment in which attention was being taken away from something else.
“The real question is not simply how much time we spend on screens, but what happens when an increasing share of our attention is continually drawn away from the people, places and experiences immediately around us.”
Dr Purje said the answer was not to abandon smartphones, the internet or artificial intelligence, which were now permanent parts of modern life.
Instead, people could make more deliberate choices about where they directed their attention.
“If we want efficient analytical minds, healthier emotions and more connected communities, individuals and society must make choices that support those outcomes,” Dr Purje said.
He said even simple actions – putting the phone away during a walk, having a meal without a screen or taking time to observe the world rather than scrolling through it – could help restore a greater balance between digital and real-world experiences.
