If Cell Phones Caused Cancer, Would People Still Use Them?

[Spot's Meow]

If it was discovered for some crazy reason that cell phones and small electronic devices such as mp3 players, PDAs, etc. very significantly raise your chances of getting cancer, do you think people would actually give them up?

These items, especially cell phones, are so much a part of our lives now that I don't think everyone could just let them go. Personally, I know that I could, I don't use electronic devices nearly as much as the people around me do. I'm sure many people like me will stop using them and go back to the trusty landlines and paper planners. But I feel certain that there would be a fairly large group of people who just couldn't give them up.

Maybe the government would ban them to protect us, but I don't know if even that would stop some people. I mean, we know that cigarettes lead to lung cancer but many people still smoke. So I think it would be like that. What do you think?

 

[Kestra]

I would love to have an excuse to not use my cell phone and not have it ringing all the time with people on the other side expecting to reach me instantly.

It would be a transition, and maybe I would still keep mine in the back of the car for emergencies or something, but otherwise I'd be happy to give it up.

 

[Mr. B]

If low level EM radiation was really that harmful, I think the bulk of humanity would already be dead. If there was a real threat, I would guess most people would flock to devices with the lowest SAR levels and manufacturers would do what's necessary to combat the problem. There certainly wouldn't be any abandonment of technology. Nobody is swearing off the car because 45,000 Americans die in auto accidents annually.

 

[SPOCKED]

Cell phones are more addictive than nicotine, so... yes

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

People still smoke and chew tobacco, even though it's been known for years that that crap causes cancer, so if cellphones were that dangerous, they'd probably be still used.

Me, personally, I wouldn't. I don't even have a cellphone right now. I sure wouldn't use one if it would rot my brain.

 

[Kestra]

People still smoke and chew tobacco, even though it's been known for years that that crap causes cancer, so if cellphones were that dangerous, they'd probably be still used.

Well, you get into issues of addiction then. Are cellphones addictive? I would actually be curious in seeing an addiction study done on cellphone users, and smartphone users.

 

[Ward Fowler]

People still smoke and chew tobacco, even though it's been known for years that that crap causes cancer, so if cellphones were that dangerous, they'd probably be still used.

Well, you get into issues of addiction then. Are cellphones addictive? I would actually be curious in seeing an addiction study done on cellphone users, and smartphone users.

Well, cell phones are addictive in a biological sense like tobacco. However, I think people would still use cell phones. I doubt there would be much danger in texting. You don't have to hold the phone up to your head to do that.

 

[sbk1234]

Do you mean like cigarettes? Hmmmmm....I'll have to think about that.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

I don't have a mobile phone. I don't use them; they give me terrible headaches.

 

[Holdfast]

Cell phones are more addictive than nicotine, so... yes

Spot on.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Are cellphones addictive?

They sure seem to be. Otherwise, why would so many people have them? They can't be as I-can't-live-without-them as the propaganda of the day would seem to indicate.

 

[iguana_tonante]

If low level EM radiation was really that harmful, I think the bulk of humanity would already be dead. If there was a real threat, I would guess most people would flock to devices with the lowest SAR levels and manufacturers would do what's necessary to combat the problem. There certainly wouldn't be any abandonment of technology. Nobody is swearing off the car because 45,000 Americans die in auto accidents annually.

This.

Are cellphones addictive?

They sure seem to be. Otherwise, why would so many people have them? They can't be as I-can't-live-without-them as the propaganda of the day would seem to indicate.

In a sense, they are. I don't have any study beyond my lowly self, but I think many people, myself included, have a form of addiction to them.

I don't use them so much (a call or two a day, maybe a couple of text messages on the weekend: really low-lever use these days). I use my mobile for communication, not for chit-chatting. However, when my battery is dead or I forget it at home, I have a distinct feeling of uneasiness. What if someone need me? What if my car break and need to call someone to pick me? I think the addiction is more to the freedom of communication they provide, not the item itself. I don't need one, but I prefer to have one on me for any event.

 

[Trekker4747]

I don't see why people get so "addicted" to their damn phone. Do you need to be communicating with someone in some fashion through a device that badly?

My phone spends most of its time on my desk doing nothing mostly serving as a home phone. Occasionaly it goes out with me but given the likelyhood of someone calling me is slim...