Lovers of English literature, or indeed even those vaguely familiar with it from their school days, will doubtlessly recognize these words:

Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets its hour upon the stage And then is heard no more. It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury Signifying nothing.

Of course this is part of one of the most famous soliloquies from Shakespeare’s Macbeth and possibly among the most memorable from the celebrated playwright’s entire canon. Though it speaks primarily to the fleeting, ephemeral nature of life, perhaps too it touches on the nonsensical, meaningless chaos with which too much of that life is often imbued.

See Also: People are Too Obsessed with Social Media

And it’s a shocking truth, likely even more so now in the 21st century than in the early 17th century when it was written. In our precious, limited lifespans, how much time is spent in the pursuit of nothing?

So what I’ve done – just as an experiment, I guess, because who knows whether or not anything lasting will actually come from it – is review the typical actions of my life and slot them into one of three categories: meaningful, necessary, and, well… “sound and fury.”

Spending quality time with family and friends, reading, travelling, pursuing a passion, learning a craft, sport and recreation, helping others, bettering ourselves in any number of ways… to me, these are meaningful actions. They give life purpose and value. These are the things that, quite honestly, make life worth living. The necessary actions, while perhaps not quite as lofty or noble, lay the foundation and provide the structural framework of our lives. Working, sleeping, saving and investing money, visiting the dentist, cleaning the house, paying the bills, keeping abreast of news and topical matters, and things along these lines are what give us the space to enjoy the good stuff. But these matters, the things done in the service of life, have to be sorted, and so anything like this falls in the “necessary actions” category. Then there’s the rest. The noise, the chaos, the nothing. Sitting in traffic, wandering the malls, babbling with our friends about celebrities or sports, watching mindless sitcoms, surfing the internet, and – if we’re being honest – probably the majority of everything we do on our smartphones.

This last point is getting more and more attention, much of it critical. Researchers in the UK late last year found that the average smartphone user checks their device over 220 times a day, many of them checking the weather, emails, overnight messages, and Facebook accounts before even getting out of bed. (Though I still maintain my refusal to board the Facebook train, I am nevertheless guilty of seizing my phone to check messages and emails first thing in the morning.)

What’s more, you routinely see people walking in public now completely enthralled by their phones. And while walking and texting clearly doesn’t carry the same potential consequences as driving and texting, videos posted cheerfully to YouTube show all manner of people crashing headlong into poles, signs, walls, other people, and in one well-known video, doing a humiliating faceplant into a mall fountain, all while obliviously focused on their smartphones. And it doesn’t even surprise me anymore to see couples or even a group of people at a restaurant, interacting not with each other but with their phones.

Though this is a relatively new phenomenon, its cause is very well understood by psychologists. With a smartphone in our hand, we have an on-demand system of seeking and gratification. Dopamine causes us to want and seek, and the opioid system makes us feel pleasure when that search has been satisfied. The arrival of new information causes a little rush of pleasure, and with a smartphone, it’s a near-perfect system for addiction. Want to talk to someone? Send a WhatsApp to someone and they’ll reply, usually in a few seconds. Want to find out something? Google it. Information is instantly available. Want to find out what your friends and family are up to? Check their Facebook page or their Instagram. Want to know what your favourite celebrity is doing? Just look at their Twitter feed. Want to feel validated? Post something and then check for “likes.” The dopamine starts your seeking, then you get almost instantly rewarded for it, which makes you seek more. Before long, it’s a non-stop loop, the 21st-century manifestation of Macbeth’s “sound and fury, signifying nothing.”

To be certain, smartphones are handy little devils. I’ve often commented that with one in hand (and an internet connection), you don’t really ever have to wonder about anything. The answer is there. The sum of human knowledge, held in the palm of your hand. But sometimes, perhaps that power needs to be kept in the pocket of your pants, or in the zippered pouch of your purse.

So I’ve decided to make some small changes. When I am out eating with friends, I’ll not put my phone right next to me on the table, eyeing it constantly. And I’ll find time each week to spend some real time offline. After all, you can change your status on WhatsApp, so maybe I’ll change mine for a few hours at a time from “Available” to “I’m unplugged for now. Call me if it’s urgent.” And I’ll try to find some meaningful patterns in the mounting chaos of modern life.

Read more:

• Finding the Right Balance Between Giving and Taking
• It’s an Interesting Time to be Living in Malaysia
• A Brief Look at Corruption in Malaysia

Source: The Expat magazine November 2015