The compelling nature of that phone call

We may be engaged in a serious meeting;  we may be driving; we may be on a romantic date; or simply half asleep — but then that cell phone rings up, we interrupt whatever it is that we are doing and take that phone call, even when the number calling is an unrecognised number. 

What is so compulsive about the phone call that we are willing to interrupt any of our other engagements?

Rationally, it hardly makes sense to give priority to a phone call of unknown consequence, possibly from some obscure caller over someone or something of known and considerable significance that we may be engaged with or engaged in. So why do we do it?

Two aspects of human behaviour could explain this phenomenon. First, human nature intrinsically dislikes mysteries. When faced with a mystery, the mind has a natural tendency to try and unravel it.  A phone call, until it has been answered, holds a mystery. 

When the caller is unknown, the mystery is who could it be? Even when the caller is known, what could the potential message be? How important is that message? True, it could be of far less significance than what we may be engaged in; but then, what if it is of greater significance? The mind cannot rest unless the mystery is solved. It seeks an immediate answer.

And in this case the solving of the mystery entails nothing more than reaching out for that call. If this brings a few frowns on the faces of those in front of us whom we are in a way slighting in the process or increasing the risk to our safety, well, it is a small price to pay for satiating that curiosity.

The second aspect of human nature that contributes to this phenomenon is what we have referred to in our earlier discussions as losses loom larger than profits. A loss of Rs1,000 rankles more than the pleasure a gain of Rs1,000 brings us. The usefulness of our current engagement with someone we care for, the pleasant state of sleepiness, our safety, or the pleasure of a romantic date are the benefits we may be currently engaged in. These no doubt have a significant positive value for us.

Now the phone call that comes in may be more or less valuable to us than the current activity that we may be disrupting.  Thus, the expected value of information inherent in such an incoming call may be considered the same as the value of what we are currently engaged in. But if we do not take that phone call, we suffer from an information loss pertaining to the mystery, which looms larger than the expected value of an equivalent benefit. Thus, we are compelled to take that call.

That’s why a great many of us seldom stay away from that phone. We often do not switch off the contraption even when we sleep or are driving.  If the signal on our cell phone is down for a few minutes, we develop withdrawal symptoms.

The only time we realise how unfair it is to ignore those in front of us in favour of those who are faceless at the other end of an invisible phone line is when we are at the receiving end. We may be in a slow queue before an information desk and reach the counter only to find the counter clerk’s phone ringing where upon promptly, the clerk takes that call, leaving you standing indefinitely till that call is concluded.  Just as a kettle never boils as you watch it, a phone call never ends when you are waiting! That has our blood boiling.  Why should the phone always have a priority over those present in person? Well, now we know.