I would counter that with people with cell phones are more likely to be careless. They do amazing things. They decide that is it too hot to carry all that extra water. They choose to take extra rolls of film, rather than thier blood sugar kit. They take the ski trail that is a little out of thier league. They climb down the cliff to check out the spiffy rock, even though they've never been on a rope in thier life and don't have one. They don't turn back when the weather suddenly does something that was unexpected. They try to hug the pretty moose while thier husband takes the picture. They go kayaking in the rain, after two weeks of rain. They don't take spare clothes, extra gas or spare parts for thier snowmobile for a night run when it is expected that it will drop to -40.

All these are true stories, taken from newspapers in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine over the past few years.

They got dumb. These people are not of the utterly clueless. Many of them are experinced outdoors people. Some of them have taken the survival courses that various agencies and schools offer. Many of them are well educated. None of these stories were about people who were mentally handicapped or intoxicated. Only the moose hugger was displaying an utter lack of understanding.

All of them had a cell phone, though. They had it for "emergencies"; in most of these cases, the folks were quoted as saying they thought they were safe, they had thier phone. People are too used to thinking that the cell phone is a safety line. It isn't. It is a collection of parts made in the third world controlled by firmware written by the lowest bidder that needs batteries that historically have really spotty quality control and functions by line of sight over relatively short range. In a smaller sentance, it's a gizmo of questionable pedigree. Any "safety" it provides is an illusion.

Take a look at Ors' post about the miniskirt. She had a cell phone. She'd always been able to call for help. She'd never had to do anything for herself. She'd never had to think, or learn from her actions. So she endangered herself, a few hundred strangers, and our friend. But she could dial a cell phone, so in her mind, she was safe.

If you think you have a safety net, you are more likely to take risks. That is a documented function of human psychology- people take more risks if they think they will be safe, it's like the magic feather. You gamble all you can, that's the way humans are. With this roll, it isn't just your own life you are throwing the dice on. In most of those situations, bystanders or emergency people were endangered by this cell phone induced stupidity. In some of those stories, they were hurt; in one, someone other than the silly person died.

If I shoot myself in the foot becuase I decock a single action and my thumb slips, that's one thing. If I shoot someone else becuase I didn't know it was loaded and wasn't practicing muzzle control, that's another. I see no difference between that, and being stupid becuase you have a cell phone. It is sloppiness of thought, carelessness. And an utter lack of respect for yourself, for your fellow man, and for Nature.

And I'm just at a loss how you can get yourself out of trouble with a cellphone without relying on others.