In an experiment conducted by the University of Virginia, three hundred diners were selected at random in a café. Half were asked to keep their phones on the table and the other half to put phones away. Participants were told the experiment was about dining experiences with friends. (Phones weren’t even mentioned.) After the meal, people were asked to rate their experience in terms of overall enjoyment, conversation, and the food itself. Those whose phones had been put away gave all three metrics higher ratings than those who kept their phones out during the meal, by a statistically
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