At first glance: Very intriguing way to look at it. On second thoughts: The analogy doesn’t seem to hold. People who put their phone away for the weekend actually report feeling happier and more relaxed. I don’t think that would be true of a baby if you take its pacifier away (provided the baby is conditioned to use one for emotional self regulation).
It depends if those feelings of happiness are immediate or eventual. A child does need to eventually give up the comfort of nipple or womb. I am sceptical if people report immediate feelings of happiness, though. That sounds more like novelty and wanting it to be true.
Two parents can give a child their full attention, but infants can be fickle, picky creatures. I've been stuck in quite a few situations where the pacifier got driven off in Mom's car and the backup isn't in my bag - stranded away from supply lines without the required materiel. My son would only pull on his thumb or mine for a couple seconds before wailing...and, yes, trying again, but it was a pretty short attempt and a high duty cycle on the crying.
You do parents a disservice and assume the worst, probably based on a few narcissistic jerks, sure, but if there was anything I or many other parents could do for their kids we would do it. If I could have made my son comfortable in those situations I would have.
Sometimes they don't want Mom and they don't want Dad, they don't have to poop and they don't want to sleep, they don't want to play, they don't want to eat, they don't want to bounce, they don't want to sing....they want their pacifier. Nothing else will do. Not even Grandma...
That’s precisely why we never introduced a pacifier in the first place. I believe it is a crutch for emotional self-regulation. The peace it brings you now will be paid for tenfold in the future. That being said, I know that it is a hard thing to do as a parent to resist the temptation to use one. I’d just suggest keeping the above in mind. It might give you the strength not to do it in spite of the short and mid term rewards.
Also, in my experience with four kids, the pacifier is most useful as a "sleep prop" for naps and nighttime. It really never let me give my kids less attention while they were up and awake, but it helped us both get some much needed sleep.
I put my smartphone in airplane mode, or turn it off, when it's time to sleep.
