Why Smart Phones Make us Dumber (And What We Can do)

Why Smartphones Are Making Us Dumber (and What we will Do About It)

Smartphones are unbelievable and outrageous, making us stupid. Not just stupid. Also lonely, depressed, narcissistic, compulsive, and cynical. But for the purpose of this short article, this is stupid. Smartphones have brought us to a deadlock.

I suspect it has been for several years, because I realize that my smartphone is constantly distracting me, filling the more superficial aspects of my consciousness, and starving the deeper aspects.

When I get up in the morning, I check my phone even before getting out of bed.

First, I checked my text messages. Some texts from friends. Some texts from people who want to know if I received the FB message or email sent yesterday. A text message from Verizon told me that my bill is about to expire and my data usage has almost reached the monthly limit.

Secondly, I checked my email notification. The Wall Street Journal and 10 other media outlets sent a list of news and review articles they thought I needed to read. If I only send my social security number, birthday, full name, and my passport photo, then a generous person in Nigeria is willing to deposit 10 million dollars in my bank account. Someone wants to know if I received the email they sent yesterday afternoon; they are not sure because I haven't answered it for more than half a day. A person who had read one of my opinion articles told me that he wanted me to be hit by a dump truck.

Third, I checked my social media notifications. Twitter DM and Facebook messages indicate that they need to respond. My Twitter feed informs me that Donald Trump has posted something on Twitter, and various news media either condemn it unambiguously or praise it enthusiastically. People in my Facebook feed use all capital letters and exclamation points to emphasize each other! People on Instagram shared photos of their plates-arugula, quinoa, avocado toast, kale, Sriracha, seasonal coffee drinks, etc.

In the end, I only have a few minutes a day to repeat the same cycle. Between two meetings. During the meeting. At the traffic lights. Even peeking at dinner or while talking with my wife.

And, all along, every time I eat obsessive-compulsive disorder, I feel dull or become more blind.

Therefore, for many years, I have suspected that smartphones have made us clumsy.

But in recent years, many studies have proved our suspicions. One of the most interesting analyses is the collaboration between neuroscientist Adam Gazzaley and psychologist Larry D. Rosen (different from Dr. Rosen cited in Fletch).

Gazzaley and Rosen explored the impact of technology on the human brain in "Distracting the Spirit: The Ancient Brain in the High-Tech World" and came up with the "distraction" situation. In this case, we are pursuing meaningful goals. And certain things hinder the effort to achieve a goals-the result of tension between two basic characteristics of the human brain: (1) our ability to conceive, plan and accomplish meaningful goals; (2) in the process of achieving these goals In this, we can control our thoughts and environment.

They divide their attention into a head-on collision between a "powerful force" (our meaningful goal) and a "barrier" (our limited mental control ability). In our high-tech era, powerful forces often overwhelm obstacles, and we feel powerless for this. Our attention span is reduced, our memory is weakened, and our ability to switch back and forth between tasks is reduced.

At the core of all this is the smartphone. It can collect interference better than any other device, amplify the interference and feed it back to us continuously. It will notify us of incoming emails, texts, phone calls, and voice mails. It displays notifications from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other social media. It allows us to immediately know the weather channel, Fox News, or CNN or any time we have something to tell us.

Smartphones are a medium for increasing demand, increasing public, and increasing anxiety. Its apps are full of useless information, sulfuric acid, slander, and rudeness. It distracts us mercilessly all day long.

Research shows that compulsive use of smartphones isolates us from the world and reduces the likelihood of us talking, dating, or going out to work with friends. Its social media applications give us a higher awareness of social exclusion. In many people, the combination of isolation and social exclusion makes us feel depressed, and in some cases even commit suicide.

For those engaged in political activities, I suspect that this is a cause of insanity (and insanity).

Worst of all, the tech industry lives off smartphone addiction. Technology companies know that their attractive digital media strategy can cause a surge of dopamine in the brain. In response, they gathered all the resources at hand and plunged us into a state of compulsion and addiction. They want you to become a gay, narcissistic villain, with increased inattention.

So, how do we resist the stupid thinking caused by smartphones?

I do not assume we need to take drastic measures. Of course, the smartphone itself is not bad. In many ways, they are very helpful. After all, without a smartphone, how can I order books on Amazon when I am stuck in traffic? How do I delete emails while waiting for boarding? No one wants to go back to the era of rotary phones or Mobira Talkman.

But most of us do need to take targeted steps to resist the clumsy and stupidity caused by smartphone addiction. You may refuse to look at your cell phone until you finish your breakfast and spend some time praying and praying. Maybe turn off notifications on email and social media apps. Maybe leave your smartphone in another room during meals, meetings, and talking with friends. Maybe grant yourself permission to not respond to everyone who contacts you through one of these apps.

In any case, the key is this: smartphone technologies can often promote and enhance tasks and entertainment involving shallower forms of consciousness, but they often weaken our minds and destroy more meaningful goals that require deeper consciousness. So let us decide to spend less time developing more superficial forms of consciousness, and spend more time developing deeper consciousness.

In doing so, we will become more stupid and happier. And I'm not the only one like this.  I understand because I read approximately it on my phone this afternoon.