Mobile Phones. Look down. What’s in your hand? A mobile that controls your entire life. It’s your bank, your map, your photo album, your social life and sometimes your family. But it’s also your neck-chain (Just like your pet has), your constant distraction and addiction and a trap that we have all willingly fallen into and are still falling into and will continue to fall into.

This is not about technology but this is a story about the value of human life, which is becoming addicted to the digital trap. It’s about the harsh and bitter truths we ignore..

The World Before the Screen and After the Screen

A Life with Space

A few decades back, the pace of human life was nothing like this.

Boredom was a blessing. Standing in a queue was something to observe people, to think, to give a mind relaxation. No need to scroll the feeds, no notifications to respond to. Your brain had time to roam.

It was an obligation to talk. You could not send a text shorthand. You need to dial a phone, wait until it is ringing and make a meaningful conversation with an individual. To meet somebody, you had to decide on a time and a place and in case you were not in time you were late. Period. No texts, no mapping points. This compelled you to exhibit yourself and so your word was your bond.

There was learning itself. It was not a question that was Googled. You have been to a library. You have to open a book. You put a pro to the question. The information discovery was time-consuming and this time-consuming allowed a stronger attachment to what you were learning. It developed tolerance and sincere interest.

It was not an ideal world, though there was more physicality, more deliberate dialogue and slowness.

The Human Trap 

Then the trap came, and it was not that it transformed our lives but it captured it. The human became addicted to this trap. It was not created as an easy instrument; it was made as an omnipresent device, something humans get addicted to and receive minute doses of dopamine.

Great Loneliness Paradox

We are now more than ever “connected.” We are connected with thousands of friends online, we watch what everyone is up to and can contact anybody at any place. Do but look at you. This is seen at the restaurants, the trains, in the living rooms people may be united yet they are separated. We have exchanged in-depth and substantial communication with empty, weekly announcements. We are plugged in and reach out to everyone but we are present with no one. The outcome is a generation that is more lonely than before.

The Killing of Concentration

The phone is a foe to deep work and real thinking. We have been taught to be disrupted all the time. A text message, a social media message or an email a small electric shock to the brain and diverting our attention away and off the task we are doing. The attention span is getting short. We are masters of multitasking and we are losing the skill of being able to be immersed in one thing. We are learning to be adept at distraction.

The Delegation of Self

We have delegated to this gadget our fundamental human processes.

Our memory? It is our notes, the cloud, our calendars. We no longer memorize birthdays and telephone numbers.

Our direction? It is found in a GPS application. We have stopped noticing things around us and getting the assistance of a stranger. We have lost our sense of place.

Our social self-behovesty? It lies in the amount of likes we receive. We have given up our self-esteem to a digital metric and have left ourselves with a low-level background insistent state of anxiety that we don’t measure up.

We have exchanged our capabilities with the convenience of the gadget and are now addicted.

The Harsh Truths and The Ultimate Scam

Mobile phones are not a tricky product that has advantages and disadvantages. It is a new reality having its unspoken laws.

The Pro: “It’s so convenient!” The Real Deal: Yes. It is convenient to the companies that constructed it. They have turned us into a product. We are the consumers of the product and they have perfected the art of making us addicts. That sensation that you have when you scroll and scroll? It is not an option. That is a design.

The Pro: “It’s a great tool for work!” The bitter reality: it has destroyed the work-life balance. You never say that you are “off.” The pressure of being ready all the time, available all the time, being reachable all the time, connected to the workplace all the time is killing our mind and our lives. We are not working less anymore.

The Pro: “It helps me stay informed!” The Unpleasant Reality: It has formed an echo chamber of agitprop and fake news. We are being spoon-fed with a never ending parade of news which is intended to raise an emotion, not an opinion. That never-ending stream of anger and polarization pays dividends to keep us clicking, keeps us focused, and keeps us unconnected to actual human beings within our local society.

An Unplugged Soul last Question

Then what is the answer? Nothing can be changed. The technology is not going anywhere and its advantages are not imaginary. However, this question is not concerned with going back in time; it is concerned with climbing ahead with clarity.

It is not the case that we should do away with our phones. It is to regain control. It is to comprehend that mobile is a device, and we are not the product of the gadget.

Lay it away. Look up. Breathe.

It is not only a past world without your phone. It is the world that is occurring immediately in front of you, at this current moment. It is a dialog with the guy sitting next to you. It is the peace of your personal thoughts. It is the street in which you have a walk.

The cell phone is an influential instrument. However, it is your life.

Who is the boss?