The smartphone has left us stupid

Dylan Stoll | Copy Editor

Featured image courtesy of Jasmine Wiradharma

The past decade has brought with it incredible advancements in engineering. From self-driving cars, to human-like robots, to multi-use rockets, the technological age has been an exciting and awe-inspiring experience, only limited in its brilliance by what we as humans can conjure with our imagination.

As inspired as I am by today’s technological wonders, there is one such invention that I’ve found to be an annoyance to say the least: the smartphone.

Am I the only one who can’t stand the constant life-interruption that smartphones represent?

I used to own a smartphone myself. I remember the distractions: the loud notifications, that slight urge to check my Facebook feed every five minutes, the need to experience life through a six-inch screen. It deteriorated me as an individual who lives and breathes in the moment, not in some cyberworld run amok with pictures of cats, moths, and Donald Trump’s small hands.

I’ve got nothing against computers, tablets, or any other form of convenient information access, but save it for home; there’s no need to check your Twitter feed when you’re out with a friend, or during lecture.

That being said, I’m just as much a Facebook-fiend as anyone else. But I understand I have a problem, and that’s the first step to recovery. The next step, for me at least, was simple: downgrade.

I downgraded my smartphone, a Galaxy S7, to a ZTE something-or-other—a flip phone.

Why, you may ask? I did it for me, and for everybody else. No longer will I stare at my phone during get-togethers with family or friends; no longer will I be distracted by social media, instead of the test in front of me. I chose to take a stand against smartphone abuse, and you should too.

‘But I don’t look at my phone, I just keep it next to me.’ It doesn’t matter. What that cell phone simply represents to you has more power and sway over your mind than you may realize.

A recent study published in the journal Social Psychology found that the mere presence of a cell phone can diminish both attention span, and cognitive ability. Within the study, two groups of participants were each given two tasks to accomplish: a digit cancellation task, and a digit additive cancellation task. The first group was allowed to keep their phones on their desk, as one of the tasks would ask them what type of cell phone they used, but the second group was told to keep their cell phones out of sight. The gist of each task was to measure the concentration and attention abilities of both groups. After the tasks were completed, the former group, the ones with the mind-devouring devices in sight, achieved an average score of 21, whereas the latter, free of the electronic parasite, scored 26.

The study effectively exposed the consequences of the smartphone; and not even the consequences of its use, but the consequences of its sole presence.

If that doesn’t scare you, the cost of the phone should! If you want to buy the newest smartphone from Apple, the iPhone XS Max, you’ll have to dish out—at the very least—a ridiculous $1,519; and I know there will be kids out there asking mom and dad to buy this for Christmas. ‘Don’t worry about my education, or the starving children of the world, because I want to see my face represented as a talking monkey; nay, I need to see my face represented as a talking monkey.’

So when my phone hits the ground and breaks (which it probably won’t, because it’s not some delicate piece of space-age technology), and I have to buy a new one, I’ll be laughing hysterically all the way to the bank, because I’ll have saved myself $1,469. And you know what? I’ll put that towards something more useful, like food, rent, or maybe a Netflix subscription, because anything is of more use than a $1,500 social media feed.