“Smart” Phones Have Made Us All Increasingly Stupid
Our smartphone obsession carries a hidden cost that undermines our humanity and intelligence
There’s an ancient biblical narrative within the Book of Daniel that depicts the Babylonian ruler, King Nebuchadnezzar, being reduced to a wild animal in form and action. He’s said to eat “grass like an ox” and have his hair grow “like the feathers of an eagle and nails like that of talons.” Tales of human transformation into beasts are as old as mythology itself. Greek and Roman literature, particularly Ovid’s accounts, offer numerous tales of gods transforming mortals into beasts, while Beauty and the Beast remains perhaps the most iconic modern retelling of such a metamorphosis. In each narrative, however, a singular cause drives these transformations — a glaring character flaw. Hubris and pride transform both Nebuchadnezzar and the Beast in the Disney classic, mirroring their uncaring and calloused hearts.
If the poets and scribes were to craft a modern tale of our society’s flaws, I wonder — what would we become? There are a myriad of issues they could technically choose from, and many could argue the merits. Yet if I were to suggest a single issue that appears to infect humankind in the twenty-first century, I’d contend that our smartphones have become the character flaw we…
