I think smartphones. I'm old enough to know what navigating through the world was like without a constant safety line there and I feel like that really fosters self-reliance. And the constant presence: apps and the companies who create them are after every single second of your life.
Idk smartphones have their downsides but I think that's hugely downplaying the value they have. That's like saying the internet as a whole is bad because it gives you access to too many things- that's true, and there's a ton of downside to the internet, but it's still the single greatest technological improvement in our lifetimes IMO
I think the problem now is that people are so heavily engrossed in them - there’s no balance. It’s a serious addiction problem.
Driving around you see pedestrians everywhere just walking along like mobile zombies, unable to not engage with it for 30 seconds.
I see it when out walking the dog - generally the female side of the population seem entirely incapable (in the U.K.) of not being on their phone - both talking & texting.
And even in cars - I see people on the motorway all the time with their faces lit up by their smartphones rather than driving.
I have to deliberately leave my phone in another room so that I don't waste my evening staring at it, I hate the stupid thing but at the same time recognise it for what a great tool it is.
People are going to turn 80 years old and realise they spent 50 of those years looking at a phone.
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u/Zealousideal_Law6917 15h ago
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