This issue is not so much about smartphones, but more about our increasing dependence on mobile technology combined with an irresistible cocktail of social networking. A cocktail in which there are incentives for constant participation, information exchange, as well as incessant pokes.
Basically, the problem was identified by Yale University computer science professor David Gelernter who very aptly named it “lifestream” as reported by ZDNet.
In short, smartphones and the social networking cocktail combined with the trend of searching and sharing information create a perfect situation that fosters artificially created autism disorders and antisocial behavior.
Smartphones and technology as a whole are generally accepted and ethically neutral, aren't they?
Technology can be ethically neutral, but society as a whole sets the rules. From the moment we collectively decide as a society what is socially acceptable, we cannot turn back.
For example, in 1920, radio became a popular form of entertainment and began to displace various social activities, while in the 1950s television shows were the norm. These two technological revolutions caused an unprecedented social distancing.
The move towards personal computers since the early 1980s added another element of social distancing. In contrast to radio and television, which some people could enjoy in groups, the PC and online interaction were by nature a very solitary activity.
The widespread use of computers, the rise of online services, and the use of the Internet outside of academia brought about a trend towards social disconnection through technology. The mobile phone and text messaging magnified this emerging trend.
All the above technologies are combined in today's smartphones, which are now the perfect device with anti-social properties.
Smartphones and mobile devices in general, reinforce introversion by substituting social activities as long as there is a wireless data connection. One could argue that all technology, when applied in moderation, is beneficial.
Of course, we cannot shift all the responsibility for social disconnection entirely to the current generation of mobile devices. Smartphones and tablets simply happen to be the latest and greatest social networking tool. Game consoles and PC games have exactly the same effect.
Of course, there are also generations that grew up without the latest technologies. These generations have a yardstick for comparison. What is very worrying is that the latest generations are growing up with smartphones and none of them can remember life without them. They have never known a time when this form of behavior was socially unacceptable.
There will, however, be worse ones. The new technologies that are coming to us and will be worn (see Google Glass) will allow people to be antisocial in an almost undetectable way.
This is the ultimate evolution that is coming, like a governmental implant or a technological autism disorder.
How can this change?
The finding is frightening and the young groups in cafes enjoying their coffee with a smartphone in hand do not consider it important because they simply have no standard of comparison... or are all of us who have the same concerns the dinosaurs of the case, who stubbornly deny the rise of a new society, considering that ours was better?
What makes me feel better is the thought that man is a social being.
