For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. (Mark 4:25)
Smartphone technology is a double-edged sword; it is neither completely evil nor completely beneficial. More and more, I see around me the evidence of a growing inequality — and not just in income.
Examining myself and the people around me, I have come to the conclusion that smartphones are only making the success-and-achievement gap larger. For people who can delay gratification (read about the psychological principle here and here), the smartphone is the path to greater knowledge and power. For people who are victim to their strongest urges, the smartphone is a drug that never fully satisfies. This results in the powerful becoming more powerful, and the weak becoming weaker.
Several successful people I know are heavy smartphone users. They use their devices to make cheap conference calls, to send fast email replies, and to challenge their minds via ebooks or online lectures. On the flip side, we are all too familiar with the potential pitfalls of technology, from the candy crush addict who spends thousands of dollars on the game, to the television zombie who exists almost solely for the rush of prepackaged entertainment — I am victim to the too-much-internet disease at times.
More at The case for depriving your child (or even yourself) of a smartphone
Smartphone technology is a double-edged sword; it is neither completely evil nor completely beneficial. More and more, I see around me the evidence of a growing inequality — and not just in income.
Examining myself and the people around me, I have come to the conclusion that smartphones are only making the success-and-achievement gap larger. For people who can delay gratification (read about the psychological principle here and here), the smartphone is the path to greater knowledge and power. For people who are victim to their strongest urges, the smartphone is a drug that never fully satisfies. This results in the powerful becoming more powerful, and the weak becoming weaker.
Several successful people I know are heavy smartphone users. They use their devices to make cheap conference calls, to send fast email replies, and to challenge their minds via ebooks or online lectures. On the flip side, we are all too familiar with the potential pitfalls of technology, from the candy crush addict who spends thousands of dollars on the game, to the television zombie who exists almost solely for the rush of prepackaged entertainment — I am victim to the too-much-internet disease at times.
More at The case for depriving your child (or even yourself) of a smartphone
