Most Popular Choices
Share on Facebook 37 Printer Friendly Page More Sharing
Exclusive to OpEd News:
Life Arts   

Can We TALK? If the "Zombie Apocalypse" has arrived, "smart" phones are to blame

By       (Page 1 of 4 pages)   3 comments
Message Anthony Barnes
Become a Fan
  (17 fans)

Google Soft Censorship

Google ad policies define this article as NOT acceptable, so Google refuses to show Google ads on this page. We depend upon advertising revenues to survive.

Since Google refuses to show ads on this content, we're asking you to override Google's decision and help us survive by 1) donating to OpEd News or 2) becoming a Paid Member of OpEd News. (Know that if we had sufficient income, we wouldn't use Google ads at all.)

Can we talk? Zombies and smart phones.
Can we talk? Zombies and smart phones.
(
Image by the_steve_cox)   Details   DMCA

"When the phone don't ring, you'll know it's me that ain't callin." -- Jimmy Buffett


If a tree falls hard in a forest and only "smart phone zombies" are around, does that tree make a sound?

It's worth pondering. Nowadays, thanks to "smart phones," if you entered a crowded bank for a purpose similar to that of Willie Sutton -- in other words, to rob it -- you'd probably have to announce your intentions by way of text message. On public transportation, the irresistible force of smart phones seems to induce a form of electronic narcolepsy within humans -- turning them into immovable objects -- causing untold numbers of its victims to routinely miss their stops. Of course the lucky ones -- those smart-phone zombies who never fall prey to such mindless frustration -- are probably using some sort of trip-planner app that literally TELLS them where to get off.

Yes, folks, the long-imagined "zombie apocalypse" seems to have befallen us and its deleterious results to humankind are vividly obvious. Its arrival shunts forth a de-evolutionary spiral into cognitive inertia by an entire planet afflicted with a kind of interactive overindulgence disorder. The worldwide pandemic some might call "smart-phone syndrome" seems far more virulent than Ebola -- for which a vaccine is now available -- or any other from among Planet Earth's exotic multitude of physical or mental maladies.

Its symptoms include: compulsive behaviors; substituting technology for relationships; physical ailments; "digital" insomnia; "cyber overload", smart-phone-separation anxiety; skewed priorities; and an altered sense of time and place.

Thanks to smart phones, the celebrated French philosopher Rene Descartes' succinctly astute proposition: "Cogito ergo sum" translated from Latin as "I think, therefore I am," is becoming increasingly open to debate. After all, with a properly app-loaded smart phone, it might be possible to avoid thinking altogether. Thus as the act of thinking becomes progressively more inconvenient, Descartes' proposition becomes commensurately less relevant. Flipped on its head, the philosopher's proposition becomes the starkly zombie-ish qualifying metaphor for our smart-phone-addled 21st century: "I think not, therefore I am not."

Widespread overuse of smart-phone technology seems to offer a stellar example of the consequences -- in this case, a cyber-opiated society - that often arise when desire vastly overshadows need. There's an abundance of solid yet somewhat preliminary evidence pertaining to lowered levels of cognizance related to excessive smart-phone use. A recent study published in Science Daily, for example , determined that excessive online browsing can, among other things, result in "squandered memories" and a "loss of important information".

"There is strong reason to suspect that frequent smart phone use and the constant connectivity it engenders interfere with memory formation," writes Ron Friedman, Ph.D. in this January's edition of Psychology Today. "The brain requires periods of rest. In a world where every free moment is spent refreshing email or responding to text messages, there are fewer opportunities for long-term memories to form."

Eric Fransen, a researcher at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, adds: "Working memory enables us to filter out information. When you are on Facebook, you are making it harder to keep the things that are 'online' in your brain that you need. And when you try to store many things in your working memory, you become less able to process information."

Next Page  1  |  2  |  3  |  4

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).

Rate It | View Ratings

Anthony Barnes Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

Anthony Barnes, of Boston, Massachusetts, is a left-handed leftist. "When I was a young man, I wanted to change the world. I found it was difficult to change the world, so I tried to change my nation. When I found I couldn't change the (more...)
 

Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Writers Guidelines

 
Contact AuthorContact Author Contact EditorContact Editor Author PageView Authors' Articles
Support OpEdNews

OpEdNews depends upon can't survive without your help.

If you value this article and the work of OpEdNews, please either Donate or Purchase a premium membership.

STAY IN THE KNOW
If you've enjoyed this, sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter to get lots of great progressive content.
Daily Weekly     OpEd News Newsletter
Name
Email
   (Opens new browser window)
 

Most Popular Articles by this Author:     (View All Most Popular Articles by this Author)

Death of the Republican Party

SURPRISE! Chris Christie's 2016 Gambit

Starlight and Shadows

ERRORS AND NO FACTS: Business as Usual at Fox News

ISRAEL'S SHAME

PIG TALES

To View Comments or Join the Conversation:

Tell A Friend