Earlier this year, I wrote an article about why I choose to keep my dumb phone despite the fact that the rest of the world adopted the iPhone 5 twelve years ago (okay, that’s a slight exaggeration). My article sparked some much-needed conversation both here at Greatist and on Lifehacker, where it generated nearly 200 comments arguing for and against the use of both “dumb” and “smart” technologies. This video takes that conversation to a whole new level.
Written by Charlene deGuzman and directed by Miles Crawford, the video has racked up more than 10 million views in the past five days alone — suggesting folks have strong opinions about how smart phones affect our lives. The artfully-shot short chronicles deGuzman’s participation in a number of gorgeous, sentimental, and momentous occasions — all of which are missed by her compatriots, who are too distracted by their phones’ screens to take notice.
As smart technology increasingly infiltrates our lived experiences (at least in the Western hemisphere), we as individuals, communities, and a society need to think and talk about whether and how smart technologies should be incorporated into our daily lives.
While smart phones have their arguable benefits — they connect us to friends and loved ones and allow us to keep useful apps at our fingertips, for instance — they’re not without downsides. Exposure to an unrelenting influx of information and sensory stimulation encourages multitasking, which generally diminishes productivity and inhibits the formation of-short term memories
The point is not that smart phones are inherently “bad.” Rather, the film makes a compelling argument for the importance of mindful integration of technologies into our lives — so that they don’t become our lives. Though it contains hardly any dialogue, the video delivers a powerful message: Do not let your phone destroy opportunities to connect with other humans and the world at large. Put down the phone, and love the one(s) you’re with.
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