The Smartphone and Our Dehumanisation or ME Times, Me and My Phone

I have a special and close relationship with my phone, taking a break from it only when I shower. It’s always near me, and when I sleep it is by the bed. It is true that I keep it there because I developed a fear a few years ago, when my father was extremely sick, and I thought my mother would call me at any moment. My fear of not being available in a critical moment, made me keep my phone on at all times, except when I am on the plane. I have an internal state of alertness that I carry with me everywhere I am.

This only partially justifies the phone addiction. I look around at the people who walk while looking at their phones. It is true that they drive me crazy when I drive – as if the driver is the only one responsible for the traffic. No, it is the same responsibility for the one who crosses the street: they have to look around.

I was at a restaurant on Valentine’s day. At some tables there were those so-called couples in love – they were all staring at their phones. I wonder why did they meet? To be alone together? To mutually ignore each other? I remember the years when I noticed the true day when the seasons changed; I was often in parks, on the street, paying attention to people, to nature. I still see those sometimes; when chasing something, I forget to look around and see how the leaves turn yellow or how the lilac blooms in December. We wake up one day and realise that we do not know how those days, seasons, years passed, that we do not know what happened to the people around us, that we did not see how they have grown, left, aged, or broken up.

The profound relationships with others and with the environment, with nature, took the backstage, leaving space for the relationship with the smartphone. We are more aware of what Selly did on YouTube than what a colleague, friend or parent did. We care more about the Instagram posts of so-called celebrities than about the ones we spend most of the day with.

This disinterest that we manifest towards others scares me, as well as the lack of curiosity for their activities, for their well-being. It is like an immunisation to humanity. I hope from the bottom of my heart that it will not last too long.