SWe are all drug addicts. Not of alcohol, smoking or various drugs, but of something apparently harmless. There is no need to look for a dealer to get a dose, nor are there warnings with photos of terrible diseases on the packaging. Nevertheless, it is a lethal weapon capable of taking over our lives. Yes, I’m talking about the cell phone.
As I write I keep it next to me, I might get a warning which, even if it’s not urgent, it’s always better to check, or a notification announced by those familiar rings that punctuate my life like a background soundtrack.
If by chance I think I’ve lost it I panic as if my soul was inside and in some way it is, because inside our smartphones we have locked up dreams, desires, friendships and of course the bank’s IBAN.
Serena Dandini (photo by Gianmarco Chieregato).
A book by Carlo Verdelli necessary and disturbing from the title The devil in his pocket. Parents and children prisoners of their cell phones (Einaudi).
In fact, reading is a true descent into hell with data in hand and an impressive series of pathological episodes taken from the news that show us the dangers of abuse (but who now uses it more sparingly?) than this pocket Aladdin lamp.
“The devil in his pocket. Parents and children prisoners of the mobile phone” by Carlo Verdelli (Einaudi).
«The reality is that the cell phone intended as a smartphone it’s a prison without bars and we are inside it. Becoming aware that the problem exists is already a good starting point.”
Much space is rightly dedicated to teenagers, digital natives who have never turned the wheel of an old telephone and sometimes live in symbiosis with this virtual friend who promises to defeat boredom and loneliness by giving in exchange isolation and loss of social contacts.
And now that artificial intelligence is mandatory on every menu, the risk of total slavery is no longer just a colorful metaphor. Many kids already trust the advice of an algorithm more than their classmatehowever, it is a dangerous imaginary friend who will never reach out to stop you if you are about to make an extreme gesture.
But we adults are the first to set a bad examplewithout realizing it we have sold our soul to the devil or worse our sensitive data convinced we were getting a good deal, without realizing that in exchange we are slowly giving up our critical capacitycuriosity and a free and autonomous political conscience. Sorry, I’ll leave you, I received a message… You never know…
All articles by Serena Dandini.
