The Devil in My Pocket
This past Sunday, I locked my phone away. Aside from pulling it out once to respond to my wife and bringing it with us on a quick trip to surprise some family selling Girl Scout Cookies at the local hardware store, I never looked at it.
But I felt it.
Oh, I felt the desire to unlock that box, pick it up and start scrolling. There was no apparent need, just an innate impulse to do so.
That’s why I call it the devil in my pocket.
Any second there is a lull, or even if I need a quick hit while doing something mundane, repetitive, or just in general, I reflexively grab it and start checking email, social media, or whatever. I will do this even if I just checked all the same apps 10 minutes earlier. I will do this fully aware of the insanity of my actions. As Rita Mae Brown famously said in her 1983 book Sudden Death (yet often misquoted as Albert Einstein), ‘Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.’ The problem is, occasionally, something interesting does pop up, giving that quick dopamine hit and reinforcing the habit.
Although I wasn’t looking at it throughout the day, I was thinking about its wickedness. About what I’m doing to myself, to my family, my wife, and my children. It sets a terrible example for them, and it consumes me and takes me away from reality. I’m sure I’m overstating all this, but am I? There are many times Christina will be talking to me or ask me something, and I can’t hear her. I’m not there. I’m entranced by my phone. It’s hypnotic. It swallows up all my senses and my life. When I come to, she’s already moved on, leaving me in disgrace.
I can’t help but think that that little device, a true modern marvel so ubiquitous the world over that even some of the poorest communities are enraptured by it, will be our collective downfall. Just look at the overwhelming gravitational force it has on me; I didn’t even grow up with a smartphone. I can’t begin to fathom what it’s having and going to have on children growing up.
I hate that my kids see me in a daze looking at it. But I still find myself doing it despite my reservations. There is no other object I look at with such fixation. I can only imagine they view my phone as some sort of idol. The moment they get their hands on my or Christina’s phone, they look at it as if they’ve acquired the holy grail, for there is almost nothing that gets taken away from them faster.
I admit my phone habits and actions are poor, and I own up to them. I must fix them. Consider the lock box and this confession the first step. But I can’t help but think and worry about what’s to come of this little devil, always burning a hole through my pocket, malignantly pressing against my thigh. Must I lock it away for good?
Fortunately, I don’t need it for work or anything serious during the day; it's just simple communication between my wife and family. But I appreciate the convenience of quickly responding to a text or call and taking the occasional action shot. But that sort of convenience wasn’t always the norm; it hadn’t been for 99.9% of human history. But now, it’s expected, it’s ASSUMED you have that phone attached to your hip or even your wrist so you can answer the messenger on a dime, and if you don’t, well, either you’re thought to be ignoring it, or something is awfully wrong.
But this is just a microcosm of what I imagine is occurring throughout the rest of modern society. That’s why I am sharing this brief snippet of a personal struggle of mine. Something I’m trying to dismantle from my neural construct. I need to relearn just to BE, not be with my phone. I think we all do. I’m not myopic about the reality surrounding this issue, though.
As much as it would be best for the sake of humanity for us to pull back on the use of smartphones, and advanced technology as a whole (hello, artificial general intelligence), we are dealing with an unstoppable force, moving into the future at hyper speed. And we, as a species, are just somersaulting along with it.
So, why do I call the smartphone the devil in my pocket? I see the smartphone as a portal to an alternate universe where everything is as accessible as a click of a button, such as with the ease of committing any one of the seven deadly sins. We all know what they are: lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride, but have we ever considered how easily they can entice us through our phones? Let’s take a look:
Lust ➡️ Dating apps (Tinder) and porn can encourage superficial relationships and instant sexual gratification.
Gluttony ➡️ Food delivery apps (UberEATS, Doordash) can foster overindulgence.
Greed ➡️ Online shopping apps (Amazon) can perpetuate a never-ending cycle of material desire.
Sloth ➡️ Entertainment (Netflix) and social media platforms can lead to excessive inactivity (binge-watching) and procrastination (endless scrolling).
Wrath ➡️ Anonymity and distance on social media can fuel anger and hostility.
Envy ➡️ Idealized online personas can create feelings of inadequacy and jealousy.
Pride ➡️ A focus on likes and followers can cultivate ego and self-importance.
At no other time in history could you so seamlessly move from one vice to another and potentially all seven in a matter of minutes. How frightening is that?
In 2 Corinthians 11:14, it is stated, "And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light." Yes, smartphones offer tremendous benefits: connectivity, convenience, and information, but they also have the incredible potential to lead users astray morally or spiritually. Don’t let that devil disguised as an angel of light fool you into believing otherwise.
So, what is there to do then? We can’t just give them up. They’re too engrained into society and our psyche. As with my belief, with almost anything, if we want to cultivate true, lasting change, it starts with parents setting the right example for their kids, so these kids are at least equipped with the knowledge and proper footing to move conscientiously into the future. Ultimately, no public policy or national referendum can rival the impact of this singular parenteral act when embraced collectively by a community, and by extension, an entire population.
Fellow parents, let’s put down the phones, lock ‘em up if you have to, and look up at our kids, significant others, friends and family, and the world around us. Let’s not let the smartphone control us any longer. Let’s not let this devil in our pocket leave its mark on our family history. Let’s finally take back control and start seeing what reality really looks like, not as it seems through that window in your hands.
Our kids will thank us later.
****
Stay informed. Stay aware. Stay free.
-Greg
Excellent !