The video failed to show the real direct harm and suffering the overuse of smartphones can cause to our society. Being lonely or failing to spot a potential lover on the street is not a very strong argument against smartphones. In fact, it can be argued that the internet is a more direct culprit in alienating people in today's society, although the smartphone has indeed strengthened the effect. The message of the video just looked strong because of the use of poetry (bland poetry I might add) and sentimentality. The fact is that the dependence and overuse of smartphones can directly lead to much more serious consequences for the environment we live in. To be honest, I will not feel particularly bad for a person who is constantly staring at his smartphone and fails to interact meaningfully with important people in his or her life or if the same person fails to detect a potential mate walking on the street. That is a choice the person makes and this choice mostly causes harm to the person that consciously makes it. I want to make a more powerful and relevant example of how the overuse of smartphones is making society worse. And I have a real-life example I would like to share that I actually witnessed today. I had actually thought of the same scenario to myself but today I was unfortunate enough to witness it.
I was on the bus (I live in China by the way and its quite rare to get a seat on the bus). This time I was lucky and I got a seat when another person got off the bus. As usual I noticed many people around me looking at their smartphones. Then an old couple came on the bus. Usually people are quite vigilant for old people and quickly offer their seats to them. I might add that respect for elders is an important value in Chinese society. But this time nobody got out of their seats to offer these seniors a seat and the couple just helplessly looked around them and only saw people looking at screens. A lot of people simply failed to notice that an elderly couple had stepped onto the bus because they were busy looking at something on their smartphone. I was sitting quite near the rear of the bus but got out of my seat and offered my seat to them.
This example is much more powerful than the one given in 'look up'. When people choose to lock their attention on their smartphones they can directly be responsible for other people's suffering. Perhaps this is not very severe suffering in my example but it could easily have been an accident that people failed to notice because they were too busy entertaining themselves with their smartphone.
As members of the human species we have a responsibility to be on the lookout for our fellow citizens. I believe that the overuse of smartphones can lead to people becoming more self-centered and detached from the environment. And that is a much bigger threat to society than the failure to spot a pretty-looking girl walking on the street.
And this is just a nice song, really.
