Cell Phones: Controlling Humans or Humans Controlling Cell Phones? - Essay Sample

Introduction

Few innovations have had a more significant impact on human life than cell phones. Cell phones have become such an essential part of human life to the point of controlling human actions instead of being controlled by humans. It is that addiction to the digital devices that make the focus of the short animation movie Cell Phone Addiction by Steve Cutts. According to Cutts, the systems that were designed to help the human race and improve it are failing, and if nothing is done to correct it, then the human race is heading towards self-destruction. The author uses a series of animated videos to show how human addiction to cell phones is preventing them from enjoying the world in which they live. It is also making them lose a part of their selves that defined their humanity. They can only see their world through the screens of mobile devices. Cell phone addiction has caused humans to lack awareness of their surroundings, lack of compassion for each other, obsession with living a fake life online, and using cell phones to hide depression and other forms of mental illnesses.

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Lost in Screens: The Impact of Cell Phone Addiction

Cell phone addiction has caused people to always stare down at their cell phone screens, and that makes them vulnerable to accidents because they lack awareness regarding their physical environment. In the video, a group of people walks into an open utility hole because they are staring at their cell phone screens instead of where they are walking (Cutts 0:00-0:03). Also, the person supposed to be watching over the utility hole and warn people about the open utility hole is staring at his cell phone. The result is a string of people falling into the hole without anyone noticing or warning them about it. The depiction of the video is not an exaggeration. Reports of people being involved in accidents because they were too busy on their phones to be aware of their physical environment are not that rare. As recent as 2019, a 16-year-old girl died while trying to take a selfie from the balcony of their 17th-floor apartment (Mansoor par.1). According to Mansoor, the U.S National Library of Medicine found that more than 259 people have reportedly died while taking selfies between 2011 and 2017 (par. 5). That figure might seem meager when compared to other problems that humans succumb to every year. The problem is that those are only for reported cases. A good number of car accidents happen because someone was on their phone. If such statistics are factored in, then the number of cell phone-related accidents could rise exponentially. Cell phone addiction is something to be taken seriously, and it can prove fatal for some people.

The Dark Side of Connectivity: Cell Phone Addiction Unveiled

Cell phone addiction is also responsible for the lack of sympathy for other people's feelings and suffering. Cutts demonstrates that point by using the video of a person that is being beaten in public, and people are recording and taking photos of the image instead of lending a helping hand to the victim of the incident (Cutts 0:12-0:14). The demonstration is an accurate depiction of the current society of cell phone addiction because people are so focused on increasing their online presence to the point of sacrificing their humanity and virtues. Such occurrences are common in everyday life as many people are mistreated, and some are physically harmed in public places because the members of the public prefer to record rather than prevent or stop the incidence in the first place. That shows that cell phones are eroding some of the virtues and values that humans once had. The virtues that obligated people to help each other in tough times because they would expect the same in similar situations. The problem is, helping a brother or sister in trouble is no longer a priority for some people.

The Masked Reality: Cell Phone Addiction and Mental Health

Cell phone addiction is also evident in how people are always willing to portray a fake life and image online. The two previous points have also demonstrated this point as nothing else other than digital life seems to matter to most people. When one is too focused on his phone to the point of endangering their life, it means they value their digital presence more than their real life. When one is taking pictures and recording videos when someone else's life is in danger, it means that a person values their digital presence more than the other person's life. In the video, there is a lady whose online appearance is different from her real-life appearance (Cutts 0:43-0:45). The excerpt reflects people who are bothered by their lives and appearance. Therefore decide to edit their pictures and videos to impress their online friends. They choose to fake it instead of working on their real lives so that their lives can look how they want it to be. That is an example of cell phone addiction because it shows they are having difficulty accepting themselves.

The excerpt also indicates that people are always hiding behind the camera. They are not ready for the world to see them as they are, so they go through all the trouble of editing, not just their pictures but the personality that they display through their cell phones. Most people get to live their dreams behind the cell phone screens instead of going out there and living their lives as they want. They are so bothered by how people perceive them to the extent of changing their looks to fit their online profile. That aspect can be seen in the video as one of the characters undergoes plastic surgery to enlarge her breasts and butt because they are not happy with how they look. Their cell phone addiction has caused them to change their appearance because they are seeking to impress people in their digital profile. The only opinion that matters is the one that a person has on him or herself. Also, it is tough to change how people think of oneself but very easy to change how one thinks of oneself.

Cell Phones: The Modern Pandora's Box of Addiction

Cell phone addiction is also evident in the way people are using their cell phones to hide their mental illnesses and other serious psychological issues. In the video, people on a train are on their phones using laugh emojis and other similar emoticons that represent joy and excitement while, in reality, they are worn down and looking like zombies (Cutts 0:24-0:28). Indifferent to the world around them. Once again, the effects of faking it evident as a portion of the population are depressed, and no one can know because they are portraying a different image through their cell phones. The use of emojis has become so prevalent in the modern world that it is almost synonymous with cell phone culture. While emojis were invented as a tool for communicating human emotion, it has become a tool for hiding it. The emojis that people send through their cell phones do not represent their emotions or feelings. Instead, these emojis, like everything else in the digital hemisphere, represent what the sender thinks the receiver should see. While that may work favor the receiver, it does not do much to alleviate the situation of the sender.

Conclusion

The issue of cell phone addiction is one that has severe consequences for human societies. The examples are teenagers dying while trying to take impressive selfies to people witnessing an act of gruesome violence against their fellow humans and failing to act to save them. Scientists have accredited cell phone addiction as one of the reasons for rising cases of mental illnesses among adults within the past decade (Twenge par.7). Mental illness is a big problem for the adult population in the United States, and the government needs to work on the way to reduce cell phone addiction to improve the mental health of its adult population. Cell phone addiction may also harm productivity as people spend an increased number of hours using their cell phones for purposes other than work.

Works Cited

Cutts, Steve, director. Cell Phone Addiction. YouTube, Bilal Farooq, 29 May 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QugooaNRnsk.

Mansoor, Zainab. "Teenager Dies While Trying to Take Selfie in Dubai." Gulf Business, Gulf Business, 27 Oct. 2019, gulfbusiness.com/teenager-dies-trying-take-selfie-dubai/.

Twenge, Jean. "Mental Health Issues Increased Significantly in Young Adults over Last Decade." ScienceDaily, American Psychological Association, 15 Mar. 2019, www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/03/190315110908.htm.