I do mean this literally. Devil is a word with the origin meaning to slander or throw off. In a sense the devil is an obstacle that hinders humans. The devil is an adversary. So, understanding how smartphones have damaged the human spirit thru social media and excessive consumerism well then yes, the devil literally lives in your phone waiting to keep your spirit and human ego obsessed with all things that should not matter to humanity.
To be fair the phone itself is not a problem it’s certain apps on your phone that are the problem. It’s the usage of escaping boredom that destroys the human brain, seriously. Sadly enough, it’s been known for some time that the escape of boredom due to technology destroys creativity, leads to aggression especially in youth, and mental health issues. When you think of the fact that the US also is obsessed with consumerism, celebrity worship and socioeconomic status then you should be able to see that social media gives access to all of those mentioned. Technology in general seems to even center them instead of the more profound humane benefits of technology such as providing prosthetic limbs where people can feel again, AI detection for cancer, or finding ways to create modern communities in harmony with nature. Now don’t get me wrong I love technology I work with technology but the execution of it is poor. Instead of using it bring out the more humane parts of humanity it’s used more so as distraction, division, and overall greed consumption. This is why I strongly believe in AI and as many may not understand cities need AI unless we were to revert to living in villages or small towns there’s no way cities can move forward without AI. In a sense, cities should have never been created in the first place without really studying the harmful effects that they can cause.
Today we have more cities than ever, and this was without AI. AI would enable development of cities in a more harmonious way with nature. AI (probably with quantum computing) can create smart cities to use energy in more efficient ways like using the kinetic energy from humans to power cities which will require humans to move more (healthier humans), which would also be clean energy, and regulate energy to those that need it, so energy is not wasted. Think of traffic lights that work thru the detection of motion and cars instead of on a timer basis. Think of cities having enough green placed in the most appropriate locations to become carbon negative. The only thing that would prevent AI from being used properly is greed and a mindset that believes people should work redundant tasks instead of doing things that bring value. But we need to shut off our phones more to realize this. Boredom is the discovery of innovation and new philosophies. Without boredom we cannot recognize our true issues.
The devil in your phone is adept at creating division and polarizing views amongst society as if we all do not breathe air, bleed red, need food, shelter, and water to survive. We must remember that there is more that makes us the same than divides us and what divides us is just diversity that bring new ideas and different ways of thinking to life. These differences are only to embrace not hate just because we do not understand them. Now maybe crime is decreasing but certain types of crime is increasing such as mass shootings and Jan 6th style attacks could have just been the start. We’re seeing the youth commit suicide and being more violent today than ever before. It’s odd to me that rap music was seen as this boogey man when music is 3 mins long and a tv show about violence is 30 to 60 mins long and a film is an hour and twenty minutes at minimum on average. There’s a racist component to that but there’s the Machine that will rather prioritize profit over the wellness of kids. But it’s not just kids suffering. My peers, millennials are suffering from some of the same things just as much. They’re lost without really truly understanding themselves because they are addicted to screen time almost just as bad. The time to really self-reflect only comes at times when things are tragic. However, self-reflection should be a daily thing. FOMO is at an all-time high and seeking validation of others due to a lack of internal validation is even higher.
People put this facade up as if they’re above social media opinions but they’re always in the mix as if social media posts have a gravitational pull on them. Life needs balance and excessive use of smartphones meaning 4 hours or more does not allow us to balance. Your brain constantly producing beta waves does not allow the theta and alpha waves to emerge. Theta and alpha waves are key for innovative and creative thinking, relaxation, and calmness. Your brain is like a marathon runner that is on a treadmill with excessive social media use which is why you’re probably never able to fall asleep, achieve quality REM/Deep sleep, or focus on new ideas. It’s also why you feel so much anxiety or depression or even worse loneliness. There’s nothing more obvious about the devil being in your phone than the tragic irony of the CDC declaring that loneliness and isolation is an epidemic in a world of 7 billion people and a country with over 350 million people with social media access.
Yoruba Demons 