外刊阅读 | 卫报 | 智能手机对我们有害吗？

Now that destiny has brought us together,it matters little that we have never met before.

相逢何必曾相识。

Are smartphones bad for us?

智能手机对我们有害吗？

1

Despite their sudden ubiquity, there’s still a lot we don’t know about how our smartphones are affecting us. Are they alienating people from each other, or helping them to connect with others? Do they affect children differently than adults? And how do we step away from our phones if our whole lives are on them?There isn’t a broad consensus as of yet; different studies draw different conclusions. To attempt to capture the current state of the discussion surrounding smartphones, we spoke to five experts. Interviews have been edited and condensed for clarity.

Why are so many people worried about their phone use?Because many people feel themselves caught in the vortex of compulsive overuse. Some people even hate their phones, but still struggle to reduce use. In 2021, US adults spent on average eight hours with digital media each day. A growing body of evidence shows that the more time a person spends consuming digital media each day, the more likely they are to struggle with depression and anxiety. We see clinically that when depressed and anxious patients spend less time online, mood and anxiety improve without our having done any other intervention.

How does smartphone use affect children and teens differently than adults?Children’s brains are going through a rapid process of development where the circuits they use least are pruned and the circuits they use most often made more efficient through a process called myelination. Hence, childhood and adolescence is a critical time of building neural circuits that will provide the scaffolding for the adult brain.If children are spending all their time online, they will have a complex and elaborated neural scaffolding for that but not for other important activities, like learning delayed gratification, frustration tolerance, in-person socialization, mind-body connection, etc. Also, adolescents are exquisitely sensitive to social cues and so are more likely to be influenced by the social contagion effect of the internet.

What do we know about how phones affect our day-to-day social interactions?Social media invites comparisons between ourselves and other people, leaving many of us feeling that we can never measure up to the illusory standards of achievement, beauty or happiness that are portrayed online. This is turn can contribute to learned helplessness, depression and anxiety. The AI algorithms that track us push to more extreme content which can contribute to polarization and consumption of more extreme content, neither of which is good for fostering civil discourse or for emotional and mental wellbeing.

How do we get people to step back from their smartphones when it can feel like one’s entire life – social, professional, personal – is on there?It’s very hard because the devices serve multiple purposes. One suggestion many experts make is to not use these devices after one retires for the evening or when having meals with others. But I think that to be effective, parents need to do this as well as teens.It’s a complicated question, because it’s not just about smartphone use, it’s about what are you doing in your life and where your focus is. It’s about stepping back and making sure that there’s a balance across the needs you have in your life, whether those are social, creative or professional. Also, these technologies are designed to be sticky. So overuse is not just a personal failing, it’s not because you, or I, or our children, are incapable of regulating ourselves. They’re designed to pull us in.

Journal：theguardian

Title：Are smartphones bad for us? Five world experts answer（ 10 Jan 2024）

Category：Smartphones

Smartphones are powerful tools and potent drugs. Using them as a tool is smart.

智能手机是强大的工具，也是强效的毒品。将其用作工具是明智之举。

All branches of societies, from individuals to families to schools to corporations to governments, need to come together to help solve this problem, especially when it comes to exposing children to harmful use. 

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