Stop the Insanity: Smartphones

Stop the Insanity
Required Reading Before You Pick Up Your Smartphone or Tablet Again

If you’re reading this on a smartphone, a tablet, or even a plain old computer, I’ve got bad news for you.

You were lied to.

We all were.

And we fell for it.

Hard.

Technology, they told us, was going to make our lives better. Trust us, they said. Just you wait.

Ha.

Cell phones were supposed to keep us connected—and set us free. Now, we’re chained to them. We can’t keep our eyes off them. They don’t save us time. They steal it from us.

The internet was going to put all the world’s knowledge at our fingertips. Make us super-intelligent. Hyper-informed.  Instead, it’s done the opposite. The web today is awash with junk, half-truths, misinformation and outright lies. It’s harder to find genuine facts than ever before.

And then there’s social media. It was meant to bring us closer together. Build empathy, foster community. But what it mostly does is amplify the loudest, most obnoxious voices on every issue. And drown out the rest.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not some cranky old luddite waving his quill and parchment in the air.

True, I still write my books longhand. On a legal pad. With a pen.

But there’s plenty of technology I love and use every day.

I drive an electric car. I videochat with my family and friends.  I connect with readers on Facebook, Instagram and X. I started a Substack, for crying out loud, and shoot interviews over Zoom.

I’ve even dabbled in AI. (More on that in another column.)

But when I look around at all the insanity in the world, so damn much of it stems from technology.

From the unintended negative consequences of technology.

In particular, from the real number tech’s done on our attention spans.

If you’ve read this far down and haven’t quit yet, thank you. Plenty of readers have stopped by now. Or looked away. Even if they were liking what I’d written. Even if they didn’t mean to.

Maybe their cell phone buzzed. Their computer screen flashed.  Their “smart fridge” chimed, telling them they’re running low on Greek yogurt.

That’s modern life for you. A nonstop din of digital distractions that snatch our focus every seven seconds.

If only there were a solution.

A way to deliver prose to people in a form that didn’t constantly bleep and bloop. That kept them hooked with a great story—but wasn’t hooked up to the internet. That was professionally edited, proofread and fact checked. That let them turn pages not by tapping or scrolling, but by… turning actual pages.

I can hear some of you rolling your eyes.

Imagine that. An author saying we can solve some of our problems by reading more physical books.

You don’t have to imagine it. That’s exactly what I’m saying.

Because it’s true.

We all know it.

Of course I’m biased. And I realize it’s not that simple.

I also appreciate that technology has a million and one upsides. It can keep us liberated, informed, connected. It can improve our lives—in ways we aren’t even aware of yet.  It can be a useful, incredible tool.

But it’s usually not.  And in our tech-saturated society, there’s no easier way to literally disconnect than shutting off your smartphone, silencing your smart fridge, and curling up with a few hundred pieces of paper.

And—there’s no generation that needs that more than this next one.

I heard a truly shocking story the other day.

More and more high school students, and even some college students, aren’t being assigned entire novels to read anymore. Only short snippets.  Because teachers report their students “just can’t concentrate that long.”

That makes me want to scream.

Because the fix is so obvious.

Let the kids keep their devices. Let them text and tweet.

We just need to make sure those kids—and adults too—are being given a steady stream of hardcover and paperback books.

But here’s the most important part.

Novels they’ll actually like. Stories that will actually grab them.

Luckily, I know a few good ones I’d recommend.

Like what you just read? Share it, post it.

—James Patterson

For more of my “Stop the Insanity” essays, please visit my Substack.