As I listen to his guests’ replies I sometimes wonder
how I would answer that question.
I’ve come up with an answer.
Get rid of mobile phones. And all the surrounding
paraphernalia that goes with them.
The label phone is out-of-date these days. For
sure, the very first ones were phones, but nowadays they are also, inter alia;
a camera, a news service, a video recorder, an entertainment centre (movies and
music for example), a dictionary and encyclopedia, a calculator, a calendar and
appointments diary, and ….
Getting rid of mobile phones, to my mind, could
significantly improve human and planetary futures. Consider a few of the issues
that would derive from a world without mobile phones.
There would be less anxiety and depression in the
world. Research indicates that mobile phone use can become addictive (it even
has a name – nomophobia) which in turn leads to greater levels of anxiety and
depression.
Excessive use of mobile phones has been shown to
result in eye swelling and other eyesight problems.
The “blue” light of mobile phones interferes with the
ability to fall asleep and increases the chances of insomnia.
Many people use earplugs with their mobile phones.
Excessive use of these has been shown to cause ear problems.
Ironically, since phones are supposed to be
communication devices, mobile phone use leads to less communication between
people. In turn this leads to greater levels of social isolation.
Cyberbullying is a term that has had to be invented to
describe the bullying that becomes possible with mobile phones and other
electronic media. A Headspace2 survey in Australia in 2019 found
that well over 50% of young Australians experienced cyberbullying.
Mobile phone use contributes to less physical
activity, resulting in a number of health issues.
There is some (albeit inconclusive) research
indicating a connection between mobile phone use and cancer.
The use of mobile phones whilst driving increases the
risk of an accident by four times.
More than 5.3 billion (yes – billion) mobile phones
were thrown away in 2022. Stacked flat these would form a pile that would rise
1/8th of the way to the moon – further out into space than the orbit
of the International Space Station.
Mobile phones get replaced once every 18 months, on
average globally. Only 12.5% of these are recycled to some extent.
E-waste (of which mobile phones are a significant
quantity) contribute 70% of all global toxic waste. 80% of the e-waste produce
in the US gets exported to Asia, where workers (many of them children) get
exposed to the toxic fumes when the waste is burnt following the extraction of
the precious metals.
Between 400 litres and 2 million litres of water is
required to produce just 1 kg of lithium, and essential mineral in making
mobile phones. And that is just one of the many minerals required.
Having a mobile phone continuously at hand dumbs us
down. The convenience of looking up information requires much less thinking
than does undertaking honest and sincere fact finding. Those that would
manipulate our minds know this well, and hence we become exposed to false news,
misinformation, and downright lies.
What if mobile phones did disappear? Would that improve human and planetary futures? Maybe.
The mental health of young people might improve, or at
least not get worse.
Our sense of community might return.
We might find a renaissance in the pleasures of
one-to-one conversation and the return of the art of letter writing.
The Earth would be less exploited and may be able to
cope better with the amount of waste we produce.
The health of workers in Asia (and elsewhere) might
increase.
We might start to enjoy simple pleasures of outdoor
activity again.
Does anyone have a magic wand?
Notes
1. Nate Hagens, https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/
2. Headspace is a non-profit organisation dealing with
the health and wellbeing of young people in Australia.
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