On imagining people complexly.

The problem I have with any negative prediction of the future is that it invites the reader to take on an 'us vs. them' attitude about the topic of choice. The Pedestrian is meant to make you think about your own behavior, but because the point-of-view character is the odd man out, it makes you feel as if you are as well. "This is a reflection of the worst parts of our society," you think, "because all those other people spend their time indoors, watching TV!" Because you're looking from the outside in, it's easy to fall into the trap of seeing yourself as not a product of your society, as different from everyone else, as the lone free-thinking individual in a world of sheep. It's easy to make dramatic predictions about the damage cell phones can do while thinking of your own use as necessary and reasonable.

It's important to consider, when going in to this topic, the autonomy of every person involved. Easy as it is to think of people as mindless technology addicts, it just isn't true for most of us--or if it is, it's unlikely that anyone writing an article about it doesn't fall into that category as well. Every person has a consciousness and lives a real life, and claiming, for example, that giving teenagers cell phones will make them unable to stop themselves from making bad choices both infantilizes them and insults their free will. Every day, people are using cell phones for great things--keeping in touch with people who don't live nearby, contacting the right people more efficiently in emergencies, and, yes, browsing the internet to look up useful information. The innovations in that field are good things, and a great many people get enjoyment and good use out of new technologies.

 So who exactly are these other people who are using it poorly? Those people with worse judgement than you, people who aren't reasonable like you are, people who don't have the free will you do and are just slaves to Apple, that ultimate paragon of mindless consumerism--except, of course, when you use it. It's extremely difficult to present a negative trend objectively and without invoking this attitude forcefully.

So do I think that too much cell phone use can be a bad thing? Yes. But do I think that cell phones themselves are bad, or that the solution to people misusing them is to not allow them at all, or anything like that? Absolutely not. And I think that, when making suggestions about ways to 'fix' the problem of cell phone use, one should first consider whether what they're saying applies to them, and if it doesn't? Maybe they should think a little harder.