A Tree by it’s Fruits - The Cell Phone
For some things, it’s just simply impossible to know what effect it’s going to have long term. Technology, industry, inventions and any type of machine that was built with a narrow purpose in mind, will often overlook the potential damages the thing will do, long term, to society… especially if it is very profitable to manufacture (more on that later). C.S. Lewis was actually very critical of the invention and use of the automobile. He writes:
“I measure distances by the standard of man, man walking on his two feet, not by the standard of the internal combustion engine. I had not been allowed to deflower the very idea of distance . . . The truest and most horrible claim made for modern transport is that it “annihilates space.” It does. It annihilates one of the most glorious gifts we have been given. It is a vile inflation which lowers the value of distance, so that a modern boy travels a hundred miles with less sense of liberation and pilgrimage and adventure than his grandfather got from traveling ten.”
If you’ve read any C.S. Lewis, you know that he isn’t one to speak lightly. He thinks deeply about all things, giving it an air of divine reflection, examining it in many ways, and then he carefully crafts a collaboration of words that fully expresses his thoughts, feelings and the objective truth, as much as he is able to perceive it. His criticism of the car is very interesting. Lewis thought that the car would ruin our sense of adventure, the gift of wonder and awe while traveling. He believed it would cause us to take for granted the gift of our local area and seek to constantly move.
“It is a vile inflation which lowers the value of distance, so that a modern boy travels a hundred miles with less sense of liberation and pilgrimage and adventure than his grandfather got from traveling ten.”
I believe all of these things to be true. I am very lucky to have traveled the world extensively and I find, the older I get, that my memory of childlike wonder and awe; captivated by the other side of the neighborhood, a fading memory. And now a flight across the planet is more or less the norm. But this is not quite the point of this particular reflection, only an example. The invention of the car demonstrates an invention made with (presumably) good intentions that had long term effects unforeseeable to the inventors and manufacturers. Let’s keep in mind that this was the invention of the car. In the realm of technological advances, the first cars are now pretty old. And if I could travel back in time and meet with Lewis for tea and a smoke, I’d say, “Clive, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”
Looking Ahead
I have chosen, as of January of 2022, to live without a phone. The basic reason I have decided to do this is that I have personally experienced a sense of decline in my quality of life over the duration of my having a phone. I am determined to find out if this is in part because of the phone, or if I am just simply becoming an adult. But the specific things that I have found my phone to cause are these:
· Detachment from my immediate surroundings
· Fear of being uncontactable
· Impatience and anxiety in unknowing
· Overbooking
· Changing plans
· Having absolutely no real solitude
· Having no mental silence
All of these things have their own burdens and their own benefits.
I don’t want to bore you with a full-on academic expose on the status of each of these issues… but what I would like to say is this: A tree is known by its fruit. And when things like cell phones and cars are invented, they are not usually invented by persons with deep moral knowledge. This is not to say that Steve Jobs and Henry Ford were explicitly immoral, though the latter has had quite a reputation in certain business ethics topics, but it is to say that their primary skill or study is not morality or anything that might help them see the long-term effects of their inventions.
“For every tree is known by its own fruit”
Luke 6:44
I am willing to bet that Steve Jobs (and all cell phone manufacturers) did not consider the fact that cellphones would, in a few decades, completely eliminate conversation on subway trains and busses, create a generation of screen addicted youth, and enable modern man to be free from the need for memorization and self-discovered knowledge.
Certainly, there are benefits to having a cell phone. Increased productivity, increased connectivity with those far away, easy access to knowledge, security, money, and opportunities. But these are all double-edged swords. Increased productivity goes hand in hand with anxiety and burnout which are prevalent in our modern times. Increased connectivity with those far away has caused disconnection with those we are actually near. And easy access to knowledge, security, money, and opportunities have formed a culture of people who, more increasingly, don’t even need to leave their living rooms.
In short, and studies are beginning to show this, cell phones are creating and anti-social culture. To me, this, among other concerning fruits, are a reason enough to just get rid of the thing! The tree is known by its fruit, and once we know what kind of fruit a thing is producing, we must cut it off immediately if we are to preserve the good health of good fruit. Bad fruit will make us sick, good fruit will nourish us; this applies to society as well as individuals.
The Good Fruit
I’d like to share that I have found a deeper sense of peace, trust, connection, and meaning since getting rid of my phone. And for those of you who need some practical examples of these things:
Peace: I actually feel things again, like the breeze or the smell of autumn or the sound of birds. My body and mind are now reengaged with the beauty of the present moment.
Trust: I am alright with not knowing. I feel very peaceful about things not going as planned, people not showing up on time and not having access to the network that everyone else is on.
Connection: I do not feel like an outcast at all. In fact, I feel bad for people who have phones. It’s as if everyone is so uncomfortable that they crawl into their screen to escape everyone else that is around. I, on the flip side, feel completely comfortable again being around total strangers and talking with them. Go figure!
Meaning: I believe that having the courage to stand up against anything that is harming society is a good thing. Living without a phone, in addition to all of the aforementioned benefits, has reminded me of a time when going for a walk had meaning, being unproductive was okay, and being alone was enjoyable.
I am not uncontactable, I am not lost without a GPS (even though I have recently moved to a metropolis of 2.3 million people who drive on the opposite side of the road), and I am not disorganized, disoriented or in danger without it. On the contrary, I have found the opposite to be true. But maybe the biggest and most beautifully unexpected change I have experienced is the re-finding of my ability to focus on a task; something we seek to return to at OréMoose: deep work. This has been the greatest blessing. I've read more, written more, learned more and sang more since getting rid of my phone than I have in the last few years.
I hope you can sit with the words of Christ when he says, “You will know a tree by its fruit”. I ask that you consider the many things that can be done to improve our world. Some of them are scary to do, but a world without meaning, peace, connection, and trust is scarier.
God love you.
- David
