By Brandi Abrams

Every September Apple unveils their new products for the year. This year, instead of excitement and materialistic desire, apple customers are lamenting the loss of a traditional headphone jack.  Headphones are such an insignificant thing, yet being forced to switch to a wireless version has caused quite a debate. This headphone controversy led me to consider the following question: Why can’t we live without smartphones? There is no question, technology makes our lives easier, but at what cost?

We are so connected to our mobile devices, and “staying connected,” that we run the risk of losing our actual ability to connect with others. Ask any sociology professor, and they will tell you that humans are extremely social creatures, we crave interaction; we thrive on it. Just a few years ago, it was completely normal for students in a classroom to talk to each other while waiting for the professor to arrive, but now everyone sits in silence mesmerized by their “communication” device. The problem occurs when we fail to consider how our virtual communication negatively effects our actual live communication.

Only 2% of the population can actually multitask, so when we scroll along as we only half listen to our friends, or when we fail to make eye contact with the person we are “talking” to, we’ve lost that social connection we crave.  Instead of confirming our interest, we shout to the world, “I’m not listening, and I don’t care about what you have to say.” But is that really how most people feel?  People want to be heard, but these state of the art communication devices are slowly robbing us of our humanity.

So my challenge to you, my fellow student body, is to put away your phone just for those few minutes before class starts, and strike up a conversation with the person next to you. It might make you anxious, you might not know what to say, but it will certainly give you something to consider when you ask yourself, “Why can’t we put down our smartphones?”