Has the Cell Phone Changed Humanity?

Everyday I walk to and from school from my house that is roughly 5 to 7 minutes away. I generally do this a few times a day actually and there is something that I have noticed in the past week or two. There has not been a single time that I have walked to school that I have not seen at least one (generally way more) people talking on their cell phone. It seems that people have lost the ability to walk to and from where they are going without talking on their cell-phone. Literally yesterday I saw probably 50-60 people walking and talking on their cell phone. These people are oblivious to the world around them as they walk to wherever they are going yammering to someone on the phone probably about something totally unimportant.

People leave class and immediately take out their cell phone and start chatting. It seems that the cell phone has changed humanity in making us lose our independence. It is like a crutch to most people. I don’t want to look like I’m not important so I’m going to take out my cell phone and show the world how important I am by talking. Now I’m not superior to the masses here because I have caught myself doing the same thing. When I am making my walk home I generally call someone that I have to talk to. Whether it is calling my parents back or dealing with some sort of schoolwork, I use my 5-minute walk to take care of “business”. However, I refuse to believe that everyone on the campus here is using the phone as such. I use it on the walk for an efficiency rationale. I have no idea why everyone else is using it.

Now with email and the Internet being able to be accessed through a mobile phone America is becoming more reliant on technology. Maybe it is because America has become a society of busy bodies, or maybe it is because we just love our toys. However, I can’t stand it. I don’t want to walk next to you and hear your conversation about what professor stuck you with a lot of homework. The other day I took the Caltrain from Santa Clara up to San Francisco which is a little over an hour of train riding. I brought a book to read (The Punch by John Feinstein, I have gotten through a fair bit and it is a great read). The three people that were sitting around me decided to use their hour to talk on their cell phone at the same time about what happened the night before, what they were doing over the weekend, and who was doing who (this was an actual conversation I heard and I have been scarred since). People just can’t sit and stay to themselves at this point and I’m blaming the cell phone.

Now I understand the other argument that because of all of the technology that we as a society are more independent. We no longer have to stop and ask someone for directions because we can access Mapquest from our phones. We no longer have to ask someone what time it is because our phone can not only give you the time where you are but everywhere in the world. Is this a good thing? Is this the independence that we are all striving for? This is making us act as completely independent beings instead of as a person as part of a society. There is a balance here and I am trying to keep it, I just pray that rest of you act the same way. Whatever happened to walking down the street next to some stranger and striking up a conversation with that person? Are we as a society unable to expand our relationships because we have at our fingertips the ability to call and communicate with anyone of our choosing? I don’t know but I do know this, the cell phone has forever changed humanity and I still haven’t figure out if it’s a good thing. I’m leaning towards no.