The CELLPHONE TRILOGY
12/3/2026
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No one will disagree that the arrival of the cellphone has brought tremendous benefit for us in terms of ease of communication, research at our fingertips, voluminous information, instant connection to weather, sales, business hours, emergency access, videos, podcasts and so much more. A computer in the palm of our hands. With all this, who needs service from people?
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But this fortuitous arrival comes on the heels of some unfortunate emotional changes in our social participation over the last few years. To begin with, the family erosion has been slowly advancing and leaving us with some social skills that are absent making us increasingly unable to effectively handle the world. Handling intimacy is one of them.
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Before and after World War II entire families lived in one house. That is, grandparents lived with their children, their grandchildren and sometimes also with aunts, uncles and cousins. In many of these homes there was only one bathroom to be shared by everyone. Everyone had to learn patience, respect, consideration for others with efficiency in their interactions. In this environment learning and having manners was essential for everyone to be able to function well and smoothly. What’s even more startling is that they usually all sat down for meals together and actually talked. This close proximity taught everyone to understand some rules as a necessity for establishing and maintaining intimacy. The family unit used to provide us with a tight, dependable support system and a vehicle for learning social skills.
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In the 50’s and 60’s things started to change. The media invaded the home through television and as the children of the elders got older, they put their parents in “rest homes” and their children went away to college or simply moved out. Everyone became “independent,” primarily focused on themselves, the outside world and forgot all about their family roots. Since their children were never exposed to the intimacy training provided in their parents’ homes, they never learned how to relate to anyone with any depth. Manners fell to the wayside. Respect was lost and all the family training for interpersonal rapport had disappeared. Whole generations have now grown up without the understanding of how to relate on a personal level.
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Without the understanding of how to relate with any depth, marriages dissolved in divorce. More and more families became single-parent. The family unit dissolved into history. This coupled with the erosion of religious training put a severe strain on keeping any moral values. God disappeared from our vocabulary. Depression and spiritual aimlessness had become an infectious mindset. The need for belonging became overwhelming. People began to feel isolated, disconnected and without any inner value other than what they could hold in their hands. Our population had become eminently primed for the arrival of the cellphone and its promise of “connection.” ​
Phase 1
THE CHEESE IN THE MOUSE TRAP
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On June 29th, 2007, the first I-Phone was released. People we amazed with what it could do. But most of all, we could connect anywhere with anyone else who had one. We didn’t have to face them or even be near them. The rest of the world started to feel like it was in the palm of our hand. We were smitten with something that made us a little more excited about our participation in the affairs of the world.
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But the arrival of the IPhone affected the generations differently though. For the older generations who had known the love, the support, the intimacy and the sense of belonging of what the family had once been for them, it brought the hope of returning to the days of their feeling as though they were part of something much greater than themselves. For the younger generations, it brought a sense of power and control over a world that had never given them the sense of self-worth that had been so prevalent in the family generations of enforced participation that had come before them. With both generations feeling the emptiness of an emotional disconnect, the cellphone was the Cheese in the Trap and very quickly grew into the promise of fulfilling something in them that was either once present or gave them the ability to deal with the gnawing feeling that something inside them was missing.
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Phase 2
THE SNAP OF THE TRAP
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For both generations there is a feeling and belief that the cellphone is now their only remaining doorway to fill what is emotionally lacking within them. The availability of love, manners and support have since evaporated with the loss of the family. An unconscious desperation now accompanies their loss. This pulls them further into the cellphone world. Their participation slowly morphs into an obsession developing a full blown and irredeemable addiction. In every encounter with others hangs the unconscious futile hope that their emptiness might be filled by the next exchange. The need to be acknowledged and recognized has become so strong that they can’t put the cellphone down. They live on it night and day. They’ve been completely hooked.
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Phase 3
THE TUNNEL OF EQUITY
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As those in power, corporations and governments, observe our habits and attitudes as created by their new “toy,” something occurs to them. What an excellent avenue for sales and manipulation. Although they might not recognize the addiction itself, they certainly recognized the habits and circumstances produced by its introduction to the public. They began to track our addiction and its influence through our social habits and preferences on media and then collected the history of our behavior. Based on this, they quickly formulated algorithms to augment their influence on us to take advantage of our addiction. Things we choose on one platform begin to appear on others. They streamlined their ads, fads and fed us other “friends” who have the same addictions and preferences. We’ve become a drop in the ocean of the collective.
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With the dissolved traditional family having been coupled with the invasion of the cellphone, our individual autonomy as an advanced species has effectively been wiped out leaving us with again a tribal or herd mentality. Our spiritual evolution has become severely retarded. This can be evidenced through the rise in accusations of racism and the proliferation of minority groups and their claims of specialness as a compensation for their loss. Blue hair, tattoos and body piercing have become vehicles for gaining attention and asserting specialness. The carrot of recognition and the stick of abandonment are now in full force. The risk of collectivism, if only to have a sense of belonging, has become overwhelming.
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As a nation, we have lost something very special. Until shortly before the end of this last century we had accumulated a sense of purpose, a sense of unity and a combined spiritual, moral and constructive attitude that had resulted in our being an innovative and spiritually minded nation. We were the “light on the hill” for the rest of the world. We have now entered into an attempted period of recovery, and the traditional forces of our nation are desperately trying to reverse the emotion and spiritual erosion that has taken place. If we can do it, we will once again become the “light on the hill” for the rest of the world’s aspirations. If we can’t, we will sink back into the primordial soup of the third world and the animal collective…
