Dumb down

Is it time to amputate our smart phones?

I remember a time when there were no mobile phones. By some miracle we managed to live relatively normal lives. I’m even old enough to remember when we replaced our house phone with the rotary dial with one of those high tech push-button phones so you could dial faster. It was like entering the space age in our own home!

Now, of course, we have become cyborgs of sorts with a mini computer attached to us at all times - the smart phone. We have friends, maps, banks, calendars, tracking, verification, confirmation, and comfort all instantly available in this appendage to the modern Techno Sapiens. This revolution has brought us much convenience as well as a few problems…

Even with some of the social and attentional problems that come with new technology, in a sane world we should be free to use it or not without it being turned against us. But it is being turned against us by the technocrats who want to rule the world. And so there is some wisdom in dumbing down this appendage that is with us always - in a way that it becomes useless as a control mechanism by our technocratic overlords.

Consent Factory @consent_factory

How fascistic does the 'New Normal' have to get before you stop talking and take direct action? You are literally holding the infrastructure of the GloboCap bio-security surveillance/social-control system in your hand. Cancel your contract and disable your smartphone.

This is not easy - actually it’s terrifying - I love my smartphone - but I also hate what “they” have made it become - a social-control system.

So what’s the best approach?

How about a new old phone? A phone that is really only… well a phone you use to make calls and the rare, and very short, text messages.

A further thought for those not willing to completely amputate their mini computer from their person - keep the smart device, maybe on a prepaid SIM, in the car for maps, check the bank balance, podcasts and audio books, etc. BUT the thing you venture out into the world with, is your dumb phone. So if there’s an emergency you still have a lifeline - “Hi Honey. Sorry what sauce did you want again?”

This would mean of course that you’d have to take your wallet with you (no Apple wallet anymore), a written shopping list, no more checking Substack on the run, or tweeting that random thought when waiting for your coffee, or browsing your Facebook feed. For some this is a terror worse than complete State control over their lives, but for most it’s doable. Remember our ancestors (or your childhood if you are old enough) and we can imagine a still-functional life without being a cyborg.

What do you think?

Any strategies, please let me know in the comments.