Why Your Smartphone is Shrinking Your Soul (and What to Do About It)

Remember Socrates? You know, the guy who hung out in marketplaces asking everyone if they knew what justice was, much to the annoyance of the sandals-and-chitin set? He was the OG critical thinker, the patron saint of “Why?” before Google took the crown. But in the shiny playground of the 21st century, where everyone's got a social media megaphone and attention spans shorter than a Kardashian marriage, Socrates is looking more like a dusty relic than a relevant revolutionary.

That's where Jorge Enrique Linares Salgado, a philosopher with a name longer than a Kant syllabus, steps in. He's got a bone to pick with the silicon overlords – they're not just selling you the next iPhone, they're peddling the extinction of critical thought itself. Scary stuff, right? Like an army of self-driving Teslas all programmed to follow the same algorithm, humanity's heading for a philosophical cul-de-sac.

So, how exactly is tech turning us into mindless sheeple? Well, for starters, philosophy's getting the boot from schools. It's like they're swapping out Kant for coding, Plato for pixels. Why learn how to argue when you can just @ someone on X (formerly known as Twitter), right? But Linares Salgado argues that without that ability to dissect ideas, to build reasoned arguments, we're left with a world where everyone's shouting but no one's listening. Imagine a debate moderated by Alexa – it'd be all passive-aggressive prompts and existential static.

Then there's the whole “reading comprehension is for nerds” attitude. Apparently, skimming Instagram captions is the new close reading. But Linares Salgado reminds us that reading isn't just about decoding squiggles on a page; it's about cracking the code of culture itself. It's about understanding the symbols, the metaphors, the hidden meanings that weave the tapestry of our world. Without that, we're just staring at a blank canvas, wondering why everyone else seems to be appreciating the abstract masterpiece.

And don't even get us started on bioethics. Remember Frankenstein? Turns out, playing God with genes isn't just a cautionary tale for goth teenagers. Linares Salgado points out that bioethics isn't just about patching up Frankenstein's monster; it's about asking the big questions – who gets to play God, and at what cost? Are we comfortable with designer babies and designer ecosystems? It's a philosophical Pandora's Box that tech wants to keep firmly shut, but Linares Salgado insists we pry it open and have a good, long look inside.

But it's not all doom and gloom. Linares Salgado offers a glimmer of hope – a Socratic sunrise in the digital fog. He suggests we reclaim our lost skills, dust off our critical thinking caps, and rediscover the power of a good old-fashioned debate. Let's read a book that isn't written in emojis, have a conversation that doesn't end with a thumbs-up, and build a world where everyone, not just the tech bros, gets to ask “why?”

So, the next time you reach for your phone, remember Socrates. Ask yourself if you're just mindlessly scrolling or if you're using that shiny rectangle to illuminate the world around you. Because in the end, the battle for the future isn't fought with algorithms and apps. It's fought with ideas, with questions, with the relentless pursuit of that elusive truth that Socrates kept chasing with his sandals flapping in the Athenian breeze. Now, if you'll excuse us, we have a date with a dusty copy of “The Republic” and a steaming cup of existential espresso. The revolution starts on page one.