Category: Technology

For the past decade there has been a gradual decline in our heads as we go about our daily lives. We seem to be bent towards a downward spiral into a world filled with the very same people but providing experiences in an addictive environment.
This strange behavior is as a result of a drug called the “smart phone”. A piece of consumable, lithium powered tech that we plug our selves into daily and have become a somewhat necessary accessory to life. You have one, I have one and the whole world seems to either have one or looking forward to making a purchase.
How many of us can go without our phones for a week?
You don’t need to utter a word. I can literally feel your internal reactions from a distance. Some females eye brows rose soo high that they had to reapply their eye liner.
Look  at the pot calling the kettle black. I myself can not go without my phone for a week. 
Are you crazy? How do I stay in contact with my school group chat? How do I stay updated on the happenings and funny stuff happening across the world? It will be torture or in other words, similar to a week of light off (lights out) and no alternative power source for a dada bee ( spoilt or privileged ) child.
For some of us our phones are like a new found organ of the human body. I am not even sure whether we feed off the phones or the phones feed off us. There is so much data being transferred from analytics via our browsers and social media and app interactions that the accuracy depicted in the cover image by Ray Styles is disturbing. If it doesn’t disturb you then the phone you are reading from may have replaced your head that contains that thing used to think and react and …….. I am trying to dumb it down for the undisturbed please bear with me.
In the image, our heads are replaced with our precious devices and seems to ask with a concerned tone, whether we have lost or are losing our minds.
Smart Phones Assist Us
Smart phones provide great assistance in many day to day instances. Google maps for instance has converted average phone users into believers. 
A lot of people have trusted the white mans technology (google maps) and ditched the stop and ask for directions approach of the past. 
Instead of looking for the plantain seller as a land mark, a digital assistant now slangs (speaks with a foreign accent) to you and notifies you when you are to make a turn. People however did not take their math seriously on a practical level; so when the digital assistance says 
“in 200 meters turn left” 
Ghanaians are sometimes not sure whether it means they should go “aaaaaaaaaaa” (another Ghanaian term for “go on for a while”) or get ready to turn shortly.
This and other essential apps however, is not my reason for concern. My concern is targeted towards our blind acceptance of news found on social media and the web. 
So Are We Losing Our Minds?
On a daily basis we are bombarded with content from various sources and because this is channeled through our so called smart devices, there is a tendency to believe any story with a good narrative and media. 
What happened to verifying the news source? How did we as a people become so gaullible? I guess the term “smart” phone creates the illusion that the phone will prompt either via a warning sound or vibration if the news is fake. Wherever we assumed this notion from is still a mystery.
This is an occurring issue across globe affecting both the educated and uneducated. People just tend to believe anything just because it was derived from a google search result page. 
Are We Blinding Ourselves?
A closer look at the cover image shows the individual in the picture using their thumbs to gouge their eyes as if to suggest that they are not needed anymore. The laughing emoticon in the screen on the phone in the image also suggests that technology finds our blind acceptance behaviour funny. 
Maybe I am reading too much into this picture by Ray Styles, but events of 2016 have proved to me that a lot of people have been misinformed about stuff as a result of them refusing to look deeper into the truth of the matter.
The past US elections and death of Fidel Castro are just examples of situations where the internet has been used to sway people’s perceptions on issues. Trusted media houses are no longer as trust worthy. There is so much faith in reputation or the lack thereof, despite the  power that lies in our hands via our smartphones to make things clear. Maybe our heads are really being replaced by smartphones.
Have Our Heads Really Been Replaced By Smartphones?
For those people who are constantly on their phones in social gatherings or in the company of people or people who don’t find Ray’s art work which I have used as the cover picture disturbing,  I answer, YES!
Some are also constantly posing for selfies at every chance they get with the aim of telling their yet to be fans, of their star studded life of swag against the backdrop of a Shoprite store or mall car park.
Don’t even get me started on Snap Chatters.
The older generation seem immune to this head conversion though. The generation I worry about greatly are the new breed of children that are being born. If the head goes, which other body part will be next?
Should We Be Worried?
YES! We should.
Smart phones are not bad. I guess they have just become the equivalent of alcohol. People are drunk on their phones  and do not want to put them away.
So much good can come out of these devices but we tend to be focused more on selfies and gossip as opposed to reading more and contributing towards Information.
We hold so much power in our hands that we believe our brains are inferior. Let’s be weary of our behaviour and social etiquette surrounding our devices. It’s definitely a new day but could easily turn into a nightmare.
I want to thank my friend Ray Styles, for providing me with inspiration in the form of his art for this article. Do well to follow him on social media and follow his works.
Keep it One HONDRED!