SURVIVING THE AGE OF DISTRACTION

Our phones may be smart, but it's up to us to prove we're smarter. The digital abyss will always be there, waiting.

- RICARDO T. PAMINTUAN

Once upon a time, mobile phones were a novelty, and by this, I mean they were new, innovative, convenient, practical, and revolutionary. I'm referring to relics like the Nokia 1011, which required two hands just to comfortably hold that 495-gram beast. It played its role in history, but not even Neo's 8110 "banana phone," made uber-cool by The Matrix, could make me pine for this Jurassic tech era.

Fast-forward to now, and we're surrounded by sleek, feather-light devices that do everything except cook dinner (although they're probably working on that, too).

As our gadgets got smarter and smaller, we, too, evolved, or maybe devolved, depending on how you look at it. We've become a generation of phone zombies, stumbling down streets and sidewalks with heads perpetually bowed to the Almighty Screen.

We've turned into extras in a low-budget apocalypse movie: scrolling, swiping, dodging obstacles, and sometimes almost getting run over (or hitting someone). In acknowledging that there is a gadget-use problem in the country, the government enacted R.A. No. 10913, the Anti-Distracted Driving Act, in 2016. It was a critical reminder for us to keep our eyes on the road instead of on the latest funny videos that somehow miraculously appear on our social media feeds. Sadly, yet expectedly, it hasn't proven much of a deterrent.

What started as casual screen time has escalated to a near-constant state of distraction. Today, people juggle their screens (with earphones on) while doing something else that should be prioritized, like driving, crossing the street, cooking, actually working, and, bafflingly, riding a bicycle or motorcycle (hello, delivery and share-riding kuyas!).

And it's not just the young 'uns; even some of us "tech dinosaurs" have been pulled into the glow, like the light at the tunnel's end, abandoning any lingering resistance.

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