12 Ways Your Phone Is Changing You

by Tony Reinke

The electronic starters on our car engines are a good example. Think of it: with nothing but the turn of a little metal magic wand, sparks ignite an explosive liquid refined from an ancient organic sludge—a sludge somehow sunk deep in the earth, covered over, liquefied by age and pressure to become a potion later sucked from subterranean cavities and processed into flammable fuel that is then pumped into tanks and finally into smooth cylinders carved from solid steel, where it meets those sparks—causing choreographed eruptions that pop so powerfully, so perfectly, and so consistently that we can, with fire and with one extended foot, thrust ourselves smoothly across the city on a magic carpet with four wheels. However, when we twist the wand and the product of that ancient sludge erupts into a series of fireballs, we simply move along. Of course, if the battery dies or the clear brew is used up, and the magic wand proves powerless, we swear and fuss. But mostly, when everything works right, we don’t notice.