Mainly they’re just making us run into poles alot.

By

Richard Clark

– November 5, 2009

Are iPhones Making Us Unkind?

Are iPhones Making Us Unkind?

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About the Author

Richard Clark (Co-Founder/Editor-in-Chief) has spent his entire life writing, reading, listening, and playing. He has a Bachelors in Theology from the Baptist College of Florida and has a Master of Arts in Theology and the Arts from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He lives in Louisville, KY where he is the classroom technology manager at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. In addition to writing at Christ and Pop Culture, he is also a staff writer for Kill Screen Magazine's website and has written for various other outlets such as Paste, Gamasutra, and Collide. Email: deadyetliving [at] gmail [dot] com. Twitter: @deadyetliving. Xbox Live: deadyetliving

5 Comments

1. The Dane

   Posted November 5, 2009 at 1:42 PM

   It’s not the tech that makes one unkind. The tech acts as the mask behind which the unkind person hides, while he points to the mask and says, Look at this unkind thing, fortunately, it’s not me that’s unkind but the mask.

   People who aren’t jerks use their iPhones for good, people who are jerks use their iPhones to be unkind. It’s that simple. The iPhone didn’t make you unkind any more than the devil made you do it. You were unkind because you are unkind. Honest appraisal on oneself is the first step toward fixing oneself.

2. Richard Clark

   Posted November 5, 2009 at 2:28 PM

   Yeah, I can’t say I’ve used my phone to avoid conversation with anyone, though i do use it to avoid boring lulls in my day… but what’s wrong with that?

   Nonetheless, i would say the iPhone (like we’ve seen with Bluetooth headsets especially) can aid people in the jump from thoughtless to total jerk. This is unfortunate.

3. Richard Clark

   Posted November 5, 2009 at 2:30 PM

   I should point out, though, that I currently don’t attend any classes. I have to admit… wifi and a laptop would be a huge temptation.

4. The Dane

   Posted November 5, 2009 at 3:26 PM

   I should point out, though, that I currently don’t attend any classes. I have to admit… wifi and a laptop would be a huge temptation.

   I just used a pencil, notebook paper, and my imagination to ignore my teachers. High tech isn’t necessary to be successfully unkind. I would probably be even more successful at fading out of lectures with pencil and paper than I would with an iPhone.

   Yeah, I’m that good.

5. Richard Clark

   Posted November 5, 2009 at 3:41 PM

   Yeah, good point.