ZhiMin Xiao (Durham): Mobile Phones as Life and Thought Companions. Have smartphones destroyed a generation? More comfortable online than out partying, post-Millennials are safer, physically, than adolescents have ever been — but they’re on the brink of a mental-health crisis. Our minds have been hijacked by our phones: Tristan Harris wants to rescue them. “Our minds can be hijacked”: Paul Lewis on the tech insiders who fear a smartphone dystopia. David Byrne on eliminating the human: We are beset by — and immersed in — apps and devices that are quietly reducing the amount of meaningful interaction we have with each other. Samir Chopra on social media and the training of our minds.
