June 29, 2007: the iPhone was introduced into our world. Steve Job’s mission statement read, “To make a contribution to the world by making tools for the mind that advance humankind.”

Though many would argue that he has accomplished just that, I would like to provide a different argument: that since the invention of the iPhone, humans have become less evolved and the so-called tools that Apple and other tech companies have implemented through the advancements of software have done more to hinder our growth than advance it.

Technology is extraordinary– there is no disputing that. My father has been able to use it to connect with friends and family he hasn’t seen in 20+ years. It has improved humanity’s living conditions tenfold and has allowed ideas to spread faster than ever before. News is more accessible, and lucky for us students, research articles and homework tips are one search away.

However, technology’s evolution has not guaranteed our own. We have developed a dependence on gadgets and apps that has become borderline parasitic. We are starting to lose the ability to perform even the simplest of functions that used to come to us naturally as a species.When confronted with uncomfortable or “awkward” social situations, many of us turn to our phones for comfort as opposed to facing our fears. We walk in the hallways and hardly look up, except for the occasional glance to see if there’s something in our path. We text or snap each other while sitting only five feet away. Fun get-togethers with friends have been replaced with occasional banter while staring at a screen. Life has become lifeless, and the beauty of the world has been washed out by the bright light of our phone screens. Rather than thinking outside the box, we have become trapped inside and dictated by it.

We are a social species and care about what other people think about us, but now we strive to be “liked” on a social platform that never goes away. We post pictures that we think our peers would like and have become so obsessed with showing people that we are living and having fun that we accomplish neither in the process. We view our lives through a screen that is watched by hundreds of “followers”. We focus on unimportant things, like how we look, what people think of us, and what is going on in other people’s lives– all while the world is passing us by.

Face it, folks, we have become a generation of antisocial teens who are solemnly living the best of our years in front of a 5×5 in. screen. We don’t have quality conversations any longer, and the self-exploration that goes hand-in-hand with one’s teenage years has been replaced with mind-numbing phone games and apps that tell us to swipe right.

Because we no longer have to rely solely on ourselves to complete the tasks at hand, we are starting to lose our independence, our individuality. The abundant exposure of phones and other technology has robbed humanity of one of the most beautiful things in our nature: creativity. We don’t have to think as hard anymore. We don’t have to think about how to solve the problem because we have all the answers at our fingertips. We lose faith in ourselves and it makes us unhappy.

This is a plea–a plea that will most likely be ignored– to get off your phones. I promise you that nothing on your phone will be more real than the friend standing in front of you trying to talk to you. No matter how hard you try, the picture that you’re taking of the sun setting on the beach will never be as beautiful as the real thing. If you could simply live in the moment and let the memory etch itself into your mind, it will be more meaningful than any stock photo.

Technology is important–I know that. It helps us connect with people and access a world of information. But from what I’ve witnessed, it’s doing a lot more distancing than bringing together.