Your smartphone is a parasite, according to the development

Head lice, fleas and tapeworms were the comrades of humanity throughout our evolutionary history. However, the greatest parasite in the modern era is the invertebrates that absorb blood. It is elegant, distributed in glass, and addiction by design. Its host? Every human being on Earth with a wifi signal.

Away from being benign tools, smartphones aspire to our time, our interest and personal information, all in the interest of technology companies and advertisers.

In a new article in Australian Journal of PhilosophyWe say that smartphones are unique societal risks, which are focused sharply when looking at them through an intruder lens.

What is exactly a parasite?

Evolutionary biologists define parasite as a type that benefits from a close relationship with another type – its host – while the host holds a cost.

the Head liceFor example, it entirely depends on our own types of their survival. They only eat human blood, and if they are removed from their host, they only survive for a short time unless they are lucky enough to fall on another human scalp. In exchange for our blood, head lice give us only bad itching; This is the cost.

Smartphones have radically changed our life. From moving in cities to the management of chronic health diseases Such as diabetesThese parts of technology the size of the pocket make our lives easier. To the extent that most of us are rarely without them.

However, despite their benefits, many of us are hostage to our phones and our endless passes, unable to completely separate. Phone users They pay the price With a lack of sleep, internet -non -connected relationships and mood disorders.

From exchange to intrusion

Not all relationships close to parasitic. Many living organisms that live in or within us are useful.

Consider bacteria in the digestive system of animals. They can only survive and multiply in their host types, and feed on the nutrients that pass. But they are Provide benefits For the host, including improving immunity and best digestion. These associations are called the two mutual sides.

The Human Phones Association has started books. Technology has proven to be useful for humans to stay in touch, navigate through maps, and find useful information.

Philosophers have talked about this not in terms of mutual, but like the phones of it Extension of the human mindLike notes, maps, and other tools.

Of these benign origins, however, we argue that the relationship has become parasitic. Such a change is not uncommon in nature. A Mutual development can develop into a parasiteOr vice versa.

Smart phones as parasites

Since smartphones are almost indispensable, some of the most popular applications they provide to serve the interests of application manufacturers and advertisers are honestly honest than their human users.

These applications Designed To push our behavior to We left the passClicking advertisement and rises in permanent anger.

Data related to our scrolling behavior is used to enhance this exploitation. Your phone only cares about personal fitness goals or its desire to spend more good time with your children to the extent that this information uses to adapt themselves to take your attention better.

Therefore, it may be useful to think about users and their phones like hosts and their parasites – at least at some time.

While this perception is interesting in itself, the benefit of watching smartphones through the evolutionary lens of intrusion comes in itself when thinking about the location of the relationship that may go after that-and how we can thwart these high-tech parasites.

Where the police come

On the Great Coral Barrier, BlueStreak cleaner Wrassse Creating “cleaning plants” where large fish allows to feed on dead skin, loose standards, and invertebrate parasites that live in their gills. This relationship is a classic exchange – the largest fish is expensive parasites and feeds the cleaner Wrasse.

Sometimes, it was a “cheating” cleaner and overcomed their hosts, and they convert the scale from mutual to intrusion. Fish that are cleaned Punish the perpetrators By chasing them away or blocking more visits. In this, coral reef fish shows something that developmental biologists consider important to maintain the mutual budget: the police.

Can we draw our exploitation by smartphones adequately and restore a clear relationship?

Evolution shows that two basic things: the ability to discover exploitation when it occurs, and the ability to respond (usually by withdrawing the service to the parasite).

A difficult battle

In the case of a smartphone, we cannot easily discover exploitation. Technology companies that design different features and algorithms to keep you to capture your phone Do not announce this behavior.

But even if you are aware of the exploitative nature of smartphone applications, the response is also more difficult than simply placing the phone.

Many of us have become dependent on smartphones for daily tasks. Instead of remembering the facts, we empty the task to digital devices – for some people, This can change their perception and memory.

We rely on the presence of a camera to capture life events or even register the place where we stopped the car. this Both reinforce and limit our memory to events.

Governments and companies have only reinforced our dependence on our phones, by transferring the provision of services via the Internet through mobile phone applications. Once the phone is taken to access our bank accounts or access government services, we lost the battle.

How can users then compensate for the unbalanced relationship with their phones, and convert the parasitic relationship into the mutual relationship?

Our analysis indicates that the individual choice cannot obtain users reliably. We have excelled by technology companies the huge information feature they keep in the host parasitic armament race.

Australian government Banning social media under the age of twenty An example of the type of collective procedures required to reduce what these parasites can do legally. To win the battle, we will also need restrictions on Application features known to cause addictionAnd on collecting and selling our personal data.

Rachel L. BrownDirector of the Science Philosophy Center and Associate Professor in Philosophy, The Australian National Universityand and Rob BrooksProfessor of Scientific Development, Unsw Sydney

This article has been republished from Conversation Under the creative public license. Read The original article.