I was having coffee on a terrace. Everyone was on their phones. I don’t know if what they were doing was essential. I was surprised to see a girl who was alone take out a second phone. She probably had a personal one and a work one.

Mobile phone use is becoming a concern . Sometimes it’s a sign of bad manners, for example, when two or more people are together and suddenly one starts texting, completely ignoring the conversation . Sometimes it gives the impression that it’s essential to send a message or check something at any moment, regardless of whether it’s the most appropriate time or where they are.

It strikes me that mobile phones are used everywhere: at mass or in front of a tabernacle, in a talk or conference, at a meeting of friends, at a family meal or with friends, at work and at all hours, etc.

Waiting at the doctor’s office or on the bus is striking. Everyone is using their mobile phone: young and old, men and women, even teenagers or toddlers under 10.  I’ve sometimes seen them browsing aimlessly, looking at pornography, fashion, scenery, short videos, and especially the women looking at attractive men and the men looking at women of all types. You also see priests of all ages.

It seems like nobody wants to be bored or think. When they hear something they’re not interested in, they tune out and hit their phones. I’d like to shout at them:

Turn off your phone and look up!

Please think for a moment!

I have the impression that people are not thinking enough. We are losing the characteristic that makes us rational beings: the ability to think, to reflect… And so we become like animals… we submit to the dictatorship of emotionalism.

This is no way to seek the truth. Behavior is driven by emotions and feelings. This means we go through life like a chicken with its head cut off.

It’s incredible, but it’s true. Look at the number of people glued to their phones, viewing their surroundings with a narrow and distorted perspective… They let themselves be ruled by feelings and emotions, by whatever they feel like at any given moment.

I’ve had the experience of people tripping over each other because they’re looking at their phones or texting while walking. A few days ago, I warned a girl that she was going to trip over a tree.

When you go through life glued to a mobile phone, you are missing out on the best things: the beauty of everything around us, knowing how to contemplate, personal face-to-face conversations, appreciating the messages of non-verbal language, listening to something that doesn’t interest us, but that can help us to compare opinions or change our minds.

See also: Mobile phones lower IQ