Michael Regilio

It isn't the same as the moral panics of years past.

And let's start with this.

There are about 5 billion smartphones on planet Earth.

Roughly 62% of the human population has one.

So if smartphones are affecting us negatively, this is not a fringe issue.

This is a question worth asking.

So how are they affecting us and why?

And the first place to look is our happiness.

Are we happier staring at screens 24-7?

And when it comes to happiness, the data all starts with the U. Okay.

What I'm saying is that when it comes to the happiness index, it's all about the U or at least the shape of the letter U. I'm talking about the shape plotted out on a graph, the U shape of

So if I'm understanding you correctly, happiness starts high, it dips for a while, and then it rises again, so the graph looks like a U. So basically a reverse bell curve, is that accurate?

Yeah, no, bingo.

Bingo.

So let's start with the first high point on that graph, which would, of course, be youth.

People tend to be happier when they are young.

Their life isn't perfect, not absolutely carefree, but optimism does a lot of heavy lifting in youth.

People expect things to get better.

Identity still feels open-ended.

Even stress feels temporary.