Get off your Freaking Phone: The Definitive Answer to the Problem of Suffering
This article is part of the Claritas fall 2022 issue, Mystery. Read the full print release here.
By Frank Fang
After a long day of classes, I was sitting in Okenshields, scrolling through my Instagram feed instead of talking to any of the dozens of people around me because I really needed a “mental break.” I felt a deep and aching sense of existential dread as I noticed that I had lost 1 whole follower. Amidst my blinding fury, I downloaded the first Instagram unfollowers app I saw in the App Store. Without hesitation, I plugged in my dad’s credit card information to pay the $54.99 a year to see who unfollowed me. I would stop at nothing to uncover the identity of the insolent fool who decided that they didn’t need the false image of myself that I presented to the world in their life.
Why, oh God, do you allow a good man to suffer?
I tapped on the unfollowers button and to my utter dismay, it was the girl that I followed after teaching her to use the ridiculously overcomplicated laundry machine in our dorm’s basement and never saw again. Why did she do that? I legitimately thought that the next time I saw her, I would ask her out to dinner at Morrison (maybe even sacrifice a guest swipe on her), go on a few dates, and then propose. We would live a beautiful, amazing life together with 2.1 kids and no drama at all just like God would want. Or something like that. Misery consumed me as my beautiful future disintegrated—reduced to ash and spite.
Why did God rip my future away from me?
I left Okenshields, my mind plagued by these questions. The colorful leaves were nothing but a blur in the tunnel vision of my confusion. I decided that these questions and painful feelings were just too much to think about, so I figured now would be a great time to log onto Snapchat to take pictures of absolutely nothing and send them to the 78 people I hadn’t responded to yet. I angled my camera at Libe Slope and noticed how pretty the sunset was through my phone. My friends from back home would be so jealous to see the beautiful environment I’m in. I snapped a quick picture and buried my nose back in my phone because the OLED display on this little box had so much more vibrancy than the real-life beauty directly in front of me.
Why am I so drawn to mechanical light? Am I a man or a moth?
As I mindlessly swiped, I noticed that it had been a few days since I had aimlessly tapped through the private story of this one guy that added me from a Cornell Class of 2026 GroupMe. On top of this, there was a timer next to our streak. Had I been removed from his private story? Why would he do this? I had a 97-day streak with him. I was three days away from reaching the 100-day milestone that defines true friendship and false friendship. Like a thief in the night, he had snatched away the hope of witnessing a 3-digit number next to the fire emoji. Why did God put it in his heart to destroy our friendship? Am I living out the story of Job on this forsaken day? Consumed by betrayal, I felt compelled to tear my clothes, shave my head, and fall on my knees in the middle of the Arts Quad supplicating at the feet of Ezra Cornell. Unfortunately, I cared too much about what other people thought of me, and I would look weird. So, instead, with the fury of a thousand suns, I removed my betrayer from my private story too. I again questioned God’s fairness.
Why did God allow so much suffering in one day?
Sick and tired of these questions and this pain, it was time to hit Helen Newman. If I could just get absolutely shredded, maybe I could get back at the people who damaged me. I chugged some Creatine and some pre-workout, put my Airpods in because silence is uncomfortable, and turned on some Olivia Rodrigo since her entire album about a singular break-up really spoke to me and my situation. [1] I figured this would be a great time to max out on the bench. With an absolutely primal grunt that surely had the other gym-goers quaking in their GymShark apparel, I hit a new max. While I dapped my spotter up and yelled profanities and finally realized the true meaning of my suffering.
Suffering allows you to get absolutely yoked.
Even though the caricature in this story is ridiculous, as soon as your hands put down this journal, it will likely be replaced by the $1,000 piece of corporate tech that your parents probably bought you. When we are inundated with classwork, clubs, and other responsibilities, we end up relying on shallow narratives even when we aren’t consciously aware of them. We believe that social media can be a substitute for human interaction, and we unfortunately turn to technology for validation and comfort. I absolutely used to obsessively check the Instagram unfollowers app (I promise I didn’t spend $55 on it, though). I am a frequent victim of the doom-scroll and notice hours of my time going by that could be spent doing literally anything else. My vernacular in speech and text has become reduced to the trending catchphrases that the Internet deems comical. Finally and worst of all, my phone distracts me during conversations with the people in front of me. The human brain is not made to multitask. I cannot give my full attention to someone standing in front of me while judging someone’s political views on Instagram. To cut me and everyone else in the world some slack, we are fighting against a team of people (possibly Cornell graduates) in Silicon Valley getting paid to keep our eyes on their app for as long as possible.
Being on our phones is the utter opposite of a mystery. Phones are programmed to give us all the answers. We have access to almost all the information mankind has ever developed due to our phones. We would like to present ourselves on social media in the same way. The few posts and stories that we share are meant to encapsulate all the information about ourselves that has ever existed. We lie to ourselves and the world.
We can better understand how technology negatively impacts our day-to-day lives and our relationship with God through the story of Christ’s Temptation by Satan during his 40 days of fasting in the desert. During those 40 days of fasting, Satan presented Jesus with three different tests: quell his hunger by turning stones into bread, prove that He is the Son of God by throwing himself off a cliff to be saved by angels, and easily become king of the world by just bowing down to the devil. The devil only offered shortcuts. Turning stones into bread would satiate Jesus’s physical needs, but it would shorten Jesus’s sacred fast. Being saved by angels would prove to all that He is the son of God, but that would also leave the necessary sacrifice unfulfilled. Bowing to Satan would hand the world to Jesus on a silver platter, but being the king of this physical world is nothing compared to being the King of Heaven. [2]
Similarly, our phones offer us those exact same shortcuts to gratification. They tempt us to find entertainment through brain-numbing scrolling in moments of boredom or procrastination. They deceive us to think that accumulating followers can be a substitute for complex, time-consuming, yet rewarding relationships with our peers. They lie to us by telling us that likes, comments, and shares can easily help you achieve a feeling of validation. However, none of this will ever lead to anything worthwhile.
Being patient is difficult at Cornell considering the scarcity of time. Fortunately, we are actually very blessed to have long walks in between our classes. Getting off your phone and taking your earbuds out while walking the one mile to your 10 AM every morning might lead to a welcome encounter and conversation with someone. If you are not lucky enough to bump into someone you know, walking in silence gives you the time and space to talk to God. Truly meaningful relationships are forged when we take time to sit down and spend quality time with someone (without the interference of phones.) True joy that transcends quick hits of entertainment and distraction comes from time spent with God. True validation and purpose come from the fact that we are so intimately known by God and have the honor to devote our lives in worship to Him. We need to skip shortcuts from our phones and delve into the mystery and wonder of God. If Jesus walked into Okenshields with his tunic-clad disciples, would anyone be scrolling through Sidechat or would everyone be in awe of the beauty in front of them? It’s time for another mental break. I wonder what Kanye is up to.
This article appeared in Claritas’ fall 2022 Mystery Issue.
SOURCES
[1] Olivia Rodrigo, Sour, 2021.
[2] Bridgetown Audio Podcast. Podcast, audio. https://player.fm/series/bridgetown-audio-podcast-2887947/part-5-the-father-of-lies.