前几天我沿着繁忙的曼哈顿街道走着，熙熙攘攘、活动热闹的人行道上充满了各种各样的人群。纽约夏日周六的午后常常如此。我看到前方几步之遥有一个二十几岁的小伙埋头看手机，径直穿过了人行横道，通过了红灯，走入川流的车辆中，没有抬头，甚至可能眼都没眨，很明显他只管自己发短信，别的什么都没想。幸好车辆看到了他，来得及踩刹车，避免了本有可能发生的骇人事故。这个年轻小伙似乎不受影响，继续愉快地走在路上发着短信。我心想，我们对周围的世界已经变得这样麻木了吗？这样沉迷自我，以至于忘记了大多数人在小时候就学会的基本安全准则？智能手机已经使我们变得那么蠢了吗？是的，我们变蠢了。

　　毫无疑问，智能手机让生活更加轻松，它提供了许多便利和连通世界的即时入口，但实际上它也使我们更加依赖机器而更少依靠我们自己的脑力。我绝不是建议人们舍弃智能手机，而是建议人们要提高意识，智能手机可能对人脑有所损害而非有所助益，人们应寻找方法在智能手机的运用和依赖之间求平衡。

　　智能手机就是这样让我们变得更蠢：

　　人们忘记如何谈话了。我在社交或职场活动上环顾四周，经常能看到人们埋头看手机。如果聚会上有一百人，我估计有四分之一的人在发短信或用手机。他们忘记怎么交谈了吗？有可能。他们太焦虑了以致不能开口？也许吧。对许多人而言，手机已经成为某种镇静剂、安乐毯，予人安慰。在社交或职场活动场上，我们还是用回良好、传统的沟通方式，进行无手机对话吧。

　　智能手机影响我们的睡眠，使我们在白天时不够敏锐。我有很多病人谈到他们晚上把手机放在床边或者床上，这么做是因为可能会有短信来。在这种情况下上床睡觉无法让你充分放松并进入深度睡眠。彻底关了手机吧，到早上再处理短信或别的信息。

　　人们不能集中注意力。智能手机提供大量应用程序、服务和实用功能，形成过多的刺激。这使人的大脑加倍紧张，同时进行多项任务，无法把全部精力投入到一项任务上，降低了生产力。

　　人们死在“发短信”的手上。可叹的是，驾车时为了发短信低头一两秒就可能造成死亡。执法部门的罚款似乎没能制止手机用户继续这种行为。说到底人们最终还是会把生命(自己的和他人的)置于他们现在视为紧急情况的短信之上。

　　人们不会看地图。手机能给我们一步一步的语音指示，人们对此依赖太大，以至于意识不到自己在哪儿。基本上人们已经依赖于电脑化的声音把他们从A点带到B点，不会运用自己的大脑、方向感和看地图定位的能力。如果手机故障或没电了该怎么办？你会迷路吗？

　　人们的身份由手机定义。手机不仅仅是社会地位的象征，人们还会因没了手机而感到“迷茫、空虚和赤裸”。我的很多病人用这样戏剧性的语言来形容这种“人机分离”。

　　人们完成基本任务的能力减弱了。自动更正和小费计算器几乎消除了懂得基础数学和正确拼写的需要。

　　自拍。自我着迷和自我吹捧的风气已经形成。还需要我多说什么吗？智能地运用你的智能手机吧。客观地看待手机：它就是一种沟通和信息工具。它不能定义你是谁、让你更加吸引他人，你也不能让它统治你的生活。

　　度过一段不用手机的时间，晚上把手机关了。让它歇会儿，同时让你自己好好休息。现实生活的人际互动要优先于手机互动。

　　发短信时有一种沟通元素是根本无法表达的——情感通常未被察觉、被忽视甚至被误解。有机会就拿起手机，寻回那遗失的沟通艺术：交谈。

　　也许最重要的是，别让你发短信、拍快照的欲望阻碍你享受宝贵的时刻，这种时刻只有你自己的肉眼能捕捉。

　　The other day I was walking down a busy Manhattan street. Sidewalks were bustling with activity and were filled with people from just about every demographic imaginable. It was a typical summer Saturday afternoon in New York. Several strides ahead of me, I see a 20-something guy with his face buried deep in his phone, walk directly into a crosswalk, into a red light and into moving cars, without lifting his head, probably without even blinking, and obviously without thinking about anything but his texting. Fortunately the cars saw him and were able to slam on their brakes and avert what may have been a terrible accident. The young guy looked unfazed by this and went on his merry way, continuing his texting. I thought to myself, have we become that numb to the world around us? So self absorbed that we forget the very basic rules of safety that most people learned at a very young age? Have smartphones made us that dumb? Sadly, they have。

　　While there's no doubt that smartphone have made life easier by affording many conveniences and instant access to the world, it has effectively also made us more reliant on machine and less reliant on our own brain power. I'm in no way suggesting people should part with their smartphones. I am suggesting that people become more aware of how they might be hurting, rather than helping, their brains and looking at ways to strike a balance between smartphone use and smartphone reliance。

　　Here's how smartphones are making us dumber:People forget how to talk. So often when I'm at social or professional events I look around and see people buried in their phones. If there are 100 people at a gathering I'd estimate one-quarter of them are texting or using their phone. Have they forgotten how to talk? Maybe. Are they too anxious to talk? Perhaps. Phones have become a pacifier of sorts, a security blanket, and a source of comfort to many. While at social and professional events, let's get back to good old fashioned communication and have a conversation, sans phone.Smartphones affect our sleep. This makes us less sharp during the day. So many of my patients talk about how they keep their phone by their bed and on during the night and they do it because a text might come in. Going to bed under such conditions won't allow you to fully relax and get into a deep sleep. Shut the phone off completely and deal with any texts or messages in the morning.People can't focus. A smartphone offers a multitude of apps, services, and features, leading to stimulation overload. Because of this, peoples' brains are on overdrive and they multitask, not allowing them to devote their full attention to one task, leaving them less productive.People die at the hands of texting. Tragically looking down for a second or two to text while driving can lead to a fatality. Fines issued by law enforcement don't seem to deter users from doing this. Ultimately it will come down to people valuing life (theirs and others') over what they deem to be the urgency of a text.People can't read a map. There's such a dependence to use the phone to give us verbal step-by-step directions that people don't have a sense of where they are. They essentially have come to rely on a computerized voice to get them from point A to point B instead of their own brain, sense of direction, and ability to look at a map and know where they are. What happens if the phone breaks or powers off? Will you be lost?Peoples' identities are defined by their smartphone. Not just are they a status symbol, but without them, people feel "lost, empty, and naked." Many of my patients described this separation in such dramatic terms.Peoples' ability to complete basic tasks is diminished. Autocorrect and tip calculators pretty much eliminate the need to know basic math and spelling.Selfies. A culture of self-absorption and self-aggrandizing has been bred. Need I say more?So be smart about your smartphone use. See the phone for what it is: a tool for communication and for information. It doesn't define you, make you more appealing to others, nor should it rule your life。

　　Have a period of no phone use and turn it off at night. Give it a break when you're giving yourself a rest. Prioritize people and real life human interactions over that of phones. There's an element of communication that simply isn't captured when using texting. Emotion is often missed, overlooked, or even miscommunicated. When possible, pick up the phone, and get back to that lost art of communication: talking。

　　Perhaps most important, don't let your desire to send or snap a picture or a text prevent you from enjoying a priceless moment in time that can only be captured with your naked eye in the moment。