The Lead Pipe Analogy

Thirst, Water, and Smart Phones

What do lead pipes have to do with smart phones?

This connection has been a “revelation” of mine for many years now. Hear me out.

Humans need water to live. All over the world, throughout history, we have relied upon manufacturing to transport water so that we can thrive and sustain life. This need has driven us to feats of ingenuity, creating aqueducts, water towers and indoor plumbing.

A need was met by human ingenuity and enterprise.

But what have we learned over time? Some of these ingenious enterprises have led to unforeseen tradeoffs. In an effort to save lives by transporting water, we have introduced the possibility of lead buildup and poisoning.

Water is a conduit for life, flowing over the land, connecting rivers, streams, lakes, and oceans. Similarly, the need to communicate with people over great distances was met by many inventions, leading up to the groundbreaking era of the smart phone. Like lead pipes, with this new device, communication could flow instantly, over great distances, quenching people’s thirst for unlimited access to information, security, entertainment, and community.

At a glance, we are quick to praise the many benefits of this new innovation. Our car breaks down in a remote location. We can call a friend to ask for a ride, chat with a roadside assistance representative, watch YouTube videos on changing a flat tire, call 911, text our handy friend, play a game while waiting for the tow truck, take a picture of the damage, google estimated mechanic repairs, drop a pin of our location to a friend, shop online for new car parts, create a reel about our car sagas, listen to a podcast to pass the time - the list goes on.

Surely these benefits would make any sane person decide to remain firmly in the smart phone camp, without question.

But what of the future? What of the unknown ramifications of this technology that we rely upon so readily, without question?

When I first began to formulate this analogy in my head, many years ago, I didn’t have as much evidence against start phones. These days most of us know of the negative effects smart phones have upon our lives, but we are still willing to take the tradeoff that they bring, invoking the possibility of catastrophe as a necessary reason for our dependence. But what would happen if we didn’t have a phone and our car broke down? Would we really be abandoned by the side of the road forever?

Once upon a time people were submitted to this unconnected fate, and yes, there were likely tragedies in remote, harsh environments where no one was able to come to the rescue. But I’d like to think that Good Samaritans were once more common when we weren’t so reliant on the AAA roadside assistance app, YouTube videos, and calls to friends 500 miles away.

At this point in time, we have a general awareness of some of the basic physical and social side effects of smart phone usage. They leave us with diminished attention spans, reduced ability to communicate well in person, disengagement in the present moment, screen addictions, low self-esteem, mental health issues, distracted driving, poor sleep quality - the list goes on.

We also have a vague awareness of other deeper ramifications. Unfettered access to knowledge has impacted our memory, made us lazy, reduced our desire to read or master skills on our own. It’s saddled us with the undue burden of concern for every single injustice the world over. Instead of caring for our neighbors or causes in our community, we fret and bicker about global issues, far outside of our immediate impact. We participate in collective trends and memes without question, hopping from one viral sensation to the next, instead of patronizing local businesses and supporting the talent of those performing at open mics and fairs in our own town. We fill every waking moment with noise. We drown out the sounds of God and nature with limitless streaming apps, podcasts, and videos on social media that start playing immediately as we scroll, viciously competing for our attention as we waste the day away. Ads accost us at every turn, tailored to our unique wishes and desires, seducing us with promises of discounts, referral codes, and dreams come true.

If you put your phone away for a period of time and try to engage with the people around you, you will begin to notice the almost complete presence of smart phones within people’s lives. I pass a house each day as I drive to and from work, and no matter the time of day, I see a man sitting on his porch, staring down at his phone. I applaud his presence outside in the fresh air, but I cannot applaud his constant devotion to his phone. There must be more in his life than his phone. Or if there is not, there ought to be.

Spend some time with the people you love and watch them as they engage with their phones. Who do they cradle in their hands for hours on end - you, or the phone? Who do they bow their head towards in rapt attention - you, or the phone? Who do they reach for when they need consolation - you, or the phone? Who makes them laugh - you, or the phone? Who do they go to when they have a question - you, or the phone? What makes their eyes light up more - you, or the phone?

It is not that we have collectively reasoned our way into choosing to worship, love, obsess over, and trust phones more than our loved ones. No, it is that we have not questioned whether these pipes are bringing us water mixed with lead.

We have run towards innovation without reservation, and in the process, we may be poisoning ourselves irrevocably. Perhaps we should pause and reconsider the genius of invention. Perhaps we should choose thirst over water that poisons.