There is no doubt that innovation of technology has been moving at an escalating rate over the past decade. So much so that it has become increasingly harder to imagine a life without technology.

It is safe to assume that almost everybody (children excluded, though they are given their own tablets and iPads) in first-world countries owns a smartphone. However, we’ve somehow managed to overlook the severe psychological and neurological effects that our reliance on smartphones has on us.

I recently read an article featured in The Atlantic titled “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?” which examined smartphone usage by the post-Millennial generation in relation to their deteriorating mental health. Of course, the conclusion was that since the “iGen” generation have lived their whole lives in the embrace of their smartphones, they have become, psychologically, the most vulnerable generation as suicide and depression rates have skyrocketed, and this result can be traced back to their phones. One can clearly see this when they think about social media and the effect it has on their lives. Social media helps maintain an illusion that life is perfect, or at least it is in comparison to yours, so it’s no wonder why loneliness and depression have been activated by the development of social media.

However, the more striking issues arise when we look at the brain from a neurological standpoint. Research has shown that our cognitive ability may not be what it once was as we have become increasingly dependent on the Internet to show us the answers instead of thinking it ourselves and therefore building intelligence. Working memory and problem-solving skills may be destroyed as well in the presence of smartphones. We’re more likely to look up information that we actually know or could easily learn through analytical or critical thinking, but we’re unwilling to make the effort because there is an easy way out.

Now, this is not to say that technology should be demonized and that we should all unplug, but rather to think critically about our consumption and our relationship with our smartphones. To perhaps put it aside for one day and to not be hypnotized by the lure of social media and easy thinking.