10 Ways Smartphones Have Made People Dumber

LOL. *Goes back to texting*

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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Smartphones are smart, but are making us dumb. With so much power in the palm of our hands, we're getting so dependent on technology that we may not be able to survive a day without it. Go ahead and take a trip to the woods to see how long you'll last. Or navigate around a city overseas with nothing but a physical map and a compass. These are all things that used to be the norm for many people around the world, but now seem ages in the past. With great power comes great responsibility (thanks Uncle Ben), so no matter how much you use that device in your pocket, don't forget that one day you could end up without it, and may need to know some basic things about life. Here are 10 Ways Smartphones Have Made People Dummer. I mean Dumber. Right? Let me Wikipedia that. 

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We divert our attention from important things to things that can wait.

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We get less sleep at night, which literally affects how we perform the next day.

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We think passwords will keep us safe: There are TONS of sensitive information on one device and a single password is our standard for security. Don't be surprised when identify theft comes your way.

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People will turn to a major news app for all of their news, and never pick up a local paper that contains direct news about the city they live in.

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We've become more content with letting our private information be taken by companies through apps.

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American English is slowly being taken over by abbreviations: first it was G2G, LOL on AIM, and then everything exploded with smartphones. And that's because...

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... We want everything faster. Looking up information in a library? Just download the Wikipedia app to learn Russian literature in the first paragraph. #NotReally

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We depend on a few emojis rather than language to articulate our feelings, when emotions are much more complex than that.

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We rely on Google Maps so much that real maps might as well be a foreign language. Good luck traveling in dead zones.

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Trying to be slick? People had to be much more clever back in the old days.

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