Sir, – As ever, Joe Humphreys writes insightfully about “tech addiction” and “the so-called anxiety epidemic of modern times” (“Smartphones are an easy scapegoat for so much more”, Unthinkable, Opinion & Analysis, January 6th). Each generation believes that its problems are unique, but we have always blamed technology for our anxiety.
In 1962, in Memories, Dreams, Reflections, Carl Jung wrote that “reforms by advances, that is, by new methods or gadgets, are of course impressive at first, but in the long run they are dubious and in any case dearly paid for. They by no means increase the contentment or happiness of people on the whole. Mostly, they are deceptive sweetenings of existence, like speedier communications which unpleasantly accelerate the tempo of life and leave us with less time than ever before.” – Yours, etc,
BRENDAN KELLY,
Professor of Psychiatry,
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Trinity College Dublin,
Dublin 2.