Do Smartphones Make People Smarter?
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The Double Take column looks at a single topic from an African and Chinese perspective. This month we discuss whether smartphones make people smarter.
A Disillusion of Our Natural Intelligence
Abel Hara
A 24-year-old Zambian studying in China
As a young man living in China in the 21st century, I have the privilege of experiencing the opportunities and challenges presented by the current smartphone explosion in the technology industry. It’s shocking to even consider that a decade ago, many of the phones and smart devices that are presently in the hands of many teenagers were once virtually nonexistent!
The advent of these so called “smartphones” has brought about debate regarding the pros and cons of their contribution to our human intelligence. It’s scary to observe how a smartphone can virtually affect every aspect of our lives, and at times stirs up an addictive attachment that can render its user indifferent to their environment and unable to concentrate on what is going on beyond the confines of the phone screen. In my opinion, the constant use of smartphones has a negative effect on cognitive function; it makes people have a relatively short attention span since they are so acclimatized to the rapidly changing dynamics of their smartphones.
The smartphone is virtually a combination of several technological applications: a calculator, an alarm, a personal digital assistant, a high quality camera, a music player system, a mini computer, an audio retrieval device and perhaps more.
通过对库存的不同年限、不同酒精度的酒样进行抽查，由表2可知，低度白酒比高度白酒更容易降解。低度白酒由于优级酒本身酯含量比一级白酒高，其降解幅度比一级白酒更高。而高度白酒其酯的降解速率，优级白酒反而比一级白酒低。白酒酸酯含量年平均变化见表3、图3、图4。
A 25-year-old business assistant in Beijing
A smartphone is essentially a world of almost limitless possibility placed in the palm of your hand. It is a tool or a trap depending on how you view and utilize it.
（2）搅拌机作业前应先检查传动部分、工作装置、防护装置等均应牢固可靠，操作灵活。起动后，先空运转，检查搅拌机叶旋方向正确，运转中无异常、异响，方可加料加水进行搅拌。
美学视域下的旅游景区是以美学学科的思维方式为考察标准，针对特殊化的对象进行研究。在媒介设计上，旅游景区的规划需要针对现实个人旅游活动的规划，围绕现实个人和活动对象整体之间的关系，开展审美向度的规划。利用简单的规划方式进行艺术形象上的设计，避免在旅游活动开展的过程中产生破坏性和负面效应。在开展艺术形象设计的过程中需要根据现阶段的美学特征进行规划，全方面考核市场的需求，保留历史景区的个性化特色。从感性角度上来说，是以个人感性活动为基础条件进行艺术形象设计的[1]。总之，要从美学视角下对旅游景区进行规划，呈现感性学美学视角下的界面。
Han Linfeng
A Smarter Life, Not a Smarter Person
敌人的獠牙朝着他的脖子挥舞着，白惨惨的，像烈日下的刀。腥臭的气息从血红的口中喷薄而出，带着鲜血和腐肉的味道。
I guess whether smartphones serve as technological aid in harnessing our intelligence and potential is entirely up to us.
The notion of whether or not a smartphone makes one smarter is disillusioned. Functions such as auto-correct and dictionary inculcated in these devices even allow one to “seemingly” spell correctly on a smartphone where they would error with pen and paper in a different scenario.
In my observation, humans are gradually relying on smartphones instead of their natural intelligence for assistance in their daily activities, hence becoming less naturally smart.
As an enthusiast for modern technologies, I have been using smartphones for more than seven years. Ask me if I have become smarter, I would say yes, but I would attribute it to years of school learning and social practice. I don’t think it has anything to do with smartphones.
方：随着信息技术的发展，传统图书馆不断朝着数字图书馆方向发展，而作为传统图书馆的核心业务——编目，逐渐呈现出服务外包的趋势，编目工作越来越边缘化。对此，您如何看这一问题？
I can’t deny that we are living in a smarter way with the smartphone and various mobile apps it has. I can type a word to get thousands of related news and stories or track my daily activities on it. We are indeed smarter with a smartphone, but we are not smarter because of it.
I can be sure of this just by recalling how I’ve handled some situations after leaving my smartphone behind a couple of times. One time I got lost and had to borrow a phone to call my best friend for help. But in the process of doing so, I realized I couldn’t remember her phone number. “Clumsy!” I thought to myself. This wouldn’t happen to a smart person, would it?
Some may say a smartphone makes us more knowledgeable and hence smarter, thanks to the convenient access to knowledge it offers. It is true that we can get basically all the information we want from it, even the “ultimate secrets” to achieve success. But I don’t think we are getting more than we are losing through it. Smartphones are only one of the many sources of knowledge we have today, but a combination of too many sources of distraction. To benefit from a smartphone, you need to be smart enough in the first place to identify helpful information and stay focused. If you can’t do this, you’d better get smarter by putting aside your phone and picking up a book.
Though one of the greatest inventions of the 21st century, this gadget has resulted in many negative consequences, such as phone addiction, social isolation and health problems linked with eyesight. I keep reminding myself not to get addicted to or reliant on a smartphone as it is a product of human techno- logy that I should be in control of. That is the smarter way of getting the best out of a smartphone.