Letter to the Editor: Ananya Gupta

In response to “Warren’s Wisdom: I got my first phone and it taught me that learning to live without social media is learning to live with boredom: It’s scary” by Opinion Editor Warren Su

By Guest Contributor Ananya Gupta,11

In “Learning to live with yourself,” Warren Su suggests that we reach for our phones because we are afraid to sit with our boredom, thoughts, and ourselves. But this explanation assumes a separation between the phone and the self that no longer accurately describes our relationship with technology. What if we reach for our phones because they uphold parts of who we are? 

For our generation, phones are woven into how we experience and understand ourselves. They preserve our memories, give us space to articulate our thoughts, and sustain relationships through which we feel known. An old conversion, a playlist, or a photograph can connect us to a version of ourselves that we might otherwise struggle to recall. These are meaningful parts of our identity that we carry with us. 

Even our everyday interactions online can reinforce our sense of self. Exploring an interest or talking to someone who understands us can help us recognize what matters to us. Reaching for a phone can therefore be a way of seeking connection with ourselves, rather than avoiding it. 

Su’s comparison to “soma” captures the numbing effects of some phone use, but it cannot fully explain our attachment to a device so closely integrated into our identities. The unease of disconnecting may come from losing access to familiar sources of memory, recognition, and belonging. 

Endless scrolling can certainly interfere with reflection. However, treating our attachment primarily as fear of being alone overlooks what phones have become. Learning to live with ourselves also means acknowledging that parts of ourselves already exist through our phones. Putting a phone away does not necessarily bring us closer to who we are.