The modern teenager craves information. Be it personal, political, or pointless, information has become the American teenager’s drug of choice. Information is an inebriant, and smart phones are the bottle in which it is stored. Without a comfortable flow of status updates and news segments bombarding them wherever they go, users face the worst symptom of withdrawal: reality. Modern adolescents have grown addicted to the constant flow of information afforded by their smart phones, and many have grown more secure in the virtual world than they are in the real one.

    We can’t get lost anymore.

    We can try, but who will? Efficiency permeates our daily lives. We get where we need to go, do what we need to do, and return home having documented the entire ordeal. No corner has been left uncharted, no route left unconsidered by the tinny, mechanical voices leading us to our destination. Adventure is a necessity to leading a healthy life, but with smart phones keeping us stuck to our path, adventure is scarce and spontaneity scarcer.

    We can’t get lost anymore, but we are lost. We are lost in a sea of technology, drowning in information. Should we continue to invest so much of our time in a life that is not real – zapping pictures through cyberspace, recognizing others’ accomplishments with the push of a button – the lives of all those who come after us will be utterly different than ours. We can’t get lost, but they won’t be able to be found.