Write a manifesto for the "Be IRL" movement. The movement advocates being present to your surroundings and fellow humans, vs being immersed in the virtual world created by our smartphones.


Answer: New "technology" comes with incredible benefits, but also incredible long term harms. Think of plentiful calories (no fear of starvation) vs the obesity epidemic. Now think, constant dopamine vs incredible lack of connection to our environment, no new friends and a loneliness epidemic.

We see it all around us like some dystopian movie. Everyone is looking down at their phones, their eyes and ears oblivious to everything around them. Colleges, the very places that should be bursting with energy, laughter, and serendipitous lifelong friendships, have become places full of people with few friends, constantly scrolling in search of the ever decreasing dopamine hit from a like or just something "new".