This is a stupid, hypocritical, trite video- and that's good news.

This video is stupid, hypocritical, trite and totally misses the point

My eyes are not big enough to roll them in sufficient disgust over this ridiculous video.

A fourth-rate poem which delivers a self-important, self-indulgent message that, by its very nature, is hypocritical.

I also can't overstate how awful I think this poem is just on a basic level. 

This is the type of self-serving BS that makes the Internet worse. It's not saying anything new or worthwhile. All it's doing is giving people a chance to feel smugly superior to when compared to people- often the young generation- who are living life just a little different than you did when you were a kid.

Let's ignore the fact that this poem decries the very technology and devices that is making it viral in the first place. That's too easy. 

Here are some facts about teenagers and college students today, obviously the target of this video. First, 80 percent of them have a job while going to school. That is the largest percentage The United States has ever seen. They also participate in extra curricular activities at a higher rate than ever before, they are graduating at a higher rate than ever before and are completing college at rates higher than ever before all while somehow glued to their phones and social media.

What about relationships? Well, since the advent of smart phones, the divorce rate has gone down significantly when compared to any time post 1975- in other words any time after women were no longer considered property. 

Now I realize this is correlation and not causation- but still relationships appear more healthy now than any time in human history. This means that while we can't say smartphones and the Internet have had a positive effect on marriage, we can categorically say it has not had a negative effect on it. 

So, regardless of the insipid sing-songy poem that indicates you checking your email on the street will cause you to miss out on wife, daughter, granddaughter, everything is just some paranoid fellow's fever dream of a horrific future that just won't come to pass.

Here's the deal. Every advancement in technology or communication has brought this type of asinine commentary. You can find similar complaints about video games, comic books, TV, movies, radio and all the way back to the printing press. The common thread in every instance is they've all been wrong. Humans adapt and our ability to communicate and be part of the world has only increased.

Guess what? When my son was born I was able to share it with my parents and in-laws through the magic of my iPad. I was able to let way more people take part in the joy of that day than any generation previous to me because of the Internet and smartphones. My family routinely engage in huge group texts that allow us to follow in real time our various exploits. It brought my group of friends and family closer together, not further apart.

If the “poetic” git in the video doesn't get it, then he's doing life wrong, not just social media.

Now I suppose it is possible to feel isolated in our modern world- but who the hell cares? It's been possible to feel isolated in every period of history. Some of the best literature illustrates this.

Oh... by the way, kids are reading more books now they any point since the 1960s. Probably thanks to Harry Potter.

The bottom line is don't get caught on the wrong side of an argument that History and modern realities have already proved to be wrong. We aren't missing out on life because of smartphones. We are getting more out of it.