If you were unhappy before, I doubt smartphones have made you happier. They relieve boredom for sure but here's the kicker: boredom is good for you.
I'm not sure boredom is good for you. I think boredom will often lead your brain into doing things that are good for you, but just being bored doesn't seem like something beneficial to me.
I'm not sure what I would gain by sitting in a doctor's office waiting for my appointment and being bored vs. sitting there with my phone reading/watching something.
The problem (in my opinion) comes when you start replacing everything you do with just scrolling on your phone. Like if I'm bored at home I just scroll TikTok instead of playing a sport or learning a new skill.
It's kinda weird to me that this feels so dystopian.
Before smartphones it's not like I was sitting there appreciating the world around me. I was just bored and unhappy. Now I'm paying my bills, watching funny videos, looking up interesting things about something I heard about earlier in the day, etc.
But still, there's something off-putting about a group of strangers doing something mundane like waiting for a bus and staring at their phones the whole time.