清晨或傍晚，我家门前总会有一位女士走过，月复一月。大概这里是她休闲散步的必经之路。家人说，“那个女人来来去去都手不离机，机不离耳，人会有那样多讲不完的话吗？”于是我开始注意她。 一段时间后， 我同意了家人的讲法。有一次我在小区远远遇到她，见她手中虽握着手机，但没有打电话，我想上前打个招呼。她突然把手机放到耳边，大声讲起话来。我只好知趣地绕道而过。又有一次和她相遇，她旁若无人地讲着手机迎面而来。 擦肩而过时，我扭头看了她一眼，无意中发现了个秘密：那手机并没有开！

其实我不想，也没有资格五十步笑百步。手机除了有应付现代生活的各种功能，它还在传统的人情世故，风俗习惯上发挥某些作用，人们先是见怪不怪，后来慢慢也养出了那些现代新习惯。不过这些新习惯总让人浮想联翩。

有时我们觉得手机能使人精神强大，像一个娇小的弱女子傍上一位无所不知的男人，她于是有了对世界置若罔闻的充实感。有时候我们又发现，那种充实感是假的，每个人都有的机会就等于没有机会。“有充实感”的外在效果可能才是真的， 因为它可以用莫名其妙的虚荣来掩饰在心中荡漾着的乏味和自卑，而这种遮羞的欲望并非人人都一样强烈。

对一些人来说，能力，智力，努力，经历，和运道的缺陷，并不成为自卑的源泉，这是他们在世界上走过各种各样的路，看过数不尽的风起叶落而悟出的一点点心得。不具有这种机会或悟性，被僵硬的社会意识和产品大潮推拥着的人， 是较难得到这种感受的，在他们那里，那些缺陷或非缺陷都成了人之羞。对人之羞采取矜持的态度，不失为可取之策，用一种更酷的方式来积极地掩盖和转移，大概是个上策，这就是我所见到的。

眼睛是人类灵魂的窗口。今天这窗口被手机遮住了，真实的情绪流露成了一种羞。我们已经很难从那个窗口里看到意外时的惊奇，沉思时的深邃，喜悦时的闪光，痛苦时的泪痕，更看不到路上陌生人相遇时的注目礼。 它永远是在盯住那块小小的荧屏，在漫无边际的文字和图片中寻找些似乎和自己有点关联的东西。从那荧屏上移开时，它变得迟钝，僵硬，无生气，仿佛离了水的鱼，离了土地的树。

空闲也成了羞。在等待出租车，排队上厕所，或什么可能的空挡中，我们都会掏出手机，让它挤走无所事事的恐惧和大脑空白的尴尬，人消灭了属于自己的哪怕是一点点的闲暇，大脑被那些不知有什么用的东西塞得满满的。 属于自己的无所事事的闲暇，很多时候是灵感和有益的思考的温床。卢梭曾说，他所有有价值东西都是在无所事事的散步和远足中获得。想象如果卢梭手中有一只手机，会有今天的《爱弥儿》，《忏悔录》吗？ 并非每个人都有卢梭那样的智力，但是属于自己的闲暇毫无疑问会使每个人绽放出各种各样的，察觉得到或察觉不到的色彩，而不是貌似忙碌的千篇一律。

社会的多样性是灵魂的多样性，然而在手机的世界里，我们灵魂正在变浅变单一。我们在碎片信息中打转，就像旋风刮起的纸屑。我们巴不得把《安娜卡列尼娜》浓缩成五十个字，把《哥德堡变奏曲》翻唱成十小节的旋律， 把相对论简化成一句顺口溜. . .，这样，不需要付出多少代价，我们就都成了无所不知的科学，艺术，哲学的达人。我们还兴奋地发现，有的地方确实已经成功地做到了，手机不是帮我们砍掉了摄影艺术的门槛， 把全民都变成了摄影家吗？

如今荡涤世界的潮流，是人人应该平等。如果生来不平等，也应该长来平等。手机正在帮我们消除智力，能力，努力的差别。然而，手机能不能把人的运气的差别也抹平呢？那一天到来时，人的生活会是多么的不费劲啊。那时的人， 灵魂平等，无羞可遮。

（2022年11月）


English Version -------------------------------------------------


Mobile phone – the fig leaf of the soul

Morning or evening, a lady walks by my door, month after month. Probably this is the only way she must pass for a leisurely walk. My family said, "That woman’s hand never leaves her phone when she comes and goes, and her phone never leaves her ear. Does anyone have so much to talk about?" So I started to pay attention to her. After a while, I agreed with what my family said. Once I met her far away in the community. Although she was holding a mobile phone in her hand, she was not talking to the phone. I wanted to go up and say hello. She put the phone to her ear suddenly and spoke loudly. I had to make a detour to avoid her. When I met her at another time, she approached me talking on her mobile phone as if no one else was there. When we passed by, I turned my head and glanced at her, and accidentally discovered a secret: the phone was not turned on!

In fact, I don't want to be, and I am not qualified as a pot calling the kittle black. In addition to the various functions of the mobile phone to cope with modern life, it also plays a certain role in the traditional sophistication and customs. People are a little surprised at first, and then gradually are used to and develop those new modern habits. But these new habits always make people imagine.

Sometimes we think that mobile phones can make people mentally strong, like a petite and weak woman who meets an omniscient man, so she has a sense of fulfillment that ignores the whole world. Sometimes we find that the sense of fulfillment is false, because the opportunity everyone has is equal to no opportunity. However, the external effect of “fulfillment " may be real, because it can cover up the boredom and inferiority rippling in the heart with inexplicable vanity, and this desire to cover up is not equally strong for everyone.

For some people, the defects of ability, intelligence, effort, experience, and luck do not become the source of inferiority complex, this is because of a little bit of experience that they obtained by traveling through various road, and seen countless warmth and cold of the world. People who do not have this kind of opportunity or savvy, and are pushed by the rigid social consciousness and product tide, are more difficult to get this kind of feeling. For them, those defects or non-defects are ashamed. It is advisable to adopt a reserved attitude towards this type of human shame, and it is probably the best strategy to actively cover up and transfer in a cooler way, which is what I have seen.

Eyes are the windows to the human soul. Today, the window was covered by the mobile phone, and the reveal of real emotion was considered as a kind of embarrassment. From that window, it is difficult for us to see the surprise of accident, the depth of contemplation, the flash of joy, the tears of pain, we cannot even see the attention when strangers meet on the road. The eyes are always staring at that small screen, looking for something that seems to be somewhat related to ourselves among the endless words and pictures. When removed from that screen, the eyes become dull, stiff, and lifeless, like a fish out of water, a tree out of soil.

Freedom has also become a shame. While waiting for a taxi, queuing to go to the toilet, or any possible vacancy, we will take out our mobile phones, let it squeeze out the fear of doing nothing and the embarrassment of a blank brain, people eliminate even a little bit of leisure that belongs to them. The brain was full of things that I didn't know what to do with. The idle leisure that belongs to one is often a hotbed of inspiration and beneficial thinking. Rousseau once said that he acquired everything of valuable thought in idle walks and excursions. Imagine if Rousseau had a mobile phone in his hand, would there be “Emile" and "Confessions" today? Not everyone has the intelligence of Rousseau, but the leisure that belongs to oneself will undoubtedly make everyone bloom in various colors, perceived or not, instead of the seemingly busy uniformity.

The diversity of society is the diversity of souls, but in the world of mobile phones, our souls are becoming shallow and simple. We swirl through bits and pieces of information like confetti in a whirlwind. We would like to condense "Anna Karenina" into fifty words, cover "Goldberg Variations" into a ten-bar melody, and simplify the theory of relativity into a jingle... In this way, without paying much price, we all become omniscient science, art, philosophy masters. We are also excited to find that some places have indeed successfully done it. Didn’t mobile phones help us cut down the threshold of photography art and turn all people into photographers?

The trend sweeping the world today is that everyone should be equal. If you are born unequal, you should grow up equal. Mobile phones are helping us eliminate differences in intelligence, ability, and effort. However, can mobile phones even out the difference in people's luck? How effortless human life will be when that day comes! People at that time had equal souls, and no shame to cover.

(November 2022)