Over the last few years, there has been a growing consensus that the internet is rotting our brains. From the ‘unprecedented’ decline in global literacy rates to our shorter attention spans and the sharp rise in ADHD diagnoses in the UK since the early 2020s, concerns about cognitive decline have intensified. While there are multiple factors behind these negative developments, the most common culprit is our relationship with our phones – and for good reason. A 2025 report found that the average American checks their phone 205 times a day, or almost once every five minutes while awake, with 43 per cent admitting they feel addicted to their devices.

Experts have long highlighted how social media can exacerbate mental health challenges. Studies have shown that simply talking on the phone while driving is enough to slow reaction times. Even the sound of a notification can impair cognitive performance; participants in one study performed significantly worse on a task after hearing a phone’s ‘ding’ than those with no distractions. The effects of constant connectivity are becoming increasingly recognised, particularly with Oxford University Press naming “brain rot” as its word of the year for 2024. Yet, Oxford professor Andrew Przybylski and several other academics reject the idea that screens are lobotomising us.

“Since 2017, there has been a constant drumbeat of: ‘Screens, tech, and social media are a different universe that is bad for you and bad for your kid,’” Przybylski explained in a recent interview with the Guardian. “And two things happen. The first is low-quality research that confirms our biases about technology. It gets immediate press because it’s consistent with our existing assumptions. It’s really easy to publish low-quality research that shows a correlation and then exaggerate it because it’ll get attention and funding.”

Przybylski, who has spent years researching the impact of technology on cognition and well-being, argues that the moral panic around phones lacks sufficient evidence. He also points to a rise in opinion pieces and bestselling books that make sweeping claims without rigorous scientific backing. “The ideas in these books are not peer-reviewed,” he says. In 2023, Przybylski and his colleagues analysed data from almost 12,000 children in the US, aged between nine and 12, and found no link between screen time and brain connectivity or well-being. “If you publish a study like we do, where we cross our Ts, dot our Is, state our hypotheses before we see the data, and share the data and code, those types of studies don’t show the negative effects people expect.”

Gary Small, chair of psychiatry at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey, similarly agrees with Przybylski. Having studied the potential harms and benefits of digital technology, he argues that, to his knowledge, “there’s no compelling evidence that using digital technology or devices causes permanent brain damage.” Instead, he tells the Guardian that people should “be smart about how you use your devices. Manage the devices – don’t let them manage you.”

This, however, is easier said than done. Anti-tech writer and artist August Lamm stressed this point on our podcast Dazed and Discoursed, and in her guide, You Don’t Need a Smartphone: A Practical Guide to Downgrading Your Life, writing, “This is not an issue of self-control. There are certain things to which any reasonable person will fall prey, regardless of temperament, willpower, or resolutions to change. Do not feel ashamed if you have set limits and rules only to break them over and over again. Again, you are doing exactly what you are designed to do. This is not your fault.” Apps are made to keep users hooked, so simply suggesting that people exercise willpower to control their phone use ignores the reality of digital addiction.

Academics remain divided on the impact of phones and social media. One day, they are to blame for society’s decline; the next, they are harmless. But ultimately, only you know how your relationship with your phone affects you. If you feel anxious without it, use it to suppress uncomfortable feelings, or struggle to spend time with friends without being glued to your screen, you probably have a problem – regardless of what the scientists are saying.