Technological Selection?

The Globe & Mail Focus section on Saturday, September 25th had an article on cellphones and cancer. An epidemiologist, Devra Davis, has even written a book about it called "Disconnect."

I have always been one of the cellphone holdouts, staunchly refusing to jump on the bandwagon, or cellwagon as the case may be. But this has been for more private "I'd-rather-be-unlugged-and-unavailable" reasons. And how f*cking annoying people can be when talking on their cellphones in public spaces. Therefore, each article I read linking cellphone use with health problems just reinforces my dislike for the insidious little devices. (Reading Stephen King's novel "Cell" where cellphone users turn into zombies didn't hurt either.)

According to the Globe article: "Several studies, including an exhaustive review released this year by the World Health Organization's cancer-research agency, find that people who have used cellphones for half an hour a day for more than a decade have about twice the risk of glioma, a rare kind of brain tumour, on the side of their head where they hold the phone. Glioma is usually fatal."

The article explains that "cellphones operate on microwaves, sent and received by antennas on the back of the devices. Some people compare holding these phones to pressing tiny microwave ovens next to our heads." Or groins, for those who clip their phones onto belts.

So, I can't help but wonder if years from now (since brain cancers can take decades to develop) there will be whole segments of the human population weeded out by "technological selection", that is systemic health problems and death due to the use of harmful technology like cellphones. Think how many people use cellphones now on a daily basis. (The article estimates there are a whopping five billion subscriptions worldwide!)

With "technological selection" we will only have ourselves to blame.