Paragraph 1

"There is a curious new reality: Human contact is becoming a luxury good."

Explanation: Human interaction, once common, is now becoming rare and valuable, almost like a luxury that not everyone can afford.

"As more screens appear in the lives of the poor, screens are disappearing from the lives of the rich."

Explanation: Poorer individuals are increasingly surrounded by digital screens, while wealthier people are choosing to reduce their screen time.

"The richer you are, the more you spend to be off-screen."

Explanation: Wealthy people often pay for experiences that allow them to disconnect from digital devices.

Paragraph 2

"The joy — at least at first — of the internet revolution was its democratic nature."

Explanation: Initially, the internet was celebrated for being equally accessible to everyone, regardless of status.

"Facebook is the same Facebook whether you are rich or poor. Gmail is the same Gmail. And it’s all free."

Explanation: Digital platforms like Facebook and Gmail are uniform and free for everyone, regardless of income.

"There is something mass market and unappealing about that."

Explanation: Because these platforms are used by everyone, they might be perceived as cheap or low-status.

"And as studies show that time on these advertisement-support platforms is unhealthy, it all starts to seem déclassé, like drinking soda or smoking cigarettes, which wealthy people do less than poor people."

Explanation: These platforms are increasingly seen as unhealthy and low-class, much like unhealthy habits that poorer people engage in more than the rich.

"The wealthy can afford to opt out of having their data and their attention sold as a product."

Explanation: Rich people can pay for alternatives that don’t involve sacrificing privacy or attention for free services.

Paragraph 3

"The poor and middle class don’t have the same kind of resources to make that happen."

Explanation: Less wealthy people lack the money or choices to avoid using these free but intrusive platforms.

Paragraph 4

"Screen exposure starts young."

Explanation: Children are being introduced to screens very early in life.

"And children who spent more than two hours a day looking at a screen got lower scores on thinking and language tests, according to early results of a landmark study on brain development of more than 11,000 children that the National Institutes of Health is supporting."

Explanation: A major study found that kids who spend a lot of time on screens perform worse in cognitive and language tests.

"Most disturbingly, the study is finding that the brains of children who spend a lot of time on screens are different."

Explanation: One of the most alarming findings is that screen time might actually change children’s brain structures.

"For some kids, there is premature thinning of their cerebral cortex."

Explanation: In some cases, too much screen time is linked to early reduction in brain thickness, which is a worrying sign.

"In adults, one study found an association between screen time and depression."

Explanation: There’s also evidence suggesting that adults who spend more time on screens are more likely to feel depressed.

Paragraph 5

"Tech companies worked hard to get public schools to buy into programs that required schools to have one laptop per student, arguing that it would better prepare children for their screen based future."

Explanation: Technology firms promoted the idea that every student should have a laptop in school to prepare for a digital world.

"But this idea isn’t how the people who actually build the screen-based future raise their own children."

Explanation: Ironically, tech industry professionals don't follow the same screen-heavy approach when raising their own kids.

"In Silicon Valley, time on screens is increasingly seen as unhealthy."

Explanation: In places like Silicon Valley, people are starting to believe that too much screen time is bad for health.

"Here, the popular elementary school is the local Waldorf School, which promises a back-to nature, nearly screen-free education."

Explanation: Parents in Silicon Valley prefer schools like the Waldorf School, which promote natural and screen-free learning.

"So as wealthy kids are growing up with less screen time, poor kids are growing up with more."

Explanation: There’s an increasing divide where rich children are being protected from screens while poorer kids have more exposure.

"How comfortable someone is with human engagement could become a new class marker."

Explanation: The ability to interact comfortably with others may become a sign of higher social class.

Paragraph 6

"Human contact is, of course, not exactly like organic food . . . . But with screen time, there has been a concerted effort on the part of Silicon Valley behemoths to confuse the public."

Explanation: Unlike luxury items like organic food, human interaction has been subtly undermined by tech giants who spread misleading messages about screen benefits.

"The poor and the middle class are told that screens are good and important for them and their children."

Explanation: Tech companies promote the idea that screen use is beneficial, especially to lower-income families.

"There are fleets of psychologists and neuroscientists on staff at big tech companies working to hook eyes and minds to the screen as fast as possible and for as long as possible."

Explanation: Tech firms employ experts to design their products in ways that maximize attention and usage, especially among the vulnerable.

"And so human contact is rare. . . ."

Explanation: As a result of all this, opportunities for real human interaction are decreasing.

Paragraph 7

"There is a small movement to pass a “right to disconnect” bill, which would allow workers to turn their phones off, but for now a worker can be punished for going offline and not being available."

Explanation: Some are advocating for laws that let workers disconnect from digital devices, but currently, going offline can still lead to negative consequences at work.

"There is also the reality that in our culture of increasing isolation, in which so many of the traditional gathering places and social structures have disappeared, screens are filling a crucial void."

Explanation: As social institutions and communal spaces decline, screens are taking over as the main form of connection in an increasingly isolated society.

Paragraph 1 Summary

Human interaction is becoming a luxury as wealthy people reduce screen time while poorer populations remain highly exposed. The divide between digital engagement levels is growing along class lines.

Paragraph 2 Summary

Though tech platforms were once equal-access and free, their mass-market appeal has made them undesirable to the wealthy, who can now afford privacy and reduced screen exposure.

Paragraph 3 Summary

The poor and middle class lack the financial means to escape the pervasive digital environment that the rich can opt out of.

Paragraph 4 Summary

Early exposure to screens is linked to cognitive issues in children and potential mental health effects in adults, showing troubling trends backed by scientific studies.

Paragraph 5 Summary

Despite pushing technology in public education, tech leaders themselves often avoid screen exposure for their children, creating a class gap in how kids are raised.

Paragraph 6 Summary

Tech companies manipulate public perception to promote screen use among the less privileged, while deliberately engineering platforms to maximize attention and dependency.

Paragraph 7 Summary

While efforts to allow people to disconnect are emerging, screens increasingly replace lost social structures, becoming essential in an isolated culture.