Dune, Cell Phones, and A Sense of Self

Fresh off of seeing Dune 2 at the Imax theater.  Explaining to the kids where the tragic story of Alia Atreides goes in the book series.  Then I am struck with the parallel of her story and some thoughts I've had about the current youth being raised with the internet piped straight into their laps from childhood onwards.

Warning: mild spoilers about the Dune (both the movie and the book) regarding Paul's sister.

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Alia became self-aware at the same time all her ancestral voices are awoken in her while she is still in her mother's womb as her mother undergoes the ritual of becoming a Reverend Mother.  Hence, she is referred to as the "Abomination."  She is born self aware and completely aware of everything going on around her as if she were a well informed adult.  Unfortunately, she never had an opportunity to develop a sense of self and eventually is overcome by the interior voices of her ancestors.  This drives her crazy with dire consequences for her, her family, and, possibly, the entire human race.

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  Current adults grew up without cell phones and without the ubiquitous entertainment-on-demand that is the internet at your fingertips.  So, while we may walk around like zombies glued to our screens and fritter away hours of everyday on social media or binge watching Netflix, at least we grew up making social bonds and forming a sense of self the old fashioned way (that is to say slowly, clumsily, and with a very small peer group - with plenty of alone time to discover what your own independent thoughts actually are).  But I worry about the kids growing up today.  When do they get that formative alone/undistracted time to form a strong sense of self?  

I don't think of myself as a doomsdayer, but I do think society has been overly glib about the unknown effects this will have on the future adults of society.  Will we be facing a generation of Alia Atreides one day? Probably not, but still, I worry...

AI art. Prompt: "kids with cell phones have a lack of identity"