Telephone, n. An invention of the devil which abrogates some of the advantages of making a disagreeable person... — Ambrose Bierce

Telephone, n. An invention of the devil which abrogates some of the advantages of making a disagreeable person keep his distance.

Author: Ambrose Bierce

Insight: We've all felt this particular frustration, especially now. A phone call from someone draining can no longer be avoided by staying out of their way—they reach right into your pocket, your car, your home. Bierce was writing when the telephone was genuinely new, yet he nailed something we still wrestle with: technology that was meant to connect us sometimes just amplifies our access to people we'd rather not deal with. The advantage of distance, of being able to dodge someone difficult, gets neutralized the moment they have your number. What's interesting is how this cuts both ways. We complain about intrusions, sure, but we also use that same technology to pull difficult people closer than they deserve. We answer calls we didn't want to take. We respond to texts from people who drain us. The telephone—or whatever device is in your hand right now—didn't actually force connection. It just made avoidance harder to defend. Now we have to choose actively to maintain distance instead of passively enjoying it. That tension remains unresolved. You can silence notifications, block numbers, go offline. But there's always a small guilt attached, a sense that you're being rude to someone who can, after all, reach you instantly. Bierce saw it coming: the devil's advantage isn't forcing connection so much as making it feel selfish to refuse it.

Source: The Devil's Dictionary, 1911

Avoidance becomes guilt instead

We've all felt this particular frustration, especially now. A phone call from someone draining can no longer be avoided by staying out of their way—they reach right into your pocket, your car, your home. Bierce was writing when the telephone was genuinely new, yet he nailed something we still wrestle with: technology that was meant to connect us sometimes just amplifies our access to people we'd rather not deal with. The advantage of distance, of being able to dodge someone difficult, gets neutralized the moment they have your number.

What's interesting is how this cuts both ways. We complain about intrusions, sure, but we also use that same technology to pull difficult people closer than they deserve. We answer calls we didn't want to take. We respond to texts from people who drain us. The telephone—or whatever device is in your hand right now—didn't actually force connection. It just made avoidance harder to defend. Now we have to choose actively to maintain distance instead of passively enjoying it.

That tension remains unresolved. You can silence notifications, block numbers, go offline. But there's always a small guilt attached, a sense that you're being rude to someone who can, after all, reach you instantly. Bierce saw it coming: the devil's advantage isn't forcing connection so much as making it feel selfish to refuse it.

Ambrose Bierce

Ambrose Bierce was an American writer and journalist known for his satirical wit and dark humor. He served as a soldier in the Union Army during the American Civil War, an experience which influenced his writing. Bierce is best known for his short stories such as "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" and his biting critique of society in works like "The Devil's Dictionary."

Telephone, n. An invention of the devil which abrogates some of the advantages of making a disagreeable person... — Ambrose Bierce

Avoidance becomes guilt instead

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