--- --- # Smartphones May Be Degrading Our Moral Values by [The Aspen Institute](https://time.com/author/the-aspen-institute/) ## The Aspen Institute May 22, 2017 4:00 PM UTC by [The Aspen Institute](https://time.com/author/the-aspen-institute/) ## The Aspen Institute May 22, 2017 4:00 PM UTC **1\.** [**Are smartphones degrading our moral values?**](https://psmag.com/news/are-smartphones-changing-our-moral-values) By Tom Jacobs in _Pacific Standard_ **2\.** [**This is how the latest U.S. airstrikes in Syria could trigger a deeper conflict with Iran.**](https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/05/syria-trump-assad-iran/527352/) By Thanassis Cambanis in the _Atlantic_ **3\.** [**Instead of beating antibiotic-resistant superbugs, humans might need to learn to live with them.**](https://www.statnews.com/2017/05/18/superbug-new-model-infection/) By Usha Lee McFarling in _STAT News_ **4\.** [**With a few home ingredients, this Air Force cadet invented a goo that can stop bullets.**](http://taskandpurpose.com/air-force-academy-cadet-invents-goo-can-literally-stop-bullets/) By Tom Roeder at _Task and Purpose_ **5\.** [**Science is helping us understand how distraction keeps us from appreciating beauty.**](http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/distraction-makes-us-less-able-appreciate-beauty-180963315/) By Ben Panko in _Smithsonian_  [_The Aspen Institute_](http://www.aspeninstitute.org/) _is an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, D.C._ Five Best: Smartphones May Be Degrading Our Moral Values ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4787987/smartphones-may-be-degrading-our-moral-values/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4787987/smartphones-may-be-degrading-our-moral-values/"},"headline":"Smartphones May Be Degrading Our Moral Values","datePublished":"2017-05-22T16:00:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:58:50.172Z","description":"These are today's best ideas","url":"https://time.com/4787987/smartphones-may-be-degrading-our-moral-values/","keywords":["Five Best Ideas","Innovation","Smartphones","beauty","Guns","U.S. military","antibiotics"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"The Aspen Institute","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/the-aspen-institute/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/five-best-ideas/","name":"Five Best Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4787987/smartphones-may-be-degrading-our-moral-values/","name":"Smartphones May Be Degrading Our Moral Values"}}]}] ```