Comedian Louis CK struck a nerve earlier this fall when, as a guest on the late-night talk show, “Conan,” he went on a tirade against cellphones. Millions of people have since watched this wry existential rant on YouTube.

Cellphones dehumanize us, CK contends, making us less empathetic and removing us from the essential fact that we’re all ultimately alone.

“That’s what the phone has taken away: the ability to just sit there,” he said. “You need to build an ability to just be yourself and not be doing something.”

Worse is the problem of texting while driving.

“People are willing to risk taking a life and ruining their own,” he said, “’cause they don’t want to be alone for a second.”

But what about the flip side of the coin? How is it that cellphones have managed to invade even our social time?

What about the epidemic of texting while living?

That’s where everyday events and social gatherings are diminished by the presence of these anti-social devices. One person’s sneak peak at his iPhone can derail an entire group’s conversation.  

A case in point: I went to a family dinner to celebrate Rosh Hashanah. Half an hour into the meal, I noticed two of the men exchanging glances, obviously preoccupied. Then I spied the culprit: Each was watching the Red Sox game on his smartphone, stealthily wedged under a plate, or propped up against a napkin. Once they were outed, the conversation shifted to baseball, their offending cellphone use freely acknowledged.    

Rudeness doesn’t begin to describe the problem. Inappropriate cellphone use may be the great pathology of our time. It’s the ubiquitous party-crasher, the elephant in the room, the presence that overshadows everything in sight.

Of course, examples of the problem exist everywhere. I recently texted a 20-something cousin. My message was informational, not at all urgent.

A few minutes later came this reply: “Having dinner,” she wrote, “(and) we’re watching a movie.”

Really?

Her response betrayed the fact that she was apparently doing both half-heartedly, while indulging a common myth about multitasking. Like most people her age, my cousin believes she can juggle numerous tasks at once, without sacrificing attention to any of them. Not a shred of evidence supports this stance and considerable research has debunked it.  

But why let facts get in the way of our self-serving, culturally sanctioned delusions?

Louis CK is right. Cellphones aren’t just killers on the road; they’re killers of the most basic parts of being human. And they erode the social ties that bind us.   

Not that long ago, human connection was a low-tech affair that precluded screens, texts and images. It would have been outrageous to sneak-watch a ballgame during a holiday meal, or to read, much less reply to, a message during dinner or a movie.  

As cellphone technology continues to expand, so, too, will the temptations for users. In the ongoing battle between man and machine, it appears that our species may be both winner and loser.

— Joan Silverman is a writer in Kennebunk. Her work has appeared in The Christian Science Monitor, Chicago Tribune, and Dallas Morning News.