Smartphones are robbing us of our creativity | Letters

Aloneness and not knowing are fundamental to being human – let’s leave the virtual world and return to the real one, says Peter HindleyHoward Jacobson expresses surprise at his dependence on his smartphone (Weekend, 2 September). I recently lost mine, and it made me confront the two sources of anxiety my phone assuaged for me. First, the fear of being alone: my phone gave me the illusion that I could always be in contact with someone or something. Second, fear of uncertainty: my phon