(The Atlantic) – The decline in drinking coincides with a decline in social activity more broadly. A variety of causes have been blamed for this trend toward isolation, phones chief among them. Maybe the phone theory is correct, and maybe it is not; the forces behind broad national trends are endlessly debatable. At the micro level, however, the influences of different vices become more clear. Consider a night out with friends, and the diverging consequences of buying a round of shots versus opening up Instagram.

The systemic effects of millions more people looking at their phones and millions fewer getting drunk remain to be seen. These are not the only changing national vices, however; more Americans are also gambling online, consuming marijuana, and watching pornography than ever before. And these new, ascendant vices are likely to shape American life in the 21st century as much as mass day drinking shaped life in the 19th. (Read More)