One Ring to Rule Them All: The Cell Phone Analogy

An Analogy

I assume that most of my readers are familiar with The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien. If not, please do yourself a huge favor and read these books this year.

A key object in all of the books is a mysterious ring; The One Ring, also known as the Ruling Ring, Master Ring, Ring of Power, and Isildur’s Bane.

This post really has nothing to do with the writings of Tolkien or the books mentioned above. Rather, I’d like to take a look at the ring and then compare it to something more familiar to all of us.

The Ruling Ring:

• Changes the Holder – whoever possesses the ring is changed. The ring has power but ultimately it works it’s evil purpose on the ring bearer, changing them making them more self centered. Sméagol is changed to Gollum after the ring is in his possession for many years. Bilbo uses the ring but in the end must divest himself of it before it destroys his life. Frodo too falls prey to its evil power and in the end struggles mightily to resist its influence and separate himself from it.
  • All the ring bearers become obsessed with the ring. Even those close to it yearn for it. When the bearer losses track of it, they become more agitated, seeking it relentlessly.
  • For each ring bearer its constant presence makes it more and more difficult to part with. Even when it is lost to the world it calls out to be picked up by any passerby.
• Makes the Wearer Invisible – The ring has the power to make the wearer invisible to the visible world. However, when this is done, it makes them visible in a much darker, evil world able to be seen by the darkest evil – Sauron.
• Nearly Impossible to Destroy – The ring was forged in such a way that it can only be destroyed by casting it into the fires from which it was formed.
• It Uses the Ring Bearers – Although the ring bearers believe they have found a treasure, a precioussss treasure, the ring is using each bearer to bring itself closer and closer to its creator, the evil Sauron. Sauron created the ring to rule all and he did so while disguised as Annatar or “Lord of Gifts”.

If none of the above makes any sense to you, fear not. I will reveal what my intention is now and even if you’ve never read the books, I hope my analogy will make some sense.

As I’ve written before, we have a serious problem in this world. We don’t need to worry about one person possessing the Ring of Power. Why? Because we all hold or are held by our own personal Ring of Power; the cellphone. Let’s take a look at the above paragraph with a few slight editorial changes and notes…

The Other Thing

• Changes the Holder – whoever possesses a cell phone is changed. The phone has power but ultimately it works it’s evil purpose on the phone bearer, changing them making them more self centered. Even in family settings or dinner dates you see individuals mindlessly scrolling on their phones. People have a difficult time interacting in person; they even text the person they are sitting beside rather than turn and have a conversation. Human interaction has changed and in many cases disappeared. The focus is no longer on the smiling, human face before us but on the phone.
  • All the phone bearers become obsessed with the phone. Even those close to it yearn for it. When the bearer losses track of it, they become more agitated, seeking it relentlessly. Hide someone’s phone and see if this isn’t the case!
  • For each phone bearer its constant presence makes it more and more difficult to part with. Even when it is lost to the world it calls out to be picked up by any passerby. We now have smartwatches and apps that can help us locate the phone when it is lost and searching for us.
• Makes the Wearer Invisible – The phone has the power to make the wearer invisible to the visible world. However, when this is done, it makes them visible in a much darker, evil world able to be seen by the darkest evil – Sauron. While the phone may not make us invisible to the world, it certainly makes the world invisible to us. Very often the world we enter on the phone is a much darker, evil world than the immediate world around us; among friends and family, nature and beauty.
• Nearly Impossible to Destroy – The phone was forged in such a way that it can only be destroyed by casting it into the fires from which it was formed. I would argue that the phone is more resilient to destruction than the ring. As much as we may like to part with it forever…we just can’t. The mere thought of doing such a thing conjurers up an endless myriad of excuses and reasons not to do such a thing. However, like the ring, the only true separation from a phone can only be through its destruction. All other attempts ultimately fall short.
• It Uses the Ring Bearers – Although the phone bearers believe they have found a treasure, a precioussss treasure, the phone is using each bearer to bring itself closer and closer to its creator, the evil Sauron. While your phone may not be trying to get back to Apple, Samsung, or Google, it is surely sharing much of your information with those creators. This information is then used to sell you to advertisers and marketers. This is why you see ads on Facebook for Home Depot after looking at items on the Home Depot website. This is why you see ads for things your friends and family members are researching or things your group “were just talking about“. The phone is using its bearer.

Of course every analogy ultimately limps but do you see some of the parallels here? Are there some I missed? Are there some you disagree with? Let me know in the comments.

“Frodo: I wish the Ring Phone had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.
Gandalf: So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.”

― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings