AceShowbiz -

What could have simply been a retelling by Emmy Award-winning actor/comedian Louis C.K. on "CONAN" about his resistance to let his daughters have their own smartphones became a philosophical platform for the 46-year-old writer/producer/director. Saying he's "not there to make them happy" but to "raise the grown-ups that they're going to be," he expressed concern about what smartphones were doing to the kids of this generation.

"I think these things are toxic, especially for kids. They don't look at people when they talk to them and they don't build empathy," said the FX comedy series "Louie" creator. And just when viewers thought C.K.'s concern was only for the young ones, he went on to point out that adults also had a problem with their mobile devices, saying they were overusing their phones.

"That's what the phones are taking away, is the ability to just sit there," the stand-up comedian declared, as he observed adults had lost the "ability to just be yourself and not be doing something." He said it had gotten so extreme people would even risk their lives and those of others as they text while driving since "they don't want to be alone for a second because it's so hard."

Although C.K. said "life is tremendously sad," people needed to deal with the "forever empty" feeling. "Sadness is poetic -- you're lucky to live sad moments. When you let yourself feel sad, your body has like antibodies that come rushing in to meet the sadness. I was grateful to feel sad and then I met it with true, profound happiness," he said.