busyScientists Fear Technology May Be Rewiring Our Brains
When the brain spends more time on technology-related tasks and less time exposed to other people, it drifts away from fundamental social skills like reading facial expressions during conversation, Small asserts.
So brain circuits involved in face-to-face contact can become weaker, he suggests. That may lead to social awkwardness, an inability to interpret nonverbal messages, isolation and less interest in traditional classroom learning.
... this really sounds like the anti-bookworm propaganda some teachers heaped on me when I was younger, because I preferred the company of books to that of the banal little beasts they called my classmates. And while I've got some nearby friends, frankly I prefer the company of online folks to most of the locals, because the Midwest is not exactly a hotbed of culture and brilliance. The scientists may have a point in there somewhere, but if they want to sell it to intellectuals, boy howdy they'd better find a better way to phrase it.
Re: Devil's Advocate -- but not Jaguar
December 10 2008, 18:18:26 UTC 12 years ago
We pretty much had a live & let live attitude. As a kid, I got locked out of the house in winter once & knew I could walk down the road to one of the neighbors we knew who would let us hang out there until our parents got home. People were always nice and polite -- even if they weren't close.
I'm not saying that you have to be absolute best friends with people who are your neighbors or that you have to change who you are. Maybe you avoid hot button issues in conversation. Maybe you're willing to say, "Mr. Smith may be regrettably intolerant in ___ way, but, he's always available to help anyone out regardless of what he may think in private."
Sequestering yourself from people who don't think like you can mean you miss the areas where they *do*.
Re: Devil's Advocate -- but not Jaguar
December 10 2008, 18:48:41 UTC 12 years ago
Many of th ecomments I've read refer to social life, or even romantic partnering. For me, a large part of my own *spiritual* journey absolutely requires face to face interaction with other human beings. the underlying premise of one of the schools of spirituality I follow is that the Divine speaks to us through other human beings, and especially through community and face to face personal interaction.
That is not everyone's spiritual path, and it's not for everyone -- some people, spiritually, are hermits, for example -- but I just wanted to toss in there the idea that spiritual development into the fullness of our humanity might require, need, or just plain old be facilitated by gettng along with others in a face to face milieu.
Then again maybe I am just old and traditional. Someday the kids might be calling me the crazy lady who still lives in the world where people talk to each other face to face, and that I should get with the program. After all, I am still appalled that people would wear black to a wedding, and I get told all the time that I am too old fashioned.