IS DIGITAL MEDIA BAD FOR US?

What I found most interesting in this week's homework was the NPR program that described the effects of technology on the brain. At one point, the speaker describes how our brains respond the same way to email alerts and text messages as they did to the threat of an approaching predator thousands of years ago- that is, our brains respond to technology by sending out stress signals. The problem is that our bodies are equipped to have this fight or flight response once in a while- certainly not every day, multiple times an hour (which is the amount that most people use their cell phones/computers these days.) In this sense, technology does have harmful effects on us and is probably leading to higher levels of stress hormones and lowered immune function.

Moreover, scientists have discovered that technology is actually changing the ways in which children's brains are forming, since kids nowadays have as much contact (if not more) with the tv/computer as they do with actual human beings. Kids nowadays actually have brains that are forming differently than kids 40 years ago.

Also, technology has had a profound effect on the way we think- and perhaps not a positive one. We have become increasingly accustomed to multitasking- talking on the cell phone while researching on the computer- that we may be completing tasks much less effectively than we would if we did one thing at a time. In fact, researchers have found that our brains are really only capable of doing one thing at a time- or at least, of doing one thing at a time well. So, technology has helped us with multitasking, but has it also lowered our standards? Probably.

Other negative effects of technology include things like internet addiction, which unfortunately is becoming more and more common. This has led many into severe depression and, in the worst cases, suicide. This is an obvious example of a way in which digital media is unequivocally harmful.

 

Although I do think digital media is dangerous, there ways in which humanity has greatly benefited from it- the most recent example being the revolution in Egypt. The sharing of information is such an important part of democracy and, in the case of Egypt, led to some wonderful results.

I really don't know if digital media is bad for us- it has brought about some great things as well as some not so great ones. But I do think that, as individuals, we should limit the amount of time we spend glues to a tv or computer screen, simply for our own health and well-being!