On the one hand, the grumpy old man in me agrees completely.
On the other, they’ve been saying this for all of history, since that new-fangled writing wreaked havoc on our ancestors’ children’s memories. And it did in fact do that, but we changed.
Attention span is just going to become vestigial in the general population as it becomes less necessary in an evolving technological and sociological environment, just like memory and penmanship.
Yeah it’s not really up for debate, the science is only growing more conclusive on how smartphones negatively impact a developing brain, especially social media.
Also, attention span is not vestigial… It’s pretty important function of your brain, and can’t just be replaced by technology…but I was more referring to anxiety and depression disorders, which again, are on the rise.
I’m also kind of confused why you included penmanship in there, as that is not something a child’s development requires to be healthy. It’s simply a skill, and one that has been replaced by typing, almost 1:1.
Once upon a time people argued penmanship was crucial to building a well developed brain. Same with memorizing epics by rote. Books were actually considered bad for students because they would become dull and lazy if they did not commit all their knowledge to memory.
But memory can largely be replaced by technology, and that enables access to more knowledge than one person could ever memorize. Who knows how society will develop, for better or worse.
yes but in order to effectively use technology to replace memory you still have to commit things to memory. if I don’t know something exists then how can I Google it?
I’m sorry but not going to trust an author who has a very real financial incentive to sell a hypothesis. There are indeed numerous studies that do summarize the negative impacts of social media and smartphones on mental health, and it’s also extremely true that the increase in mental health diagnosis can also, at least partially, be attributed to an increase in mental health awareness. My ADHD existed well before I got my hands on tech.
EDIT: to summarize, I don’t really take issue with your comment, but I believe that you can find an even better source of information to link to when discussing this topic. Wishing you well!
I hear you. Not everything is because of the smart phones and social media. And I agree that awareness is increasing the diagnosis numbers.
I would be sceptical if I didn’t know of this random author as well. But look into him, at least check his Wikipedia article. Maybe see his TED talk. Read a couple interviews. Don’t accept my recommendation at face value.
There are a lot of people out there trying to make us feel lacking so they can sell something. But I don’t think Haidt is one of those people.
I learned a thing or two from his material. Your mileage might vary, obviously.
On the one hand, the grumpy old man in me agrees completely.
On the other, they’ve been saying this for all of history, since that new-fangled writing wreaked havoc on our ancestors’ children’s memories. And it did in fact do that, but we changed.
Attention span is just going to become vestigial in the general population as it becomes less necessary in an evolving technological and sociological environment, just like memory and penmanship.
Yeah it’s not really up for debate, the science is only growing more conclusive on how smartphones negatively impact a developing brain, especially social media.
Also, attention span is not vestigial… It’s pretty important function of your brain, and can’t just be replaced by technology…but I was more referring to anxiety and depression disorders, which again, are on the rise.
I’m also kind of confused why you included penmanship in there, as that is not something a child’s development requires to be healthy. It’s simply a skill, and one that has been replaced by typing, almost 1:1.
Once upon a time people argued penmanship was crucial to building a well developed brain. Same with memorizing epics by rote. Books were actually considered bad for students because they would become dull and lazy if they did not commit all their knowledge to memory.
But memory can largely be replaced by technology, and that enables access to more knowledge than one person could ever memorize. Who knows how society will develop, for better or worse.
yes but in order to effectively use technology to replace memory you still have to commit things to memory. if I don’t know something exists then how can I Google it?
Attention isn’t eliminated by smartphones, just shortened
You might want to take a look at this: https://jonathanhaidt.com/anxious-generation/
I’m sorry but not going to trust an author who has a very real financial incentive to sell a hypothesis. There are indeed numerous studies that do summarize the negative impacts of social media and smartphones on mental health, and it’s also extremely true that the increase in mental health diagnosis can also, at least partially, be attributed to an increase in mental health awareness. My ADHD existed well before I got my hands on tech.
EDIT: to summarize, I don’t really take issue with your comment, but I believe that you can find an even better source of information to link to when discussing this topic. Wishing you well!
I hear you. Not everything is because of the smart phones and social media. And I agree that awareness is increasing the diagnosis numbers.
I would be sceptical if I didn’t know of this random author as well. But look into him, at least check his Wikipedia article. Maybe see his TED talk. Read a couple interviews. Don’t accept my recommendation at face value.
There are a lot of people out there trying to make us feel lacking so they can sell something. But I don’t think Haidt is one of those people.
I learned a thing or two from his material. Your mileage might vary, obviously.
Shame. He’s a very good author