Forever Learning, forever changing

Trying to warp into the 21st century. Hope this will provide a better media than Facebook.

[ngmoon101]

Human 2.0: How Tech Transformed Us

Tech has played an integral role in shaping human’s lives throughout out our history. Current tech has brought us to a new age of enlightenment and connection. 

The Rise of the Super Human

The growth of tech has led to a rise of super humans. Our tools have moved from sticks and stones to computers and phones. We are capable of anything. We have a vast library of knowledge at our disposal. With the tech power we possess, are we reaching its full potential? Or are we using it trivially to handicap ourselves?

Nicholas Carr would argue that tech is morphing our brains negatively. We are destroying neural pathways that help deep thought and long term memory. All in exchange for Internet efficiency. Carr is right that our brains have changed. Negatively? Not quite.

Technology is King

The human race has followed a natural pattern of tech advancement. We have constantly changed: culture, mindsets, lifestyles; always making room for the newest thing. Humans long for relevancy. We seek to find the next greatest thing. It’s hard to believe Nicholas Carr when he is against everything that world has stood for. As humans we have always adapted and embraced the newest tech to push ourselves to new enlightenment. Why change now?

Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

To believe that tech has severely handicapped us would be a false assumption. Humans can and will evolve. Though we do lose different neural networks, we build new, faster ones in their place. We can move around the web and search for info faster than we could going to a library.

People like Carr would argue that we are losing an important skill to deeply analyze books and learn from them. Books are not our only source of deep thought, though. In actuality, we’ve sped up the process. If I want to know something that I didn’t know, I don’t need to go to a library. The answer is in my pocket. I can get it instantly. Tech has made us infinitely more efficient.

Imaginative Tech

Pamela Lund discussed how tech gives rise to creative imagination. Everyone has the ability to create new things and find new ways to interact with their world. You don’t need to be a scientist or doctor, you could be a kid learning how to make a mini computer to help feed your cat. Anything is possible.

We have enhanced every part of our lives: socially, economically, medically, agriculturally, infrastructurally, etc. by applying tech.

The Future Now

With the use of phones and computers we have transformed ourselves into Human 2.0’s. Today we’re taking it a step further.  We’re working on meshing tech directly into the physical world with the use of virtual and augmented reality. I can wear glasses that show me directions as I walk down the street. Just a couple of years ago it seemed like a gimmick, but this year it is completely real and working. Human 3.0 is on the horizon.

We have modified our lives positively with tech, and we will continue to in a myriad of ways. Though there is change involved and there are negative effects to any new thing, tech will continue to evolve us and bring us to enlightenment. Tech will continue to make us think imaginatively. We will adapt and continue to create great new tools to further help preserve and perpetuate the human race.

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Works Cited

Carr, Nicholas. The Shallows. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2011. Print.

Lund, Pamela. Massively Networked. San Francisco: PLI Media, 2011. Print.

[pamgarnett]

Take a Break, For Your Brains’ Sake!

More Tech, Less Brains?

Tech dominates our world. Some people embrace the integration of technology while others fear the adverse effects of dependance. The average American can be seen with an iphone in hand and a Fitbit strapped to their wrists, even driving cars that can parallel park themselves.

But if cars can park themselves, will humans eventually lose the ability to do so themselves? I believe so, and Nicholas Carr is with me.

Life Alongside Technology

Pamela Lund, author of Massively Networked, writes about our future co-existence with tech joyfully. She promises “smart homes” that monitor the daily activities of its inhabitants, using that data to automate aspects of the environment. Lund dreams of a world where wearable and environmental technology accent every part of our life.

Teenagers live almost entirely in sync with their gadgets, barely remembering life before they had a GPS, high resolution camera, phone, internet and banking device in their pockets. But are these gadgets doing all our thinking for us? The answer to this question could be as simple as attempting to get somewhere you’ve never been using a paper map.

The Other Side of the Coin

Nicholas Carr doesn’t share Lund’s pie in the sky outlook of tech integration. He points to neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to change to adapt to its environment, to make the case that technology is actually hurting our brain.

Neuroplasticity has enabled us to evolve beyond our genetic barriers. Our brain can literally change just by repeated physical or neurological activity, such as practicing an instrument. The darker side of this phenomenon is, as Carr says, “plastic does not mean elastic.” (34)

Decreased Attention Spans and Technology

According to a 2014 study, the average American attention span went from 12 seconds in 2000 (before attached technology really took off) to just 8. At that rate, we should all be unable to focus on anything at all by 2025.

Many people feel that this is simply multi-tasking and good for the brain, but research has shown that there is no true multi-tasking, only “task-switching” which is detrimental to the attention span.

How Do We Stop?

Take a break! Put your phone down as long as you can stand it. Psychologist Larry Rosen swears by it and students at the school really enjoyed their experiment.

Take a break, for your brains’ sake!

Works Cited

Carr, Nicholas. “The Vital Paths.” The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2010. Print.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jordyn-holman/why-you-probably-wont-finish-reading-this-article_b_6850042.html

http://www.statisticbrain.com/attention-span-statistics/

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/brain-wise/201209/the-true-cost-multi-tasking

http://hechingered.org/content/how-a-tech-break-can-help-students-refocus_4556/

[hegnergeorgia]

Unique Minds: How new tech is changing the way that we think

New technologies emerge every day and change our lives.  Companies compete to get the newest, coolest devices out the fastest.  All these new toys are changing the way that we think as individuals and as a society, and we are adjusting to these changes to reap the benefits.

Whether or not these changes are good has been debated at length by writers, such as Pamela Lund and Nicholas Carr, scientests and even the general public have opinions on these changes.  I believe that the changes that are happening to our brains are more than just good, they are progressing us as a society.

Technology Duality

Our ability to concentrate on one thing at a time is going down.  On the flip side, we are better than ever at multitasking.  We have trouble socializing with strangers in the real world, but are socially networked with everyone we have ever met.

In The Shallows, Nicholas Carr laments how the creation of new tech is changing the world.  I believe that this change is progress.  True, our obsession with getting the newest gadget, and moving to the best area, has contributed to our environmental troubles. 

But there is a lag in progress whenever something big changes our society.

Connected Age

Our new connectedness is allowing us to share more than ever.  We are able to get info to each other without the government or news stations helping us.  We know the truth about violence in India, and the educational system in Europe. 

I know that if I lived in India I would be at a higher risk of violence, rape, murder, and oppression.  And if I lived in Europe, I wouldn’t be struggling to afford my higher education.  All we need is some random person somewhere to post some information online and that info could easily go viral.

Advantages and disadvantages to technology can be seen all around us.  Children who spend their time playing a lot of video games have higher reflexes.  But these same children have lost their ability to connect to nature, and tend to have problems with obesity.

People have become accustomed to instant information.  They are happy to know a little bit of everything, but not a lot about one thing.  Where is the middle ground?

What are the solutions to these disadvantages? 

Moderation

My generation has seen the highest jump in technology.  We operate with it like it is a part of our being. 

But we are becoming adults and seeing the consequences to constant tech. 

The newest generation are being raised by the first wave of parents who had their own videogames, TV’s, and computers while growing up.  These same parents, who were plopped down in front of the TV as children, are consistently finding ways to give their children the best of both worlds. 

My nephew is five years old.  He watches TV, he craves to learn to read new books, he dances to music, he builds with Legos, and he plays outside.  He has moderation in his childhood. 

We are learning in response to technology that technology is good when used in moderation.

New Minds

Technology will help us make the world a better place.  Sure, it will change the way that we act, but this is natural.

Society changed with the discovery of fire.  With the ability to tell time, to travel around the world on boats, with planes, trains, and cars.  Oil has changed our world.  The advent of cities, of the minting of money, the ability to write, and the invention of the telephone have all changed the world and society and we always made it work.  The same thing will happen with this ‘Connected Age’ and our changed minds.

Change is natural, and we always adapt.

Carr, Nicholas G. The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains. New York: W.W. Norton, 2011. Print.

[abelloli-deactivated20160322]

New Evolution

Humanity evolved to solve problems. For thousands of years, humans have been solving the problem of lost limbs by creating prostheses. [3] Humans have begun a new evolution. Robotics merge with people’s bodies and turn them into a new hybrid: humanchines.

Prostheses are tools...

[catwoooood]

Technology Then and Technology Now

One day, my generation will tell their grandchildren about the mystical land of phone books, dial-up internet, and when the pound sign existed as a pound sign. Not a hashtag.

Today’s youth will never know life without Siri, Google, or iPhones. Back in my day, I...

[kiyokat28]

Our world is quickly moving toward a future where we will lose our ability to think for ourselves, and therefore lose our brains as well.

Circuitry Rewiring, and You

While some might argue that connection to technology will improve our lives, Nicholas Carr, a Pulitzer Prize finalist and best...

[h-k-cho]

Breaking Content Addiction

Content overload stands to create the biggest social addiction in history. Modern forms of entertainment continues to evolve at a rapid pace. The amount of  all this content gets bigger and access to it easier. And people are guilty of gluttony for gorging on this smorgasbord.

Pigging out on content

We love to absorb nonsense during our downtime But people had to wait until they got home. They sat in front of the TV for our audio and visual enjoyment. Anyone can access this any time at a moments notice. And we fest as if it was the last day on earth.

This has Nicholas Carr troubled when he wrote The Shallows. He says all these distractions result in cognitive overload. The info comes too fast for our brains because we get addicted to the next interest and move on. And we click.

And click.

And click faster than I can type. Distractions increase. Attention spans and memory suffers. But is it technology’s fault?

Finding the real problem

Blaming the platform seems misguided  to try and tackle this addiction. Carr gripe on adverse brain effects centers on technology. But the blame game follows a slippery-slope:

Orators who hated the invention of writing

Scribes and  printing press

Publishers and radio

Radio and movies

Movies and TV

TV and the net

Sensible bites

People must break the addiction of viewing content. Doctors recommend drinking a glass of wine. Doctors do not tell patients to drink a bottle. But breaking an addiction that consumed a person's daily life:

waiting for your friend's next text

wanting to see yesterday's episode of The Big Bang Theory

checking to see when the iWatch is available… so you can check your friend’s Facebook posts.

No one had created a 12-step program to take control of the hold the web has on users. But tool available for users to help strangle is the monster they want to run away from: technology.

Leveraging technology to an advantage

Ironic to think using the web may provide the best answer to beat the content overload. Pamela Lund discussed using modern tech to enhance a person’s life in her book Massively Networked. These tools she describes can help track how much content someone uses to see if he or she consumes too much content per day. Some of the tools she suggests includes:

persuasive technology

internet of things

the quantified self

One program, Waste No Time came out of the gates as one program of possibly many to see exactly how much time someone wastes online. Like Weitgh Watchers, knowing how many “calories” someone consumes daily can help begin to control the problem. Let us hope the net can be the tool that allows us to use portion control on the web.

Reference:

Carr, Nicholas G. The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains. New York: W.W. Norton, 2010. Print.

Lund, Pamela. Massively Networked: How the Convergence of Social Media and Technology Is Changing Your Life. San Francisco: PLI Media, 2012. Print.

“▶ Is Technology Wiring Teens to Have Better Brains? - YouTube.” N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2015.

"WasteNoTime." WasteNoTime. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2015.