iMózg. Przetrwanie i technologiczna modyfikacja współczesnego umysłu

by Gary Small, Gigi Vorgan

Jak przetrwać technologiczną przemianę współczesnej umysłowości
Eksplozja cyfrowej technologii, jakiej obecnie doświadczamy, zmienia nie tylko sposób, w jaki żyjemy i komunikujemy się ze sobą, ale i nasze mózgi, które ulegają gwałtownej i głębokiej przemianie. Codzienny kontakt z zaawansowaną technologią – komputerami, smartphone’ami, grami wideo czy wyszukiwarkami – pobudza przemiany komórek mózgowych i uwalnianie się neuroprzekaźników, wzmacniając stopniowo nowe szlaki neuronowe w naszych mózgach i osłabiając stare. Na skutek obecnej rewolucji technologicznej nasze mózgi ewoluują szybciej niż kiedykolwiek.

Technologia cyfrowa wpływa również na nasze odczuwanie, zachowanie i funkcje naszych mózgów. Choć jesteśmy nieświadomi zmian zachodzących w obwodach neuronowych, czyli w oprzyrządowaniu mózgu, utrwalają się one w wyniku powtórzeń. Proces ewolucji mózgu ujawnił się gwałtownie przez zaledwie jedno pokolenie i być może, choć najmniej oczekiwany, stanie się najbardziej kluczowym z postępów w ludzkich dziejach. Od czasu odkrycia sposobu używania narzędzi przez naszych przodków ludzki mózg nie zmagał się z tak poważnym i dramatycznym wyzwaniem.

Genres: Nonfiction, Technology, Psychology, Science, Education, Brain, Neuroscience

288 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2008

Reviews

[Christine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Don't bother with this book unless:
1. you are a Baby Boomer who is feeling overwhelmed with the web, and would like to commiserate with one of your own.
2. If you are internet addicted and in turn socially inept (there are a few pages of self-help advice).

Interspersed in all of this split personality pages are a few references to fMRI studies of which areas of the brain light up when we are completing internet tasks. You won't be able to pinpoint the studies, though, because the author doesn't use notations. No footnotes, no endnotes, just a list of references in the back of the book. He lists his references but we have no idea which studies go to which fleeting mention.

The book is ok, but it can't decide which way it wants to go. As someone who is under 40 (Generation X) and considers herself a digital native (I had a computer in my house in the late 70's), I found this book at times to be downright offensive. The anecdotal examples were inane and sensationalistic with fear. It's the typical refrain we hear from the stereotypically selfish and self-focused "me" generation of Baby Boomers.

Unless you are in said state of panic about the internet and its implications, skip this book. The small self-help parts aren't going to help you. Dr. Smalls probably meant for you to read them to your WoW addicted daughter.

[Weavre · Rating 2 out of 5]

It does have some interesting insights in the first few chapters. The author, Gary Small, was clearly introduced to computers as an adult, and speaks about their usage with the accent of an immigrant to the digital world (to borrow one of his own descriptions). Often, his description of some aspect of online culture seems just a bit "off"--he's writing about something he's observed and studied, not something in which he's a full and comfortable participant. That occasional bit of jarring drawback doesn't keep him from sharing fascinating information about, for example, what areas of the brain are active when people perform various internet-based tasks while being monitored by fMRI, and I'm intrigued by the differences discovered in that kind of exploration.

I finished those first chapters still enjoying the book, by reminding myself to appreciate the author's experience and perspective without expecting him to write like Jean Twenge. (I read her Generation Me just before this, and she writes as a "Digital Native"--which probably emphasizes the difference between her perspective and Gary Small's.

Unfortunately, after the first few chapters, the book goes downhill quickly. While trying valiantly to offer a balanced perspective in which both beneficial and maladaptive changes are observed and noted, Small's lack of comfortable personal experience with the social web shows through strongly, and his conclusions are biased by his fears and his inability to recognize adaptive aspects of some (not all) of the traits he describs. After a few chapters of this, the downhill slide accelerates, as Small gets downright preachy. A lot of his advice is fairly common-knowledge stuff, much of which I've taught in life skills and related courses, but he offers it as if no one but he had ever thought of it before. Also, for these sections, there's almost no narrative, description, or new data--just preachy advice.

Also, I would have preferred Small include numbers linked to his endnotes. The endnotes exist, but I didn't read or evaluate them while reading the main text, because nothing in the text indicated when a given statement was noted. Sometimes the phrasing made it obvious, but other times it didn't, and I wasn't going to flip constantly to the back of the book after every sentence just to find out if there was a note associated with it. I like footnotes that elaborate on the text, and like being able to evaluate the reputations of cited sources by checking the endnotes, but the choice to omit any mention of the notes within the body of the text was just plain annoying.

One more major annoyance, which should probably have been mentioned right up front: Small constantly refers to the brain "evolving" right now, but most of the time he misuses the word. Sometimes he may intend to imply that because of dramatic changes in our environment, we're currently in one of the periods of rapid evolutionary change predicted by the punctuated equilibrium model ... but if so, he doesn't even begin to say so directly. Instead, he gives the casual reader the impression that "evolution" is something that happens within a single person's lifetime, within a single brain ... which it just isn't. "Adaptation" might have worked, but he didn't say "adaptation"--he repeatedly said "evolution," and I grew more and more irritated with that. There are enough people debating this particular concept based on out-of-date assertions and just plain bad information without muddying the waters further.

So, bottom line: two stars here, because I did like a little bit of the information near the beginning and decided not to slam the book completely. But, I'd have given it 1 and a half if that were an option, too.

MILL NON-FIC ADULT ST MAIN RM 612.8 SMA

[Trish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gary Small writes for the Wall Street Journal and Scientific American...among others...powerful teaching illustration for us all on pg. 94

[Gaurish · Rating 4 out of 5]

iBrain is a book that makes us aware of the technological changes on the planet today and the impacts it has on the mind. It is a great book talking about the advantages of being born in such a technological world like the ability to multi-task and also explains the apparent disadvantages like a lack of social skills and communication. It is definitely not a novel and It really has no spoilers. It is like one massive news article which I believe people more interested in facts and non-fiction material rather than romantic fantasies would enjoy and find productive. The only bad thing about the book is that it really drags on after a while and so it is not really made for avid readers who finish a novel a day but rather for those who read very little at a time. I think it could have been improved if it was shortened a bit but other than that the content of the book is great which is why I think it deserves 4 stars.

[Tracey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was written in 2006 so it is a bit dated. It was about technology's influence on brain development, especially the frontal lobe area. The affect has a negative impact on learning, social cue identification and more. Many ideas are provided to help over come the negative effects. The book also addresses technology usage and impacts on ADD/ADHD, depression, and so much more. If you come across this book, it is a good reference. You could probably find a more updated resource, however.

[Alina Voinea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Desigur, este outdated, fiind publicată în 2008, cu date din 2007. Dar este o analiză pertinentă a unui fenomen care atunci era emergent, iar acum este deja instalat. Cartea are și câteva teste de aptitudini sociale și adicție la tehnologie, precum câteva exerciții și sfaturi pentru combaterea efectelor negative ale expunerii frecvente și de lungă durată la tehnologie, prea multă informație și ecrane.

[Manchi · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author could have (should have, really) cited the researches he mentions in-text. It's unnecessarily difficult for readers to connect them with the references.
Otherwise an interesting book.

[Sara Ada · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little outdated at this point, but definitrly resonated with me. Definitely shows the way technology works in our personal lives and how it affects the brain.

[Andrei Cristi · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you read it in 2020s you will find that many of the "technologies" exposed in the book are a little outdated.
However, still are some interesting studies presented.

[Magda · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bardzo grubo przeterminowana. Na dodatkowy minus brak bibliografii.

[Juls · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muy interesante pero desfasado

[Jonathan Shock · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book's authors seem to have a general misunderstanding of neuroscience, technology and evolution. Perhaps it gets better, but I couldn't make it past the first 30 pages.

[Celeste · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this was a unique look at how the human brain processes things differently - even using different areas of the brain - as a result of technology in our lives. Most of it is really interesting in a discovery-channel kind of way, but the last two chapters are so elementary that they come across as a bit condescending. (Then again the last two chapters are designed to help digital addicts and digital retards, so if you are neither of those things you can skip them.) And unfortunately the book is 3 years old, so it cannot elaborate on the outbreak of Facebooking or the birth of Twitter.

The research used in the book is all valid medical research, forcing the authors to be unbiased. However, the negative effects of technology overload are pretty obvious. After reading this, I'm surprised that more people don't limit the TV-watching and online time of their kids!

And I now have two favorite quotes as a result of this book:
"Technology... the knack of so arranging the world that we don't have to experience it." -Max Frisch
"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity." -Albert Einstein (It still blows my mind that Einstein said that, so long ago... he had no idea what the world would turn into!)

[Biogeek · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another recent Kinokuniya find! Should be great to stimulate debate. The book has has two extremes ...the extremely interesting parts like the introduction of the newly-coined phrase continuous partial attention and how the middle-aged brain approaches problem solving compared to the teenager. Some good fMRI studies cited as well. But then there are the extremely bad parts ...long passages of generalizations about digital natives (does anyone else hate that term as much as I do?) and digital immigrants, some poor presentation of experiments (like the fMRI experiment with computer naive people vs computer experienced), and the frequent misuse of the term evolution in the first few pages. Evolution can be defined as the gradual change in gene frequencies in a population, and therefore cannot happen in one generation. The amazing changes in one human brain wrought by the technological revolution, while intriguing, is not an example of evolution. It may lead to some changes over time, but not in one generation. The book ends with tips on how to disconnect. I think The Winter of Our Disconnect reviewed by LG is a better option.

[Marissa Morrison · Rating 2 out of 5]

This would be a useful book for seniors who are just learning how to use the internet--people the author refers to as "digital immigrants." This book contains lots of basic practical info about how to format email, use search engines effectively, etc.

The author seems to approach his topic from an "us versus them" standpoint, contrasting digital immigrants like himself with the younger crowd ("digital natives"). He suggests that people who make use of the internet are more likely to be socially inept, incapable of real-life conversations and making eye contact.

Two sections of this book are worth reading: (1) There's an interesting explanation of why email is addictive. (2) The short quizzes are supposedly a reliable indicator of one's mental health and ability to function in a healthy way with technology.

[Jo-Ann Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting book about how the brain is being changed by technology, and not always for the better. Humans have always been able to adapt and change but now there is a real gap in knowledge and abilities between those born and educated before the technological revolution and those born since.

I do think the authors tend to generalize too much and for people who are very familiar with computers at times he may come across as condescending. However, for people who are totally unfamiliar with computers, there are useful tips.

It includes some exercises and resources for obtaining more information about this rapidly changing topic. Every parent who is not proficient with technology should read this book, as well as those interested in how these advances are changing their child's brain.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting book that discusses technology's impact on our brain. I liked the discussions of the pros and cons of technology's impact on our brain and behavior, and I really liked the areas where he discusses the rapid evolutionary changes that are taking place because of the exponentially faster and better technological improvements.

I didn't like the psychobabble that seemed to dominate the second half of the book. I understand that part of the book's purpose was to propose a set of tools for those "Digital Immigrants" who need assistance in becoming more wired in to technology. But the rest of it could possibly be summed up into the following:

"Technology is great. Just don't overdo it."

[Eric Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Smart�s book is technical enough for someone with a background in biological studies to find detailed analysis of the modern brain while accessible enough for someone whose curiosity stems from cultural and anthropological side of things. It�s central questions are important�it seems as although our brains give us tendencies for certain lifestyle patterns, they are also amiable enough to become so adapted to our technology that we not only physically crave it, we go through physical withdrawal without it. In short, this book is about the development of habits and their physical existence in our brains. Though the book concludes with a scant resource guide on how to better cope with our modern world, it does not much raise the big question: Are our brains evolving or devolving?

[Eric · Rating 2 out of 5]

The concept of this book is good, I was looking forward to reading a book discussing the development of the human brain when exposed to modern devices and stimuli. It started strong, but soon became repetitive and toward the end became pretty much a manual for the "digital immigrants" to gain a general understanding of what the "digital natives" do daily. Beyond the early parts of the book, the brain development aspects were all but thrown aside. I would recommend the first few chapters to many of my acquaintances, but I wouldn't be able to recommend the entire book to anyone.

[Courtney · Rating 1 out of 5]

If this book were a brief article, with proper citations, I could have found it more useful. It was not at all what I was expecting, which was less whining about how "digital natives" (I am really coming to hate that term) think differently than older generations, and more on the science.

I only read to the end of the fourth chapter. After so many references to the quiz to see if you are, in fact, addicted to the internet, and seeing a plethora of non-captioned drawings that vaguely illustrate the content of the page, I decided that my time would more wisely be spent elsewhere.

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately, this book was not what I thought it was going to be about--I think it's geared towards the older generation, which is fine, just not for me. I am not sure they had a very good editing team (page 119 drops off in the middle of a sentence) and the most recent research the authors use is from 2008. It was fun doing the inventory questions with Jacob and seeing how we stacked against each other and some of the scientific brain information was cool, but other than that, a waste of 10 bucks....blast! Perfect book to just borrow from the liberry!

[Elaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first part of this one, which described the neurological ramifications of early and prolonged exposure to technology and the lifestyle it encourages, was interesting and excellent. I was disappointed, then, to feel the book fragmenting as it moved forward until, by the end, it was slapdash and unpolished. Chapters on handling your email and coding your text messages seemed to me grossly out of place in a book that started out with serious scientific and cultural pretentions.

[Carlos · Rating 5 out of 5]

A readable book on how technology being so entrenched in our current way of life is actively affecting our brains and therefore our generations in terms of social skills and human interaction. At first, I thought this book's prose was cheesy and not well written but I later realized this made it much more accessible to people. The bibliography is filled with great studies that support the seemingly general statements made in the book.

[KR · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wasn't very impressed, and I fully disagree with many of the author's claims. One of the main points that the author makes over and over again is that technology is hampering people's social skills, especially those of younger generations. I think this is a bias of perception. Younger people may have different social conventions or skills that older people don't recognize or prefer, but that doesn't mean they are less socially mature.

[Geroge Cohta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dr. Gary Small and Gigi Vorgan's iBrain is a fascinating book that details how technology is changing our brains. Their main thesis is that our brains and the brains of our children are much more plastic and changeable than we have been led to believe. They differentiate between digital immigrants: people who had to learn technology such as computers and cell phones as adults, and digital natives: people who have known technology since birth.

[Jess · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this because it was on the references list for another book that I'm using as research, but I found much of the information to be outdated and/or common knowledge, so it wasn't very helpful. It was written in 2008, and it is interesting to see how quickly the technology has advanced, rendering the information from such a short time ago obsolete.

[Joe Haynes · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an okay book. I was hoping for a bit more about techniques to use to help my brain deal with the huge level of static generate by today's electronic devices. What I found instead was quite a bit of material covering the symptoms of brain overload and little practical material.

[Nicole · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn't even finish this book. It seemed both redundant and scatterbrained at the same time. Although I found the idea for the book interesting, I though the execution, organization, and writing in this book horrible.

[Rae · Rating 2 out of 5]

Similar to The Shallows, this book discusses the potential problems that arise because of our fast-paced, information-filled, and technological environment. Unlike The Shallows, however, this author actually proposes some solutions and helpful practices.

[Josh Chalmers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although it has bright moments (e.g., the study the author facilitated where they used FMRI's to test whether or not people's brains are affected by 5 hours on Google), I certainly would not recommend this book to anyone who already knows a thing or two about technology.