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How Digital Technology Shapes Us
Most adults are concerned that children have much too much technology in their lives these days and are spending way too much time on screens. But as Professor Indre Viskontas points out in How Digital Technology Shapes Us, we are not the first to worry that new technology will harm our children and future generations. At least since the beginning of recorded history, we have been underestimating the capacity of the human brain to adapt to and take advantage of emerging technologies. In this course, Professor Viskontas shares some of the most exciting research into this relatively new topic, providing a scientific approach to judging the true pros and cons of our interaction with technology in the digital age.
Many of us believe we are adjusting well to this new digital technology with its constant demands on our time and attention by increasing our multitasking. But multitasking cannot save us because our brain is not capable of true multitasking. What we experience as multitasking is actually our brain flitting back and forth from this task to the next to the next to the next. That we can do, but in the process, we could be losing the ability - and opportunity - to perform deep work, the opportunity for deep reading, and the empathy that builds up when we think deeply about people who are different from us, to truly expand the tribe rather than reinforce tribalism.
The good news is that just recognizing the significance of deep work and deep reading, we can make it a priority and arrange some time to focus on just that without distractions. If we do, those pathways that lead to deeper cognition can become reinforced. We can also help our children focus on the positives of digital media, empowering them to connect with others to find purpose, motivation, and support. We can spend time with them to encourage them to find opportunities for deep reading and deep work in age-appropriate ways.
Digital technology definitely shapes us. But once we learn how it does so, we can make good decisions for our ourselves and our children.
Many of us believe we are adjusting well to this new digital technology with its constant demands on our time and attention by increasing our multitasking. But multitasking cannot save us because our brain is not capable of true multitasking. What we experience as multitasking is actually our brain flitting back and forth from this task to the next to the next to the next. That we can do, but in the process, we could be losing the ability - and opportunity - to perform deep work, the opportunity for deep reading, and the empathy that builds up when we think deeply about people who are different from us, to truly expand the tribe rather than reinforce tribalism.
The good news is that just recognizing the significance of deep work and deep reading, we can make it a priority and arrange some time to focus on just that without distractions. If we do, those pathways that lead to deeper cognition can become reinforced. We can also help our children focus on the positives of digital media, empowering them to connect with others to find purpose, motivation, and support. We can spend time with them to encourage them to find opportunities for deep reading and deep work in age-appropriate ways.
Digital technology definitely shapes us. But once we learn how it does so, we can make good decisions for our ourselves and our children.
Audible Audio
Published September 11, 2020
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About the author
Indre Viskontas
6 books70 followersIndre Viskontas is a sought-after science communicator across all mediums. She co-hosted the 6-episode docuseries Miracle Detectives on the Oprah Winfrey Network and has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, major radio stations across the US, including several appearances on the NPR program City Arts & Lectures and The Sunday Edition on the CBC in Canada. She currently co-hosts the web series Science in Progress for Tested.com and VRV. She is also the host of the popular science podcast Inquiring Minds, which boasts more than 7 million downloads. As a working singer, she is especially interested in the intersection between art and science, particularly when it involves music, and her new podcast, Cadence: what music tells us about the mind is now available on iTunes.
Follow her on twitter: @indrevis
Combining a passion for music with scientific curiosity, she is affectionately known as Dr. Dre by her students at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she is pioneering the application of neuroscience to musical training, and at the University of San Francisco, where she is an Adjunct Professor of Psychology. She received a BSc in psychology and French literature from the University of Toronto, an MM degree in vocal performance at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and a PhD in cognitive neuroscience at UCLA.
As a scientist, Dr. Viskontas has published more than 50 original papers and chapters related to the neural basis of memory and creativity, including several seminal articles in top scientific journals. Her scientific work has been featured in Oliver Sacks’ book Musicophilia, Nature: Science Careers and Discover Magazine. She has also written for Mother Jones.com, American Scientist, Vitriol Magazine and other publications.
She often gives keynote talks, for organizations as diverse as Genentech, the Dallas Symphony, SXSW and Ogilvy along with frequent invited talks at conferences and academic institutions. Her 24-lecture course Essential Scientific Concepts was released by The Great Courses in 2014, selling more than 20,000 copies in its first year. Her second course, Brain Myths Exploded: Lessons from Neuroscience was released in early 2017.
Follow her on twitter: @indrevis
Combining a passion for music with scientific curiosity, she is affectionately known as Dr. Dre by her students at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she is pioneering the application of neuroscience to musical training, and at the University of San Francisco, where she is an Adjunct Professor of Psychology. She received a BSc in psychology and French literature from the University of Toronto, an MM degree in vocal performance at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and a PhD in cognitive neuroscience at UCLA.
As a scientist, Dr. Viskontas has published more than 50 original papers and chapters related to the neural basis of memory and creativity, including several seminal articles in top scientific journals. Her scientific work has been featured in Oliver Sacks’ book Musicophilia, Nature: Science Careers and Discover Magazine. She has also written for Mother Jones.com, American Scientist, Vitriol Magazine and other publications.
She often gives keynote talks, for organizations as diverse as Genentech, the Dallas Symphony, SXSW and Ogilvy along with frequent invited talks at conferences and academic institutions. Her 24-lecture course Essential Scientific Concepts was released by The Great Courses in 2014, selling more than 20,000 copies in its first year. Her second course, Brain Myths Exploded: Lessons from Neuroscience was released in early 2017.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 30, 2024
She takes a view that is not radical to any side, as we are used to seeing. There are benefits and problems to every technology, and we need to find the right amount. I found very interesting the last chapter about the future and AI, when she explains which fields will most likely be replaced by automation and which will not. She quotes a lot of other authors and during the entire course other sources are used to base her view.
June 9, 2022
I wanted to give this audio course 4 stars, but there are some problems here and there with the course. The professor starts off strong but as the course approached the final lessons, it became largely opinion. if you are conservative this course will piss you off. If you are liberal, this course will piss you off. The professor seems to be relatively neutral... following the middle of the road, which means he can be hit from cars going either way.
Also the professor presents various subjects outside of her expertise for various good reasons, mostly to present how digital technology can address various issues with those subjects such as elections, free speech, biology etc. It make sense that she would present something like this in brief, but she goes into more detail that I would expect unless she was actually an expert in these various subjects rather than in the application of digital technology.
I might listen to this audio course again to see if my opinion changes.
Also the professor presents various subjects outside of her expertise for various good reasons, mostly to present how digital technology can address various issues with those subjects such as elections, free speech, biology etc. It make sense that she would present something like this in brief, but she goes into more detail that I would expect unless she was actually an expert in these various subjects rather than in the application of digital technology.
I might listen to this audio course again to see if my opinion changes.
May 22, 2024
A must-read. Answered a lot of questions and prompted me to do more in-depth reading on various topics of digital technology and psychology
February 17, 2021
Fascinating overview of several technological innovations and how they changed the humans... lots of psychology, neurology and some philosophy - I very much enjoyed these lectures and can only recommend :)
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews