In her feature on digital learning for us earlier this week, Emily Menkes pointed out how passé it’s become to bemoan the effect that technology has had on young people:
Many focus on the negative effects the digital world is having on our brains – our general knowledge is lacking, we don’t read like we used to, our research skills and critical thinking are devolving. Or are they?
Plenty of evidence also indicates cognitive gains from exposure to new technologies. The issue boils down to: are our minds better or worse off since the digital boom? How has it affected the way we learn? While technological innovations are being recognised and lauded for their power and convenience, it seems a disproportionate amount of attention is paid to the negative aspects, rather than emphasising the positives.
But when you’re hanging out with friends, and the conversation stalls every time someone receives a push notification; you feel like you’re losing the art of the stop-and-chat; or the most action you see is in your Twitter mentions column, it’s difficult to forget just how technology is shaping the way we interact with each other in person.
In a recent story in The Atlantic, psychologist and MIT professor Sherry Turkle bemoaned the loss of conversational niceties (you know, like “eye contact” and “undivided attention”) among our generation, which she, like others, attributed to our our predilection for – if not dependency on – computers and phones to communicate. NPR’s Protojournalist blog also referred to Turkle in their look at the same issues, published under the heading, “We are just not here anymore”.
It’s easy to dismiss this as the kind of hand-wringing that inevitably surfaces with every technological development, but The Guardian US recently canvassed Millennials on their experiences in love and life in a live chat in time for Valentine’s Day, and it seems there’s still a lot of unanswered questions about dating protocol in the digital age:
Dating can be a thrill, but the ritual also comes with some anxieties. Millennials in particular have to contend with a host of questions: has dating become too expensive for our modest (and apparently never-rising) salaries? How do you date if you’re unemployed or underemployed? And most importantly: how do you know if you’re on a date before the check shows up?
It’s easy to make light of the Guardian tackling “the big issues” but that latter question seems the cause of quite a bit of stress, judging by the response to this survey. USA Today, Time, and Gawker was quick to respond; their summary of findings? If it’s after dark, it’s a date. If not, sorry – back to your Twitter notifications you go.