Please join us on our new Google Community: “Beyond the Screens” where some of the world’s leading authorities on the impact technology is having on our society come together to share information, articles, questions, and news. Some of our contributors include;
- Dr. Richard Cytowic, neurologist and author of many books including “Synthesis: a Union of the Senses,” and “The Man who Tasted Shapes”.
- Baroness Susan Greenfield, Neuro-scientist, Professor of Synaptic Pharmacology at Oxford, and author of many books including, “Mind Change,” and “the human brain.”
- Dr. Richard Freed, child and adolescent psychologist and author of “Wired Child”
- And many more including your’s truly!
Concession:
As with PaleoEducation, the focus of the community is on the ill-effects the overuse of technology creates on young, developing, and impressionable minds. We appreciate the irony of using social media to discuss this. However, it’s never been our contention that technology is inherently evil. Technology allows for some great opportunities, such as the ability to collaborate with people across the world through the use of social media, or convey a message like ours with the aid of this website. We would contend that there’s a need for more balance in modern society. Young people, who haven’t fully developed appropriate social skills, human empathy, and the ability to communicate face-to-face still have need for actual human connections. Social media and technology can be used to augment existing social skills. But this is not how technology is being used. Rather, social media is being used to replace dynamic human-relationships with cheapened two-dimensional ones. Participation in social media without existing social skills leads to problems like the ones we face with “cyber bullying.” Adults, with pre-developed skills can realize the full potential of social media.
