Digital+Nation

I watched the first two Digital Nation videos on the class wiki. There was nothing terribly surprising to report. The gist seemed to be that if you try and do too much at once you're liable to get distracted. This meshes with other information I have read and seen on this topic. Essentially the notion of 'multi-tasking' is a myth, a physiological impossibility, something our brain was never designed to do. The trick is convincing young people of this reality, and how their efforts to stay plugged in to media actually hurt their ability to learn and grow as people. Video 1: This video focused on how technologically hardwired America’s youth has become. The proliferation of technology has created a world where everyone seems to be tuned in to a plethora of information not ever seen before in human history. On the downside, kids are being overwhelmed by this, and it creates difficulty with focus and concentration, and manages unrealistic expectations that they should be entertained at all times. Video 2: This clip focused on the negative consequences to the human brain of attempting to multitask. It talked of how multitasking is basically a physiological impossibility, and how the human brain was never hardwired for it. Yet, people attempt to do it every day, and those that do it the most, and think that they are best at it, are usually the least proficient at it. This creates a problem where people think that their brains can handle the information overload associated with being so plugged in to technology, when, in reality, they are unable to. As a result people have difficulty focusing, concentrating, and completing basic tasks, simply because of these high levels of distraction offered to anyone who utilizes technology. Video 3: This segment examined game use in South Korea, and the negative consequences it is having on the youth of that nation. It talked about the obsession young people are having with the internet and gaming. It is interfering with their school lives, their work, and their basic ability to socialize with live humans. It showed a young boy who went from being a top student to failing in school, simply because he only focuses on gaming now, and his mother’s efforts to turn him around. It also showed efforts that are taking place in South Korean schools to teach responsible internet usage. Video 4: This segment took us to a middle school in the South Bronx. This school had previously been performing extremely poorly on state standards for math and reading, and had a high incidence of gang violence. The new principle that came in had the idea of giving every kid a laptop and creating a highly technology based curriculum. As a result test scores went way up and violence went way down, as well as attendance improving drastically. On the downside, skeptics worry that the kids are being taught to have infinitely small attention spans, and are not being challenged to pursue topics that are not of immediate interest to them. The response argument is that technology is here to stay, so it only makes sense to teach young people to be well versed in its use and prepared for an adult life that will be inundated by it. Video 5: This video talks about how this is not the first technological revolution to drastically change human skillsets. When print came along human memory was hurt, but society was enhanced. The same thing may be happening with our current advances. The human ability to pay attention for long periods of time is being hindered, but it may be a moot point, because the benefits of instant information may outweigh the costs to human attention holding. An example of this is that students are progressively becoming worse at their basic reading and writing skills, but are having increased ability to do research. All of these must ultimately be carefully weighed for their cost and benefit, and, hopefully, proper balance will be struck. Video 6: This segment talks about the relationships that can be formed online, and how they are becoming a supplement for actual, physical human contact. It starts by showing a woman who uses the internet to disseminate recipes and cooking advice, who also answers her fan mail from adoring admirers. She makes the comment that it’s sad that they don’t have anyone in their actual life to pour their hearts out to, the way they feel comfortable doing with her, a total stranger from the internet. It then goes on to show people at gaming conventions, and how they have utilized online gaming to meet new friends, and even mates. This is a totally new phenomenon for humans, the idea that your “real” friends are ones who exist in a computer game, and that you don’t bother to connect with the people who are actually present in your life. Video 7: In this video we see the way virtual reality is changing life in ways that go way beyond simple pleasure gaming. We see people using a program called Second Life to engage in business meetings and communications. This to, to me, seemed practical for a variety of reasons, including cutting down on things such as travel expenses. However, each person, in addition to utilizing Second Life for communication, also maintained an alter ego, or avatar, to be visually “present” at the online meetings. To me this seemed totally bizarre. It came across as highly unnecessary, and probably even a waste of time. Also, people were then fretting about how their online persona looked and how it dressed, which seemed like it was an unwarranted distraction. It seemed like people were being vain, but not in the real world where things like hygiene and appearance may actually matter. Instead their vanity was projected out in a virtual world, in an atmosphere where such trivialities shouldn’t really be of concern. Video 8: This segment showed the conundrum involved in bringing the virtual world into deadly exploits, such as war. We saw people who were Predator Drone pilots, and how they were able to fight in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan from 7,500 miles away, in the deserts of Nevada. This is the first time in world history where war is being waged with no danger being faced by one side in the fight, as the United States side is engaged in striking and killing enemy targets from unmanned aerial vehicles. This seemed especially poignant for me, as someone who is a veteran of the war in Afghanistan. I cannot imagine going to war and then going home every night. As much as being away from home is one of the worst aspects of war, it is also a good buffer that is provided in many ways, and it allows you to decompress easier when your survival is your main focus, and you’re not preoccupied with the day to day routine of your “normal” life. That is why I am not the least bit surprised that these Airmen are experiencing the same negative effects of war as other soldiers, including posttraumatic stress disorder. For me there are also interesting moral questions about the ethics of allowing machines to do our killing. Is it making us too detached from the horrors of war? Is it easier to justified engaging in war if we think there will be minimal US causalities? And will a time ever come when we try and remove the human element, and simply allow the computers to determine when to strike and who to kill? All of these should be carefully thought out and vetted, before we wholeheartedly embrace this new type of fighting. Video 9: The video series concluded by showing a new age Army recruitment center in Philadelphia PA. In it, as opposed to traditional recruitment stations, there are huge banks of TVs set up with Xbox video game systems hooked up, so kids can play simulations of war, all for free. It allows kids to come in and see the “exciting” side of war, without having to experience the very real and horrific consequences. I have major ethical qualms with this facility. It glorifies everything that is truly horrible about a military experience, and whitewashes the reality of military services for kids. We shouldn’t be preying on kids love of technology to attempt to make them think that war is somehow cool. If kids want to join the military they should be told what they are getting into, with real, honest, fact-based information. In some ways I supposed this video game based approach isn’t entirely different from the adrenaline filled movies I was shown over a decade ago by recruiters trying to get me to sign up. But, somehow, this just seems a bit worse. The video wrapped by showing a school in New York that uses video games in its teaching process. This seemed acceptable, but only to a point. I’m all for meeting kids where they are, but there is something to be said for mastering “traditional” academic skills. Again, as with other comments I’ve made, it seems to me to be all about striking a balance between the latest technological craze and a deep sense of mastering an educational pursuit.