Too Much Technology - #letmetakeaselfie

 

 

Too Much Technology
#theselfiegeneration
by Stacie Lawrence
The Multitasking - or Millennial Generation,
aka generation M (Wallis, 2006) -
is a generation whose
baby “selfie”
was likely posted,
tweeted, blogged, and Instagram’d all
before the infant took a second breath.




"Millennials are digital natives!

— the only
generation for
which” the
Internet, mobile
technology, and
social media
“are not
something
they’ve had to
adapt to.”

This is not only the generation of the self;

it’s the generation of the selfie.

(Blow, 2014).

#vintageselfies

But wait, selfies actually date back to the 1800's!

At the turn of the twentieth century, seflies
were among millions by amateur
photographers all over the world.
 (Technology, 2013)

Results from research regarding the impact of gadgets on our brains...including the effect of multitasking... show what most of us know implicitly:
 if you do two things at once, both efforts suffer.

Does the mere
possibility of being interrupted 
by a phone call or an email drain      
your brain?

And does
distraction
matter — does
multitasking
make us dumber?

"The distraction of an interruption, combined with the brain drain of preparing for that interruption, made our test takers 20 percent dumber. 
That’s enough to turn a B-minus student (80 percent) into a failure (62 percent)."
(Sullivan and Thompson, 2013)

"People who are busy doing two things at once

don’t even see obvious things right in front of them."

"Specifically, 75% of college students who walked across a campus square while talking on
their cell phones did not notice a clown riding a unicycle nearby."

Researchers
call this
"inattentional
blindness."

"Even if we are technically looking at our surroundings,

none of it is actually registering in our brains."

Research also shows that
multitasking is
not as efficient as we think!

...IN FACT it is harmful to our health!

...And our relationships!

It’s hurting your relationships

“This is an area where I think multitasking has a much bigger effect than most people realize,” says Winch. “A couple is having a serious talk and the wife says ‘Oh, let me just check this message.’ Then the husband gets mad, and then he decides to check his messages,

and communication just shuts down.” (MacMillen, 2014)

"The effects of technology on children are complicated, with both benefits and costs. Whether technology helps or hurts in the development of your children’s thinking depends on what specific technology is used and how and what frequency it is used."
(Taylor, 2012)

We need to re-think the way we live our life!

#toomuchtechnology

CREDITS


Blow, C. (2014). The Self[ie] Generation. NY Times. 
< http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/08/opinion/blow-the-self-ie-generation.html>
accessed March 2014.


MacMillin, A. (2014). Health Magazine. 12 Reasons to Stop Multitasking Now. (2014). <http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20707868,00.html>
accessed March 2014.


Technology.  (2013). Old Selfies Dating Back to 1800.
< http://www.news.com.au/technology/these-old-selfies-dating-back-to-the-1800s-will-blow-your-mind/story-e6frfro0-1226741497253>
accessed February 2104.


Sullivan, B. and Hugh Thompson. (2013). Brain, Interupted. NY Times.
< http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/05/opinion/sunday/a-focus-on-distraction.html?_r=0>
accessed March 2014.


Taylor, J. (2012) "The Power of Prime: How Technology is Changing the Way
Children Think and Focus". Psychology Today. December 4, 2012.
< http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-power-prime/201212/how-technology-is-changing-the-way-children-think-and-focus>
accessed February 2014.


Wallis, C. (2006) “The Multitasking Generation”. Time Magazine. March 19, 2006. <http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1174696,00.html>
accessed March 2014.