After searching on YouTube, I found this very intriguing interview with Larry Rosen, author of iDisorder. In the video, Rosen talks about some key parts of his book, including our generation's conditions of obsessive compulsiveness and narcissism. Rosen's comments on our dependence on technology and digital devices reminded me of a passage in Wolf's The Proust and the Squid. Wolf writes about the history and beginnings of the written language and how many people were opposed to its development and use, including Socrates. Socrates felt that in writing information down, people no longer had to use their mental capacity to store information. Wolf connected this to our generation and our dependence on technology. The way Rosen speaks about how our generation cannot sit down for a nice quiet dinner without phones on the table, constantly vibrating from text messages, causes me to wonder about technology's effect on humans. Our obsessive compulsiveness has led us to be in constant contact with our phones, never leaving the house without them, and I can't help but think that this has negative ramifications. Maybe the way Socrates felt about his generation's dependence on the written language correlates with our current situation. I know from personal experience that from the moment I first acquired my iPhone, I no longer had to remember where and when certain events were taking place because my phone sent me a reminder that day. Because of the emerging Digital Age, we no longer have to remember information that generations before us did. Are we turning into a generation that can no longer think for itself?
Thanks for posting this! Rosen's book is great, i think you'll enjoy it, and it has self-tests for each disorder,which can help us answer those questions, at least for ourselves. :)
Rosen's discussion of the "Technology Break" technique he recommends to parents and teachers is interesting. On the one hand, I think it is a good compromise. Students may cede their attention to their classmates and teachers if promised the privilege to use their phone in 15 minutes. On the other hand, I find it disturbing that we cannot be present with each other for 15 minutes, 90 minutes, or even a whole day without the promise of a reward. Is this just a way of delaying the psychological gratification Turkle describes in Alone Together?
Thanks for posting this! Rosen's book is great, i think you'll enjoy it, and it has self-tests for each disorder,which can help us answer those questions, at least for ourselves. :)
ReplyDeleteRosen's discussion of the "Technology Break" technique he recommends to parents and teachers is interesting. On the one hand, I think it is a good compromise. Students may cede their attention to their classmates and teachers if promised the privilege to use their phone in 15 minutes. On the other hand, I find it disturbing that we cannot be present with each other for 15 minutes, 90 minutes, or even a whole day without the promise of a reward. Is this just a way of delaying the psychological gratification Turkle describes in Alone Together?
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