The contemporary notion of dance has taken on a new art form, executed swiftly at the will of our fingertips. As they glide gracefully across the keyboard like the perfect ballroom dance, we are caught by the luminous spotlight of our personal computers. These devices, our gateway to the digital stage, cast us in the spotlight of the World Wide Web. Starstruck by this limelight of tech, we are constantly craving more and more exposure with each passing day.
The desires we harbor for the dopamine rush of tech have been constantly shaping us– preparing our minds for a techno-centric future. Newer and more effective forms of this drug slip into our everyday lives much more rapidly than ever before—and how can we not embrace it? It feels too good not to. Published authors Sam Anderson and Nicholas Carr, notorious for their contributions to The Atlantic Magazine and The New York Times, execute their literary dance, highlighting the notable shift from the present to the future. They continuously mention the idea of plasticity of the mind and that adapting to an environment in which restlessness will be an advantage for modern society.
However, with the benefits of adaptability, we are met with the risks of mental strain and consistent distraction. Every stride we take toward the digital world eludes us from ourselves as our attention spans become increasingly disjointed. We have become more consumed by our need for mental stimulation. Multitasking has become a more common trend among us. More notably, we are forcing ourselves into mental overdrive. These conditions hold the potential to lead to challenges in concentration and deep thinking and can only have detrimental effects on our generational descendants. Amidst the rise of techno-cognitive nomadism and constant distraction, we must question whether such progress is truly enhancing our well-being and for the next generations to come.
While our brains may become more adept at processing information, we face the risk of cognitive overload. The constant flow of daily notifications, emails, and information is tenfold, if not more, than what the previous generation would have. In an interview between Anderson and University of Michigan professor David Meyer, Meyer remarks, “I get calls all the time from people like you. Because of the way the Internet works, once you become visible, you’re approached from left and right… I just can’t deal with it all. None of this would have happened even ten years ago. It was a lot calmer. There was a lot of opportunity for getting steady work done” (Anderson 4)…