Digital Dunces?

As I am sure you are aware, parents, teachers, and scientists are concerned about the harmful effects of our technology obsession. Tech-mania has gotten so bad that we have lost sight of important things like spending time sitting around and watching TV.

Digital media and hyper-multitasking are turning us into twits. A recent series of articles in The New York Times drives home this point. (The articles are available in print, online, mobile, tweet, text, pop-up, or direct brain download.) I learned that the average person looks at 40 websites a day and can bounce between computer programs 36 times an hour. How do you spell short attention span?

One out of three teens, obviously with nimble thumbs, sends in excess of 100 texts messages per day. Authorities are telling us that extreme uses of tech devices are causing us to be more impatient, impetuous, scatterbrained, and narcissistic. I think they see this as a bad thing. This phenomenon has also led to a new diagnosis— and I kid you not—nature-deficit disorder. More on that later.

Use of electronic devices has led to married couples seeing less of each other and parents spending less time with their kids. We speak fewer words to one another when a computer or smart phone is turned on. My kids might be OK with this…and my wife…and my coworkers.

Personally, I may have bipolar technology syndrome. On one hand, I am an avid consumer of digital stuff and tend to get edgy if I have not been able to check my four email accounts. On the other hand, I try to regulate my technology use to the extent that I can still criticize those other uncouth digital-maniacs.

Even as I write this column in my basement office, I am conflicted. I have my smart phone at my side chirping when a new text message arrives, no fewer than nine tabs are open on my internet browser, and my iPod and iPad are charging-up next to me. My wife came down to my cave to inform me that it is a perfect weekend fall day outside. Although I happen to like nice days, I snarl like Gollum in my cave  and guard my precious devices. Nature deficit —smeshifit!

It is rather interesting that the sound of a modern text message hitting your high-tech devices evokes a primitive Pavlovian response. Our excitement about the alert causes dopamine to squirt into our brains, making the experience as addictive as caramel popcorn. Without the neurological hit from the text message or email or tweet, multitaskers become bored. Boo-hoo! Yet, after experiencing constant bombardments from our myriad devices, our cortisol stress hormones become elevated, causing angst and reductions in our long-term memory.  What made us happy is now making us stressed-out and a bit stupider.

With constant attention to and fidgeting with devices, we take in more data but remember less and do not leave room for the development of an original creative thought. You will start to see two new buzz-terms addressing the digital overdose: Digital Downtime and Digital Detox. You can guess there will be treatment programs popping up in strip malls across the land—Digital Dunces Anonymous.

Now back to nature-deficit disorder. Yes, this is legitimate. Our children have become fresh-air-deprived bumps on an indoor log. According to a Kaiser Family Foundation study, American children 8 to 18 years of age fritter away an average of 6.5 hours a day indoors using computers, video games, TV, and MP3 players.

To address this issue, the National Wildlife Foundation has developed a program to pull children away from technology. This program, called “A Green Hour,” is described as “time for unstructured play and interaction with the natural world.” When I was a kid, we used to call this “going outside to play.” Now it is an intervention. 

By the way, I did eventually emerge from my basement for a bike ride with my wife. She knew I needed some Green Time. I was off the grid sans devices for a whole hour and returned refreshed to  finish my work for the day.
I wonder if moving my multitasking to my backyard would count as partial Green Time. Then again, I live in Minnesota, so nine months of the year will be snowy white time. Does anyone know where I can find keyboard-friendly mittens?