Weekend Roundup: Your Brain on the Internet

How are digital technologies changing our thoughts and behavior?

In this past week’s Open Discussion Friday chat thread I asked “What is the technology or scientific advance that has most radically changed how you live in your lifetime?”, for people to elaborate on whether these changes were good, bad, or mixed, and how they’ve adapted. Virtually every user responded with some version of the internet, computers, or smartphones. This did not surprise me at all; I also voted for smartphones.

There is no question these digital technologies have changed the way we live. Ubiquitous pocket computing linked to a worldwide information network was the stuff of science fiction 50 years ago and now we shrug at the banality. The numerous mobile apps have transformed virtually every corner of society, accelerating the spread of ideas (including both positive memes and entertainment along with increasingly misinformation and harmful content), creating new business models, and “shrinking” the size of the world. With instant connection to anyone around the globe through text, voice, or video, and constant immersion in social media, news, and entertainment content streams, some have argued we’re already living in a version of the metaverse or virtual reality.

So I wanted to use this Weekend Roundup to go over some recent news in the area of how this technology is impacting our brains and mental health, as well as older media that is still timely and more relevant than ever.

Surgeon General Warns That Social Media May Harm Children and Adolescents

Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy made headlines this week when his office issued a report that warned about potentially large dangers of social media to teens: