The video “Digital Nation” produced by Rachel Dretzin analysis the effects of the digital world on us human beings in this current century. Dretzin and her correspondent Douglass Rushkoff dig deep into the mystery of this new digital nation where they find numerous amounts of negative and positive effects.
One idea the team looked into was the idea of multitasking as it has become to be a new trend since we can do so many things on our phones and computers. They come to learn, through Stanford Studies by Prof. Clifford Nass, that multitasking has a negative impact on people. Prof. Nass states “it turns out multitaskers are terrible at every aspect of multitasking. They get distracted constantly. Their memory is very disorganized. Recent work we've done suggests they're worse at analytic reasoning. We worry that it may be creating people who are unable to think well and clearly.” With kids spending “more than 50 hours” with digital media this could cause a real shift in the way our brains work. South Korea has been the first to notice it and have been treating internet addiction as a psychiatric disorder. According to Dr. Ahn Dong-Hyun, “about 90 percent of Korean children use the Internet in their daily life. Of those, about 10 to 15 percent are in the high-risk group.” However not everyone notices this same negative impact, there is another story to it.
In South Bronx a principle was able to take a middle school under his wing and with the installment of technology he noticed positive effects all around. Principle Jason Levy insists “Kids are going to need to be fluent in technology. They're going to need to be excellent at communication. They're going to need to be problem solvers. That's just the way the world is now” Dean Prinstien, Dean of Instruction, also confirms by announcing “Kids are going to need to be fluent in technology. They're going to need to be excellent at communication. They're going to need to be problem solvers. That's just the way the world is now.” Not only did this South Bronx Middle school use this modern technology to its advantage but so does the Military. The military has been researching the use of virtual reality to help treat Post traumatic stress disorder. Michael Cramer acknowledges that “Over time, their brain is able to say, “OK, this is uncomfortable, this is unpleasant, but it's not a life-threatening situation. I can tone down the level of anxiety and stress.””
Asking the question if the new digital nation is bad or good is like asking if the glass is half empty or half full. It really depends on the individual and what you believe in. Marc Prenksy puts it best, “You know, there were people who complained when we moved from horses to cars. There were people who complained when we moved from letters to the telephone. And it's not that they're wrong totally because things get lost. So you might have less memory. We don't have as flowery writing. But we gain other things. And life moves on.” Personally I feel that internet has done both good and bad to me. With the internet around I can easily get distracted especially when typing a paper. For example during this paper I managed to look at sports scores, check out my online class, and download some music. It deters me from putting hundred percent of my attention to writing or whatever else the task at hand is. However, I don’t blame internet for being around but my lack of motivation and determination to finish one task at a time. On the other hand I have benefited a lot from this digital nation. I am able to get directions while out driving; this has helped me a couple of times (thanks to my cell phone.) It can keep me connected to people when I can’T always see them or am away. Lastly, it has greatly helped with homework. When I don’t quite understand something I jump on Google and search it to help further my understanding.
As mentioned before with this new digital nation taking over we will lose something’s but we will manage to deal due to our gains. This has been the trend ever since man made fire and I firmly believe it will continue.
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