Now renowned neuroscientist Susan Greenfield—known in the United Kingdom for challenging entrenched conventional views—brings together a range of scientific studies, news events, and cultural criticism to create an incisive snapshot of “the global now.” Disputing the assumption that our technologies are harmless tools, Greenfield explores whether incessant exposure to social media sites, search engines, and videogames is capable of rewiring our brains, and whether the minds of people born before and after the advent of the Internet differ.
Stressing the impact on Digital Natives—those who’ve never known a world without the Internet—Greenfield exposes how neuronal networking may be affected by unprecedented bombardments of audiovisual stimuli, how gaming can shape a chemical landscape in the brain similar to that in gambling addicts, how surfing the Net risks placing a premium on information rather than on deep knowledge and understanding, and how excessive use of social networking sites limits the maturation of empathy and identity.
But Mind Change also delves into the potential benefits of our digital lifestyle. Sifting through the cocktail of not only threat but opportunity these technologies afford, Greenfield explores how gaming enhances vision and motor control, how touch tablets aid students with developmental disabilities, and how political “clicktivism” foments positive change.
In a world where adults spend ten hours a day online, and where tablets are the common means by which children learn and play, Mind Change reveals as never before the complex physiological, social, and cultural ramifications of living in the digital age. A book that will be to the Internet what An Inconvenient Truth was to global warming, Mind Change is provocative, alarming, and a call to action to ensure a future in which technology fosters—not frustrates—deep thinking, creativity, and true fulfillment.
Praise for Mind Change
“Greenfield’s application of the mismatch between human and machine to the brain introduces an important variation on this pervasive view of technology. . . . She has a rare talent for explaining science in accessible prose.”—The Washington Post
“Greenfield’s focus is on bringing to light the implications of Internet-induced ‘mind change’—as comparably multifaceted as the issue of climate change, she argues, and just as important.”—Chicago Tribune
“Mind Change is exceedingly well organized and hits the right balance between academic and provocative.”—Booklist
“[A] challenging, stimulating perspective from an informed neuroscientist on a complex, fast-moving, hugely consequential field.”—Kirkus Reviews
“[Greenfield] is not just an engaging communicator but a thoughtful, responsible scientist, and the arguments she makes are well-supported and persuasive.”—Mail on Sunday
“Greenfield’s admirable goal to prove an empirical basis for discussion is . . . an important one.”—Financial...
Now renowned neuroscientist Susan Greenfield—known in the United Kingdom for challenging entrenched conventional views—brings together a range of scientific studies, news events, and cultural criticism to create an incisive snapshot of “the global now.” Disputing the assumption that our technologies are harmless tools, Greenfield explores whether incessant exposure to social media sites, search engines, and videogames is capable of rewiring our brains, and whether the minds of people born before and after the advent of the Internet differ.
Stressing the impact on Digital Natives—those who’ve never known a world without the Internet—Greenfield exposes how neuronal networking may be affected by unprecedented bombardments of audiovisual stimuli, how gaming can shape a chemical landscape in the brain similar to that in gambling addicts, how surfing the Net risks placing a premium on information rather than on deep knowledge and understanding, and how excessive use of social networking sites limits the maturation of empathy and identity.
But Mind Change also delves into the potential benefits of our digital lifestyle. Sifting through the cocktail of not only threat but opportunity these technologies afford, Greenfield explores how gaming enhances vision and motor control, how touch tablets aid students with developmental disabilities, and how political “clicktivism” foments positive change.
In a world where adults spend ten hours a day online, and where tablets are the common means by which children learn and play, Mind Change reveals as never before the complex physiological, social, and cultural ramifications of living in the digital age. A book that will be to the Internet what An Inconvenient Truth was to global warming, Mind Change is provocative, alarming, and a call to action to ensure a future in which technology fosters—not frustrates—deep thinking, creativity, and true fulfillment.
Praise for Mind Change
“Greenfield’s application of the mismatch between human and machine to the brain introduces an important variation on this pervasive view of technology. . . . She has a rare talent for explaining science in accessible prose.”—The Washington Post
“Greenfield’s focus is on bringing to light the implications of Internet-induced ‘mind change’—as comparably multifaceted as the issue of climate change, she argues, and just as important.”—Chicago Tribune
“Mind Change is exceedingly well organized and hits the right balance between academic and provocative.”—Booklist
“[A] challenging, stimulating perspective from an informed neuroscientist on a complex, fast-moving, hugely consequential field.”—Kirkus Reviews
“[Greenfield] is not just an engaging communicator but a thoughtful, responsible scientist, and the arguments she makes are well-supported and persuasive.”—Mail on Sunday
“Greenfield’s admirable goal to prove an empirical basis for discussion is . . . an important one.”—Financial...
Reviews-
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November 15, 2014
A comprehensive overview of the scientific research-albeit in its infancy-into the effects of cybertechnology on our brains.Considering the advances in neurology over the past decade or so, neuroscientist Greenfield (You and Me: The Neuroscience of Identity, 2011, etc.) raises questions with startling implications. How does our screen-oriented daily existence affect how we think, feel, live our lives and shape our identities? What are the consequences of connecting digitally rather than in person or collapsing the frameworks and timetables that have given skeletal stability to our daily lives? Much of the research that Greenfield explores is inconclusive (so far), but in her formal tone, she presents much to ponder. She synthesizes the substantial amount of work that has already been accomplished: how technology in general has been shown to improve working memory, slow cognitive decline through stimulation, and improve visual processing and motor response skills, but also how spending too much time in the digital zone leads to sleep problems, a gathering sense of isolation, "nature-deficit disorder," diminishing face-to-face social skills and a constant level of interruption, which interferes with deep thinking. Yet more important to Greenfield is how the brain "has evolved to respond with exquisite sensitivity to external influences-to the environment it inhabits." Identity, writes the author, "is a...spatio-temporal phenomenon, combining the hardwired, long-term, generalized neuronal network...with momentary consciousness, the fleeting generation of macro-scale coalitions of neurons (assemblies) in less than a second." Connecting these neurons into a unique configuration personalizes the brain and shapes the individual mind. Throughout, the author finds conspicuous problems with the screen life: inattentiveness, problems with reading, a disconnect between actions and consequences and, creepily, the lack of a "you": "your story, your internally driven scenario-above all, for your imagination." Challenging, stimulating perspective from an informed neuroscientist on a complex, fast-moving, hugely consequential field.COPYRIGHT(2014) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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December 1, 2014
Greenfield (neuroscientist; ID: The Quest for Meaning in the 21st Century; 2121: A Tale from the Next Century) contends that digital technologies are altering our brain patterns such that society may become increasingly narcissistic, shallow, and unsympathetic over time. As evidence, Greenfield provides a literature review on the subject, incorporating peer-reviewed studies, media stories, and anecdotes. Taking social media, video gaming, and Internet browsing in turn, the author describes how these technologies tend to impede concentration and the creation of personal identity. On the whole, because the impact of digital technologies is as yet under study, this book occupies a sometimes uncomfortable space between scholarship and conjecture. Indeed, this work tackles a topic so large as to lose a degree of nuance. For instance, Greenfield draws parallels between the "mindless" thinking of schizophrenics, obese persons, and heavy users of digital technology. Such broad--and emotionally fraught--claims likely merit more careful discussion. However, this book does provide a thought-provoking overview of the issues at hand and will, as hoped, spark further discussion on the impact of digital technology. VERDICT Recommended for undergraduate students and readers of popular science.--Talea Anderson, College Place, WA
Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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December 1, 2014
Neuroscientist Greenfield considers what modern digital technologies have wrought on our brains. Referencing dozens of studies about the Internet, e-books, and video games, she makes it clear that while society's stunning dependence on screen time has certainly transformed our lives, it might also be changing the way we think. Her gravest conclusion might simply be that there is so much we do not know concerning the potential downsides of our online habit. In writing about Facebook, she raises the specter of loneliness and the isolating impact of friending those one never knows. Her analysis of video gaming covers violence and, even more persuasively, how players foster mutual recklessness. While Greenfield is cautious about making definitive statements, she is determined to persuade readers to think about how all our texting, e-mailing, and social networking may be affecting our very brains. Although densely written at times, Mind Change is exceedingly well organized and hits the right balance between academic and provocative. There is no question about the need for us to think more deeply about this topic.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.) - Michael Harris, author of The End of Absence: Reclaiming What We've Lost in a World of Constant Connection "In Mind Change, neuroscientist, entrepreneur and British politician Susan Greenfield argues that our technologies are not only addictive--they are an existential threat. The brain, she writes, has an 'evolutionary mandate to adapt to its environment,' and the digital world is changing at too rapid a pace for individuals or government regulations to keep up. . . . Greenfield's application of the mismatch between human and machine to the brain introduces an important variation on this pervasive view of technology. . . . She has rare talent for explaining science in accessible prose."--The Washington Post "How many of us work with six tabs open on a browser, a smartphone within reach and maybe another screen or two nearby? How often does 'I'll just look that up real quick' lead to several hours of indeterminate Googling? Or an impulsive peek at social media turn into a headlong tumble down some cyber rabbit hole? . . . Greenfield's focus is on bringing to light the implications of Internet-induced 'mind change'--as comparably multifaceted as the issue of climate change, she argues, and just as important."--Chicago Tribune "Mind Change is exceedingly well organized and hits the right balance between academic and provocative. There is no question about the need for us to think more deeply about this topic."--Booklist "[A] challenging, stimulating perspective from an informed neuroscientist on a complex, fast-moving, hugely consequential field . . . Greenfield raises questions with startling implications."--Kirkus Reviews "[Greenfield] is not just an engaging communicator but a thoughtful, responsible scientist, and the arguments she makes are well-supported and persuasive."--Mail on Sunday "Greenfield's admirable goal to prove an empirical basis for discussion is . . . an important one."--Financial Times "Greenfield's Mind Change . . . proposes that global climate change can serve as a useful metaphor for how human minds--our inner environments--are, in her view, being recklessly altered by digital technologies. . . . Mind Change is an important presentation of an uncomfortable minority position."--Jaron Lanier, Nature "Greenfield is a lucid and thorough communicator, and this book is highly accessible to those with no knowledge of neuroscience. . . . That I kept being distracted from my reading to check Facebook was less a reflection on the quality of the book than a sobering lesson in how relevant these issues are."--The Independent "Susan Greenfield has produced a gem of a book--written with both verve and impressive clarity--warning not of the obvious dangers like a loss of privacy, but of what technology might do to our brains and social relations, to how we learn and teach, to the narcissism exemplified by 'selfies.' While the author is a scholar, she is never obscure. Nor is she a Luddite, hitting readers over the head with a certitude about our dour future. Rather, she adds a fresh voice, vividly connecting the dots to reveal that 'mind change,' as she calls it, is as vital to grapple with as climate change."--Ken Auletta, author of Googled: The End of the World As We Know It "This is just the book we need now as we proceed to absorb fresh digital innovations: a scientific review of their effects on the brain and what they mean for our minds. Neither a naysayer nor an enthusiast, she is a sober, reliable, and engaging voice on screen experience, telling us what happens inside our heads each time we log on, connect, play, and...
