How Digital Technology Shapes Us

By: Indre Viskontas, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Professor Indre Viskontas

Most adults are concerned that children have much too much technology in their lives these days and are spending way too much time on screens. But as Professor Indre Viskontas points out in How Digital Technology Shapes Us, we are not the first to worry that new technology will harm our children and future generations. At least since the beginning of recorded history, we have been underestimating the capacity of the human brain to adapt to and take advantage of emerging technologies. In this course, Professor Viskontas shares some of the most exciting research into this relatively new topic, providing a scientific approach to judging the true pros and cons of our interaction with technology in the digital age.

Many of us believe we are adjusting well to this new digital technology with its constant demands on our time and attention by increasing our multitasking. But multitasking cannot save us because our brain is not capable of true multitasking. What we experience as multitasking is actually our brain flitting back and forth from this task to the next to the next to the next. That we can do, but in the process, we could be losing the ability - and opportunity - to perform deep work, the opportunity for deep reading, and the empathy that builds up when we think deeply about people who are different from us, to truly expand the tribe rather than reinforce tribalism.

The good news is that just recognizing the significance of deep work and deep reading, we can make it a priority and arrange some time to focus on just that without distractions. If we do, those pathways that lead to deeper cognition can become reinforced. We can also help our children focus on the positives of digital media, empowering them to connect with others to find purpose, motivation, and support. We can spend time with them to encourage them to find opportunities for deep reading and deep work in age-appropriate ways.

Digital technology definitely shapes us. But once we learn how it does so, we can make good decisions for our ourselves and our children.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

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Up to date, highly informative and captivating

Professor Viskontas does an excellent job of critically summarizing a large amount of data from high-level research. Her diction is excellent, and she masters rhetoric very well, characterizing an excellent teacher. The course is worth every minute, providing highly relevant knowledge on a subject of capital importance.

The Hidden Costs of Our Digital Lives

Professor Viskontas does a fine job guiding us through the growing body of research assessing the social and psychological consequences of our online lives. As you might expect, there’s a wealth of conflicting data, so conclusions are hard to reach. Silicon Valley would like us to believe in the utopian promise of digital technology, but Professor Viskontas’ balanced critical analysis raises some serious questions. I appreciated this course because it made me aware of how the screens in my life are conditioning me (and, even moreso, my children) in ways I had never imagined. The second lecture on distractibility and the downside of multitasking was itself worth the cost of the entire audiobook. Ditto lecture 17 on how the internet reinforces in-group/out-group associations, contributing to the polarization we see in contemporary Western politics.

Very interesting view of all technologies that surround us

She takes a view that is not radical to any side, as we are used to seeing. There are benefits and problems to every technology, and we need to find the right amount. I found very interesting the last chapter about the future and AI, when she explains which fields will most likely be replaced by automation and which will not. She quotes a lot of other authors and during the entire course other sources are used to base her view.

Very current…

Great listen…. Enjoyed the topic and how the ideas were presented in this book. Excellent!

Beyond my expectation!!!

I’m usually (not always) impressed by the great courses audio programs. But this one, I didn’t expect much. All I wanted was to learn more about digital technology and how I might have some knowledge to talk to my colleagues about it. But as it turned out, the professor is so good at explaining difficult things in such a way that anybody can understand. I am forever indebted to this professor and this amazing audiobook. Thank you.

A slanted snapshot of IT/Society

Positive: Provides a precis of what are the key Computer / Societal issues which the general reader should be aware of.
Negative: A bias progressive academic viewpoint that for instance seems unaware of the irony of decrying bias in AI/Machine intelligence yet the author spends much of the course decrying opposing worldviews as unworthy to be on social media.

In summary: worth a listen if free but not worth a credit.

The content is okay

I don’t want to recommend this course to anyone, the lecturer is so ableist that it hurt to listen to her inexperience about anyone that is not a Nero typical with USA citizen.

Perhaps a book for expectant parents

Another academic writes a book without any meaningful content. Time to get out of the classroom and find the real world.