Episode 4 - Dr. Rebecca Bevans and the Effect of Technology on the Brain
Dr. Rebecca Bevans and the Effect of Technology on the Brain
Episode 4
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In this episode, Matt and Shane discuss questions that came in from episode 1 and were answered by Charles Araujo - www.charlesaraujo.com
Check those out here - https://www.techno-biotic.com/blog/2020/2/10/episode-1-questions-and-answers
Shane brings up the Google Super Bowl ad and the potential technology has to augment our memory. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xSxXiHwMrg
We are joined by Dr. Rebecca Bevans, a professor of Psychology who holds a Masters degree in human development and a PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience, who listened to our Very Special Episode 3 and wanted to talk to us about some of the areas we touched on.
We talk about the positives and negatives of technology and it’s impact on humans. Dr. Bevans talks about how technology like social media connects us to events in our past and our memories, but also changes our relationship to other information like phone numbers and the like that we used to have to memorize. This leads to a conversation about our brains being lazy and wanting to optimize energy usage. Dr. Bevans educates us on how brains create memorization patterns. http://www.bu.edu/articles/2016/human-brain-store-retrieve-memories/
Dr. Bevans talks to us about we are only capable of tracking .000009% of all the information being presented to us at any given moment. (Yes, I checked my math and was off by a couple decimal places - SC) - https://www.britannica.com/science/information-theory/Physiology
Dr. Bevans talks bout how our evolutions expects us to lead much less stimulating lives, and the busier we get and the more technology we introduce, there harder things become for us cognitively. Our brain is 2% of our body weight, but consumes 20% of our energy. - https://www.brainfacts.org/brain-anatomy-and-function/anatomy/2019/how-much-energy-does-the-brain-use-020119
This leads to a conversation about how the mental health and life expectancy of Digital Natives (Millennials and Zoomers) are being affected. - https://www.investors.com/politics/editorials/life-expectancy-decline-young-lost-generation/
We are not designed to maintain hundreds of friendships. - https://www.newyorker.com/science/maria-konnikova/social-media-affect-math-dunbar-number-friendships
Are we too busy? https://www.sloww.co/busyness-101/
Are we lacking in shared experiences in society now? - https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/10/the-importance-of-sharing-experiences/381493/
Or do we older folks just not recognize the modern shared experience like memes? - https://graziadaily.co.uk/life/opinion/memes-just-entertainment/
The origin of the term meme. - https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/d35ana/richard-dawkins-told-us-what-he-thinks-about-memes
The impact of FoMo on our lives. - https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/between-the-lines/fomo/articleshow/62550811.cms
Dopamine and social interactions. - https://heleo.com/like-it-or-not-how-social-media-affects-psychological-reward-systems/10857/
Tribalism in the digital era. - http://www.globalinfluence.world/en/the-eruption-of-tribalism-in-the-digital-age/
Ostracism in the digital age - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3422048/
Isolation and social impact. - https://www.forbes.com/sites/howardgleckman/2018/03/22/how-to-reduce-loneliness-in-old-age/#340c74344574
IQ rising rapidly - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flynn_effect
Shout out to our Spiritual Boomer Laura who we missed on this episode.
