SOCIAL NETWORKS CHANGE HUMAN BRAIN

The new generation will accept the world through the eyes of a child – simplified, in pictures and icons, not through abstract thinking. Technologies change the way we think and behave, says the author of “Mind Change”, the neuroscience prof. Susan Greenfield, who arrived in Bulgaria to present her book.

The eternal Peter Pan. This is the person, whose day-to day life passes in social networks, in front of the screen. He has the need to build his public image, to create the fairytale of his perfect life. Thus gradually the reality gets distorted. The willingness to show only the best of ourselves makes us lonely, explained the neuroscientist. The need to be liked increases the fear of criticism. We fall in the vicious circle of narcissism and low self-esteem, observed Susan Greenfield. You can wake up in the morning, go shopping, go to work or dating - all of which people do in the real world - but do it all in two dimensions in front of a screen. You create a parallel reality and lose the ability to communicate in real living.

Digital technologies are changing our brains in a new way, she notes. They make us dependent on the approval of the others, now and immediately. She says that people become more vulnerable. Their identity is formed in the cyber space, not in their mind.

Vulnerable people are easy to manipulate, she explained and added that we should not forget that. It is important how we view and use the latest technology and if we do not want the technology to change us, we should view it just as means, not an end, Susan remarked.