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People relish novelty, enjoy convenience, and are prone to distraction. These natural tendencies are now being dangerously exploited in the digital world. So we find ourselves bewitched by the shimmering screens of our digital devices, like moths circling a flame. It may only be a matter of time before our downward spiral reaches a deadly nadir.
Leslie Paul Thiele incisively explores the psychological, social, and political impacts of social media, artificial intelligence, and digital platforms that are designed to capture our attention and maximize engagement. Digital technologies offer countless benefits. But in the attention economy, they also heighten distraction and dependence, erode cognitive and social skills, proliferate misinformation, amplify political polarization, increase social isolation, and leave us despondent. Governmental regulation is needed, but it cannot replace the individual's responsibility to exercise self-governance.
Thoroughly grounded in the latest scientific research but accessible to the general reader, this book explains how we can cultivate the dispositions, habits, and skills needed to sustain human agency and strengthen democratic prospects. In an age of incessant technological upgrading, Thiele demonstrates a vital and practical means to avert human downgrading.
List of contents
Chapter 1: Digital Upgrading and Human Downgrading.- Chapter 2: Regulation and Self-Governance.- Chapter 3: Distraction and Dependence: The Loss of Reflective Self-Direction.- Chapter 4: Deskilling: The Atrophy of Cognitive and Social Aptitudes.- Chapter 5: Dogmatism: The Eclipse of Common Truths and the Decay of Civic Trust.- Chapter 6: Despair: Passivity in the Face of Predictive Power.- Chapter 7: Self-Leadership and Service.- Chapter 8: Conclusions.
About the author
Leslie Paul Thiele is Distinguished Professor of Political Science at University of Florida, USA, where his research and teaching focus on emerging technologies and sustainability. He is the author of many books, including Sustainability (3rd edition, 2024), The Art and Craft of Political Theory (2019), and The Heart of Judgment: Practical Wisdom, Neuroscience, and Narrative (2006). He serves as the Specialty Chief Editor of the Politics of Technology section of Frontiers in Political Science.
Summary
People relish novelty, enjoy convenience, and are prone to distraction. These natural tendencies are now being dangerously exploited in the digital world. So we find ourselves bewitched by the shimmering screens of our digital devices, like moths circling a flame. It may only be a matter of time before our downward spiral reaches a deadly nadir.
Leslie Paul Thiele incisively explores the psychological, social, and political impacts of social media, artificial intelligence, and digital platforms that are designed to capture our attention and maximize engagement. Digital technologies offer countless benefits. But in the attention economy, they also heighten distraction and dependence, erode cognitive and social skills, proliferate misinformation, amplify political polarization, increase social isolation, and leave us despondent. Governmental regulation is needed, but it cannot replace the individual’s responsibility to exercise self-governance.
Thoroughly grounded in the latest scientific research but accessible to the general reader, this book explains how we can cultivate the dispositions, habits, and skills needed to sustain human agency and strengthen democratic prospects. In an age of incessant technological upgrading, Thiele demonstrates a vital and practical means to avert human downgrading.
