I think that's pretty obvious. But his conclusion doesn't follow. Just because a certain selective pressure and set of skills were necessary for us to evolve a couple million years ago, doesn't mean we've lost our humanity or our ability to improve the world if we're not constantly honing those skills today.
Are we taking measures as a society that prevent our children from taking ownership, thus employing stewardship, of the natural environment to which they are, in increasing numbers, becoming estranged from?
Failure is not falling down but refusing to get up.
Chinese Proverb
The digital native’s brain is physically different as a result of the digital input it has received growing up, he claims.
“It has rewired itself. It responds faster. It sifts out. It recalls less.”
I probably shouldn't have begun the thread, which was intended to be about Richard Louv's theory on the impact of what he terms "nature deprivation" in children with a quote by Frank Wilson but there it is.
Keep in mind that we're talking about child development here. Do you see the above bolded portions? I wonder how many people see a correlation between extended digital usage (computer, video games, television) and the increased diagnosis of attention deficit disorders in (mainly though not limited to) male children?
Failure is not falling down but refusing to get up.
Chinese Proverb
In my toybox here at home, I have several different types of things designed to get my grandchildren thinking and moving, instead of passively watching movies or playing video games.
Etchasketch crayons, color books, and blank paper toy figurines dolls foam swords (I have 3 grandsons who are really into pirates right now) balls (tennis, foam football, basketball) cash register and play money cars and trucks dinosaurs an entire zoo of stuffed toys
For the older ones, I have board games, card games, Twister, the cat and 3 dogs.
I have one entire shelf of children's books at their eye level. Outside, I have a cement patio and on my enormous lawn, a swing set. There's plenty of room for a game of football or to play fetch with the dogs.
I think I'll get some PVC pipe and corners, so they can build things. And we're going to do Stomp with the 7 grandkids and 5 adults who are coming for Thanksgiving.
I have a bunch of chidren's movies for winding down when it's almost time for bed, but I own no video games. If they want to play those, they stay home. I'm a firm believer in hand's on play, and learning to play nicely with others. It's a process, but so far, it seems to be working okay.
(Nevo, Jan 23) And the Melchizedek Priesthood may not have been restored until the summer of 1830, several months after the organization of the Church.
While that is all great, Harmony, I don't think there is a shot in hell that generally speaking, kids with swingsets and tool sheds make it through medical school easier than kids who spent more time on the couch playing video games because game players couldn't grasp practical things like how pumps work given they've never siphoned gas out of a can etc.
Again, I'd like to know how the Japanese became such great engineers given the general lack of large backyards and woodlands to navigate with a compass and build fires in. the OP argument is nothing more than a, "back in my day we walked to school uphill both ways and are better for it" argument.
Lou Midgley 08/20/2020: "...meat wad," and "cockroach" are pithy descriptions of human beings used by gemli? They were not fashioned by Professor Peterson.
LM 11/23/2018: one can explain away the soul of human beings...as...a Meat Unit, to use Professor Peterson's clever derogatory description of gemli's ideology.
Gadianton wrote:While that is all great, Harmony, I don't think there is a shot in hell that generally speaking, kids with swingsets and tool sheds make it through medical school easier than kids who spent more time on the couch playing video games because game players couldn't grasp practical things like how pumps work given they've never siphoned gas out of a can etc.
Again, I'd like to know how the Japanese became such great engineers given the general lack of large backyards and woodlands to navigate with a compass and build fires in. the OP argument is nothing more than a, "back in my day we walked to school uphill both ways and are better for it" argument.
Well, each generation has its geniuses, Gad. As does each culture. I think you're talking education; I'm talking socialization. How does interacting with a computer help chidlren learn to share or to take turns or to get along with people who are different than they are?
Are you saying the Japanese have such great engineers because their children are raised on Nintendo? Because I don't think that follows. And how do you explain the large numbers of Japanese students at USA universities? Wouldn't you think they'd stay home, in order to become great engineers?
(Nevo, Jan 23) And the Melchizedek Priesthood may not have been restored until the summer of 1830, several months after the organization of the Church.
Gadianton wrote:While that is all great, Harmony, I don't think there is a shot in hell that generally speaking, kids with swingsets and tool sheds make it through medical school easier than kids who spent more time on the couch playing video games because game players couldn't grasp practical things like how pumps work given they've never siphoned gas out of a can etc.
Again, I'd like to know how the Japanese became such great engineers given the general lack of large backyards and woodlands to navigate with a compass and build fires in. the OP argument is nothing more than a, "back in my day we walked to school uphill both ways and are better for it" argument.
The OP contained one excerpt from a well researched book. I'll include more and perhaps a Japanese research study on brain development.
Failure is not falling down but refusing to get up.
Chinese Proverb
harmony wrote:In my toybox here at home, I have several different types of things designed to get my grandchildren thinking and moving, instead of passively watching movies or playing video games.
Etchasketch crayons, color books, and blank paper toy figurines dolls foam swords (I have 3 grandsons who are really into pirates right now) balls (tennis, foam football, basketball) cash register and play money cars and trucks dinosaurs an entire zoo of stuffed toys
For the older ones, I have board games, card games, Twister, the cat and 3 dogs.
I have one entire shelf of children's books at their eye level. Outside, I have a cement patio and on my enormous lawn, a swing set. There's plenty of room for a game of football or to play fetch with the dogs.
I think I'll get some PVC pipe and corners, so they can build things. And we're going to do Stomp with the 7 grandkids and 5 adults who are coming for Thanksgiving.
I have a bunch of chidren's movies for winding down when it's almost time for bed, but I own no video games. If they want to play those, they stay home. I'm a firm believer in hand's on play, and learning to play nicely with others. It's a process, but so far, it seems to be working okay.
Process is entirely the point, harmony and my compliments on your stash for the grandkids.
PVC loose parts are dirt cheap and durable. If you happen to get your hands on a pvc rain gutter...you've got a marvelous ramp with which to race hot wheels cars, balls and other such objects.
And if they really get into the PVC....take your PVC parts AND the rain gutters....to make giant size mazes for balls, cars, water moving and whatever the heck else is around.
:-D
Failure is not falling down but refusing to get up.
Chinese Proverb
Oh, I agree there are several problems with simply becoming a computer addict and doing nothing else. In fact, medical schools also recognize the problem of having techno-whiz doctors with no social skills, business skills -- "well-rounding". Medical schools like to see high MCAT scores, first and foremost, but they aren't necessarily impressed with an engineering degree over and above an education in classics. They have personal interviews where they look for leadership, communication skills, and so on.
But the guy we're reviewing here says, "Instructors in medical schools find it increasingly difficult to teach how the heart works as a pump, he says, "because these students have so little real-world experience; they've never siphoned anything, never fixed a car, never worked on a fuel pump"
This is what I'm calling BS on.
Lou Midgley 08/20/2020: "...meat wad," and "cockroach" are pithy descriptions of human beings used by gemli? They were not fashioned by Professor Peterson.
LM 11/23/2018: one can explain away the soul of human beings...as...a Meat Unit, to use Professor Peterson's clever derogatory description of gemli's ideology.
Gadianton wrote:Oh, I agree there are several problems with simply becoming a computer addict and doing nothing else. In fact, medical schools also recognize the problem of having techno-whiz doctors with no social skills, business skills -- "well-rounding". Medical schools like to see high MCAT scores, first and foremost, but they aren't necessarily impressed with an engineering degree over and above an education in classics. They have personal interviews where they look for leadership, communication skills, and so on.
But the guy we're reviewing here says, "Instructors in medical schools find it increasingly difficult to teach how the heart works as a pump, he says, "because these students have so little real-world experience; they've never siphoned anything, never fixed a car, never worked on a fuel pump"
This is what I'm calling BS on.
The guy we're in the process of reviewing here is Richard Louv. The OP began with an excerpt which is a quote by Frank Wilson of Stanford. I'll add more as I have time from Louv and others, and get to the nature deprivation issue.
Last edited by Google Feedfetcher on Mon Oct 27, 2008 2:44 am, edited 2 times in total.
Failure is not falling down but refusing to get up.
Chinese Proverb
"Perhaps not since early man first discovered how to use a tool has the human brain been affected so quickly and so dramatically," he writes. "As the brain evolves and shifts its focus towards new technological skills, it drifts away from fundamental social skills."
Do you see this as a plus in favor of overall human development?
If so, why?
If you read further in the text I quoted, you'll find that others do not feel Small's assessment tells the whole story. I consider myself a digital native, but I have no shortage of social skills or tactile experience. Granted, I won't be building any houses any time soon. But I object to any intimation that having grown up after the revolution makes me less healthy or human. In any case, use of technology and use of the hands are not mutually exclusive options. The Nintendo Wii is likely merely the first of many technological products that will encourage greater physical involvement during the use of technology. Other notable examples are Dance Dance Revolution and Guitar Hero. Chat rooms are increasingly turning into audio or video conferences. I suspect we'll see technology engaging a greater and greater number of our human faculties as advances continue.