Technology Hurting Young People

Ever since I started this blog over a decade ago I have been talking about the dangers of technology and cell phones and how they are alienating us, making us less empathic and causing a host of physical health and mental health issues. Adolescents and children have been particularly hit hard.

This decline began around 2009 with the introduction of the smart phone as I noted back in 2017 when I talked about a book by psychologist Jean Twenge who examines intergenerational trends and changes Technology Kills--Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?

Last month The NY Times began a series about how adolescent mental health has suffered on adolescent mental health. Author Matt Richtel said,

What makes less sense to me is why our society has done so little to protect children from the apparent damages of ubiquitous digital media. They are almost certainly larger for most children than the threat from Covid.

 

Technology Kills---Rising Cell Phone/Social Media Use Creates a Loss of Empathy and a Rise in Loneliness and Anger

I found this sponsored link on Bloomberg this AM Decline in Human Empathy Creates Global Risks in the 'Age of Anger' on the damage to humanity from the use of cell phones and other new technologies. Basically they are  making us less empathetic and more  lonely and angry. It is a summary of the 'World Economic Forum: Global Risks Report 2019. It does appear to refer to some new research that I will try and access.

As I have been saying for over a decade TECHNOLOGY KILLS. Click on the Labels Section below to read some of my posts on this. Cell phones, social media and other technologies are hollowing out our souls. My upcoming book due out in September Everything Has Karma, Learning to Embrace Our Interconnectedness goes into much more detail on this.

Below are a few quotes from the article.

 Decline in Human Empathy Creates Global Risks in the 'Age of Anger'

Our interconnected world has never had more lonely, angry people. Is technology responsible for a decline in human empathy?

As today’s economy grows more interconnected, a new global phenomenon has emerged: the growing number of people who feel disconnected and isolated.

Technology is a complex factor in rising levels of anger and loneliness. The Global Risk Report notes that in a recent study, technology was cited as a major cause of loneliness and social isolation by 58 percent of survey respondents in the United States and 50 percent in the United Kingdom. But the same survey found that social media makes it easier for people to “connect with others in a meaningful way” and that lonely people were no more likely to use social media.  

ervasive digital technology has also blurred the boundary between the workplace and home. Work-related emails often start before office hours and continue long after close of business. A 2016 study by Pew Research Center found that nearly one-third of American adults never turn off their smartphones.

Even as professional pressures increasingly encroach upon private life, people often don’t have traditional support networks at home. The percentage of single-person households in the U.K. has almost doubled over the last 50 years, with similar increases in the U.S., Germany and Japan. In urban capitals, the number of “solitaries” is even higher: 50 percent in Paris, 60 percent in Stockholm. In Midtown Manhattan, 94 percent of households are single-person.

Urbanization weakens social bonds not just in cities, but also in the communities and households that migrant workers leave behind, and growing social isolation is a trend in established and emerging economies alike. The proportion of people feeling lonely in the U.K. climbed to 22 percent in 2017 from an average of 17 percent in 2014-2016, with a sharp drop in the number of people who reported never feeling lonely, according to a survey published by the Cabinet Office.

These results mirror those of a study in American Sociological Review that looked at the number of close friends that people have. In 1985, the average number of close friends was 2.9; by 2004 it was 2.1. The percentage of people who responded that they had no close friends at all tripled over the same period.

“Emotionally, people are quite lonely. We’re seeing in many societies a kind of breakdown of family, or connection with family,” Scott says. “I think it’s also a demographic thing; younger people are more tuned into using technology and social media, and to live in a world talking to machines through chatbots. That can create all sorts of emotions of fear and frustration, and in some cases that frustration can get expressed as anger.”

Individual psychological and emotional problems can become collective concerns when loneliness and frustration meet populist and identity politics—an emerging reality in what is becoming known as the “age of anger.” According to the Global Risks Report, these trends may pose a significant threat to geopolitical stability.

“Individual harms matter in themselves, but they can also feed into wider systemic risks—for example, potential political, societal, technological and environmental disruptions,” Scott says. “A world of increasingly divided and angry people would be likely to generate volatile electoral results and decrease the chance of solving complex multi-stakeholder global risks. If empathy were to continue to decline, the risks might be even starker.”

The decline in empathy is not just anecdotal. One study of American students published in Personality and Social Psychology Review revealed that levels of empathy in this demographic fell by 48 percent between 1979 and 2009. Possible causes of the growing empathy gap include increasing materialism, changing parenting methods and the digital echo chamber, in which people anchor themselves in close-knit groups of like-minded people. Such echo-chamber effects aren’t always as obvious as those seen on social media. For example, researchers have found that the matching processes used on dating platforms can also weaken social bonds.

Winter Is Coming

Friends,

With winter coming I thought it would be good to reflect on the article i wrote for the American Society of Dowsers Digest last Winter. It tells how winter is a time for reflection and contemplation and can be a time of  great solace. Find time this winter to look within.

Winter is coming.

Blessings,
madis

Winter’s Solace

While many see winter as a time of bitter cold, being housebound, limited activity, snow shoveling and other dreads, I see it otherwise. To me it is a time of reflection, inner growth and spiritual development. It is time to look within, at the journey of the past year and prepare for the time ahead. Winter is a refuge for our soul that brings a quiet beauty and serenity.  

We have become so disconnected from Mother Earth, at so many levels. One of which is the diminishing of  the  powerful impact that Her seasons have upon us. We have heated and air conditioned houses, trips to different climes whenever we wish, or we can eat foods out of season. We are increasingly less and less at the mercy of seasonal changes. 

Winter brings shorter days and colder weather. It is a time of hibernation, of drawing in and solitude; which unfortunately many see as loneliness. So instead we turn to our savior of technology and surf the net, or call friends. But are we really connected and what does this bring us—little good. Technology disconnects us. Punch up  “technology disconnects us” on the Internet and you will get a slew of articles and books.

It is that solitude that winter forces upon us, if we let it, that I so much appreciate. I long for wintry days that make me housebound and force me to meditate more, disconnect from technology and explore and reflect. It is a gift from our Mother and Great Spirit.

Have you ever spent a day not talking, or using technology?

The Hindu mystic Meher Baba spent the last 44 years of his life in silence. He often fasted and took long secluded retreats. He achieved the meditative state of Samadhi and was considered by his devotees, to be an avatar, or incarnation of God.

Ask yourself, “Am I afraid to be alone and in silence?... Am I afraid to give into to the direction our Mother wishes to lead me?”

I have spent many winter days in solitude, days when I would spend all day in my pajamas in front of my altar meditating and contemplating and asking God for direction. Only taking time out to read sacred texts. I imagine everyone else complained about those bitter cold days; to me they were a joy, as I vacationed from everyday life with God and great souls.

Take a day, a weekend and see how long you can remain silent, not use technology and put yourself in a contemplative mind. 

Years ago I read a quote from a Transcendentalist, Thoreau or Emerson, I forgot which one. It was a quote about the fellow who got 12 to 13 letters consistently with each post office delivery, many more times than anyone else. But the author questioned whether the person knew themselves, because they spent so much time writing and had little time for solitude and reflection. Change letter to technology.

Even before I began my spiritual quest I subconsciously knew the benefits of solitude. I would annually take solo canoe trips to Canada’s Algonquin Park that would last a week, or longer. I would often go in the spring to reduce the chances of seeing others; it even snowed one spring when I was there. I would run around with my backpack and canoe on my shoulders like a mad man and push myself on the water. But I always dawdled and spent hours for breakfast and after supper reflecting upon my current state and life in general. I would always be healed on those sojourns, no matter what my travails were. I look back at those trips with great joy.

While many great mystics and teachers who lived in warmer climes did not have the Master of winter to guide them, they understood the transformative power of solitude. Jesus spent forty days in the wilderness before he began his ministry. Buddha roamed as vagabond, often in solitude and meditated for long periods.  It is said he mediated underneath the Bodhi Tree for seven days before he reached enlightenment. Native American’s would go into the Wilderness and Cry for a Vision. Great Buddhist and Hindu sages would spend years in solitude meditating in caves and achieved the highest states of Samadhi and enormous spiritual gifs. The cave where the Tibetan Buddhist Milarepa meditated for years in solitude still contains the imprint of his hand where he plunged his fist into the wall of the cave.

Winter is trying to guide you, to nudge you toward that solitude that will transform you and elevate your consciousness. The great sages have shown you the fruits of solitude. Say thank you to your Mother. A great gift has been provided to you. Embrace it.

Winter's Solace

Friends,

I wrote this back in December for the American Society of Dowsers's Digest and it just came out a few days ago in their Winter Issue. Next time I should plan better and write something before the season is over.

madis

Winter’s Solace

While many see winter as a time of bitter cold, being housebound, limited activity, snow shoveling and other dreads, I see it otherwise. To me it is a time of reflection, inner growth and spiritual development. It is time to look within, at the journey of the past year and prepare for the time ahead. Winter is a refuge for our soul that brings a quiet beauty and serenity. 

We have become so disconnected from Mother Earth, at so many levels. One of which is the diminishing of  the  powerful impact that Her seasons have upon us. We have heated and air conditioned houses, trips to different climes whenever we wish, or we can eat foods out of season. We are increasingly less and less at the mercy of seasonal changes.

Winter brings shorter days and colder weather. It is a time of hibernation, of drawing in and solitude; which unfortunately many see as loneliness. So instead we turn to our savior of technology and surf the net, or call friends. But are we really connected and what does this bring us—little good. Technology disconnects us. Punch up  “technology disconnects us” on the Internet and you will get a slew of articles and books.

It is that solitude that winter forces upon us, if we let it, that I so much appreciate. I long for wintry days that make me housebound and force me to meditate more, disconnect from technology and explore and reflect. It is a gift from our Mother and Great Spirit.

Have you ever spent a day not talking, or using technology?

The Hindu mystic Meher Baba spent the last 44 years of his life in silence. He often fasted and took long secluded retreats. He achieved the meditative state of Samadhi and was considered by his devotees, to be an avatar, or incarnation of God.

Ask yourself, “Am I afraid to be alone and in silence?... Am I afraid to give into to the direction our Mother wishes to lead me?”

I have spent many winter days in solitude, days when I would spend all day in my pajamas in front of my altar meditating and contemplating and asking God for direction. Only taking time out to read sacred texts. I imagine everyone else complained about those bitter cold days; to me they were a joy, as I vacationed from everyday life with God and great souls.

Take a day, a weekend and see how long you can remain silent, not use technology and put yourself in a contemplative mind.

Years ago I read a quote from a Transcendentalist, Thoreau or Emerson, I forgot which one. It was a quote about the fellow who got 12 to 13 letters consistently with each post office delivery, many more times than anyone else. But the author questioned whether the person knew themselves, because they spent so much time writing and had little time for solitude and reflection. Change letter to technology.

Even before I began my spiritual quest I subconsciously knew the benefits of solitude. I would annually take solo canoe trips to Canada’s Algonquin Park that would last a week, or longer. I would often go in the spring to reduce the chances of seeing others; it even snowed one spring when I was there. I would run around with my backpack and canoe on my shoulders like a mad man and push myself on the water. But I always dawdled and spent hours for breakfast and after supper reflecting upon my current state and life in general. I would always be healed on those sojourns, no matter what my travails were. I look back at those trips with great joy.

While many great mystics and teachers who lived in warmer climes did not have the Master of winter to guide them, they understood the transformative power of solitude. Jesus spent forty days in the wilderness before he began his ministry. Buddha roamed as vagabond, often in solitude and meditated for long periods.  It is said he mediated underneath the Bodhi Tree for seven days before he reached enlightenment. Native American’s would go into the Wilderness and Cry for a Vision. Great Buddhist and Hindu sages would spend years in solitude meditating in caves and achieved the highest states of Samadhi and enormous spiritual gifs. The cave where the Tibetan Buddhist Milarepa meditated for years in solitude still contains the imprint of his hand where he plunged his fist into the wall of the cave.

Winter is trying to guide you, to nudge you toward that solitude that will transform you and elevate your consciousness. The great sages have shown you the fruits of solitude. Say thank you to your Mother. A great gift has been provided to you. Embrace it.

Madis Senner is former money manager turned Seeker. He is a Keeper, watches over/maintains, several sacred sites. His fourth book. SacredSites in North Star Country, Places in Greater New York State (PA, OH, NJ, CT,MA, VT, ONT) That Changed the World is available for sale at the ASD bookstore. It catalogues sacred sites in the northeast, teaches about the transformative power of place and how we can heal our Mother. You can read his musings at http://motherearthprayers.blogspot.com.