Posted on 01/08/2020 6:15:02 PM PST by LS
Bump for later. Just got through a Christmas diner with half my younger relatives on the phone!
That was just some rather quick work. Back ground is that of a dairy worker, gas station manager, but later (1986) working in full-time evangelical ministry, who now often does posts online, and does research (w/ multiple browsers and tabs), and physically also tries to fix (for free) more things than I break, glory to God.
More excepts,
Strong research has been coming in over the last several years, suggesting that looking at screens for hours a day can have some serious health and mental health consequences. Even some of the developers of these products have admitted guilt about their creations, and confessed that they don’t even let their kids use them. A couple of recent studies highlight the connection, and an infographic below expands on it.
One new study finds that time spent on screens is linked to not-so-great shifts in brain connectivity, while reading is linked to more beneficial changes.
Another recent study found...changes were seen in the reward circuits of the brain, in the ratio of the neurotransmitter GABA to other neurotransmitters.
But what may be even more important than looking at the brain is looking at the behavior and the psychology of kids who use screens. Researcher Jean Twenge’s famous work has shown strong links between time spent on screens and depression and suicidality in teens https://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2018/04/16/how-too-much-screen-time-affects-kids-bodies-and-brains/#1da3e3321549 2018
“It’s not how long we’re using screens that really matters; it’s how we’re using them and what’s happening in our brains in response,” says Rich, director of the Center on Media and Child Health at Boston Children’s Hospital, associate professor of pediatrics at HMS, and associate professor of social and behavioral sciences at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
The growing human brain is constantly building neural connections while pruning away less-used ones, and digital media use plays an active role in that process, according to Rich. Much of what happens on screen provides “impoverished” stimulation of the developing brain compared to reality, he says. Children need a diverse menu of online and offline experiences, including the chance to let their minds wander.
“Virtually all games and social media work on what’s called a variable reward system, which is exactly what you get when you go to Mohegan Sun and pull a lever on a slot machine. It balances the hope that you’re going to make it big with a little bit of frustration, and unlike the slot machine, a sense of skill needed to improve.” A young person’s brain lacks a fully developed self-control system to help them with stopping this kind of obsessive behavior. https://hms.harvard.edu/news/screen-time-brain 2019
Stephen Johnson 10 December, 2018: The National Institutes of Health recently began a $300-million study to examine the effects of screen time on developing brains.
The first batch of results from the study, which was highlighted by CBS's 60 Minutes on Sunday, shows that kids who spent more than two hours per day on screens scored lower on language and thinking tests.
Alarmingly, kids who spent more than seven hours per day on electronic devices showed premature thinning of the cortex, which Dr. Gaya Dowling of the National Institutes of Health described as a "maturational process" that typically happens later in development. https://bigthink.com/mind-brain/screen-time-nih-study-60-minutes
Researchers have found an imbalance in the brain chemistry of young people addicted to smartphones and the internet, according to a study presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).
The researchers performed MRS exams on the addicted youth prior to and following behavioral therapy and a single MRS study on the control patients to measure levels of gamma aminobutyric acid, or GABA, a neurotransmitter in the brain that inhibits or slows down brain signals, and glutamate-glutamine (Glx), a neurotransmitter that causes neurons to become more electrically excited. Previous studies have found GABA to be involved in vision and motor control and the regulation of various brain functions, including anxiety.
The good news is GABA to Glx ratios in the addicted youth significantly decreased or normalized after cognitive behavioral therapy. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/11/171130090041.htm [2017]
Hope this helps, by the grace of God.
Daniel 1212: You mentioned you are now in full-time evangelical ministry. One reason internet use really troubles me is how it very easily becomes a bad idol that distracts us from God. I even see this in church, our present church is pretty good about sticking to the Word, but like everyone else is tech-happy and talks about “going on the church app,” checking things out on our smart-phones, etc. I really wonder whether internet use, other than a necessary minimum, is actually good or proper for Christians. A lot of things seem to me to be extremely harmful. I sometimes wonder whether various Mennonite groups which ban cellphone use have it right.
Tremendous, esp. that NIH study.
flp
I normatively would actually rather be outside giving the Word to the masses in the city, or on the sidewalk here and interacting with friendly people than on the Internet. And I do not even usually like phone calls in preference to the above. I feel like shooting one when it goes off during Bible study.
But the Lord has me locally (and it's Winter) and originally gave me a PC 10 years ago after I prayed and asked Him if it was His will to use it, and the Internet much needs Christians to refute the deception. So I can post here, and on Quora (copied to Twitter) and blogs,, by the grace of God. And the Internet is a tremendous resource for info.
However, it is like driving, and there are places you should not go. Keep away from porn and gambling (and games) and seek to use all for the Lord. My weakness, esp when tired and I do not feel i can do more writing (esp/ with stiff arthritic fingers) is science fiction movies, which I sometimes watch though that is a poor or often wrong choice for edification if at all.
So a PC and the Internet are tools, which we can used with the intent of serving God and things related to that and edification. I have hardly even used 3rd party anti-virus software and only have had 2 virus infections in all the years of heavy use, thanks be to God, vut I do the mvps host file which will prevent access to a lot of had sites. I edit it to allow some shopping sites to work.
But when the Internet becomes more than just something you use for work or an occasional phone call, and become a constant alternative to face to face conversing, and activities, or worse, a channel for vulgarity, profanity, porn and liberal propaganda, etc. then maybe they should be stoned by all they caused to be ignored or hurt. At dawn.
Daniel 1212: Thank you for your advice.
Except all the scientific research is showing that physically playing with, say, Legos or action figures is vastly different than watching a screen which generates a dopamine reward.
In fact, “old time” television was far less destructive than modern phones/pads/video games according to the research.
I here you buddy. Our stories are similar. I was the one who went to counseling and I was the one w/ Problems.
Here’s the one bizarre irony. With gaming, my older son did this thing where you buy and sell equipment for the games and you get paid in Bitcoins (you know like certains swords or protection from attacks and things like that). Back then Bitcoins were worth next to nothing, but when they had that huge Bitcoin run up in value a couple of years ago he had almost $100,000 in Bitcoins. But he was scared to cash any of it in, because the rumor was that the IRS was monitoring and would come after you for unpaid taxes. I told him I didn’t want to know and I actually don’t know what he eventually did.
Ok, working my way through all this stuff. Amazing job you’ve done. The last one, the science daily article, did not open (”Page not found”). Could you double check?
It works. You must have copied the [2017] note i added.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/11/171130090041.htm
Well, this one works.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
