Posted on 07/30/2011 7:40:57 PM PDT by Mount Athos
Facebook and Twitter have created a generation obsessed with themselves, who have short attention spans and a childlike desire for constant feedback on their lives, a top scientist believes.
Baroness Greenfield, professor of pharmacology at Oxford University, believes the growth of internet 'friendships' could effectively 'rewire' the brain.
This can result in reduced concentration, a need for instant gratification and poor non-verbal skills, such as the ability to make eye contact during conversations.
Baroness Greenfield, former director of research body the Royal Institution, said: 'What concerns me is the banality of so much that goes out on Twitter.
'Why should someone be interested in what someone else has had for breakfast? It reminds me of a small child (saying): “Look at me Mummy, I'm doing this”
'It's almost as if they're in some kind of identity crisis. In a sense it's keeping the brain in a sort of time warp.'
The academic suggested that some Facebook users feel the need to become 'mini celebrities' who are watched and admired by others on a daily basis.
They do things that are 'Facebook worthy' because the only way they can define themselves is by 'people knowing about them'.
'It's almost as if people are living in a world that's not a real world, but a world where what counts is what people think of you or (if they) can click on you,' she said.
'Think of the implications for society if people worry more about what other people think about them than what they think about themselves.'
Her views were echoed by Sue Palmer, a literacy expert and author, who said girls in particular believe they are a 'commodity they must sell to other people' on Facebook.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
>vain self-obsessed people with child-like need for feedback,<
Like your standard FR thread starters?
In other words, another generation of liberals.
We're doomed.
LEAVE FACEBOOK ALONE!!!
/sarc
I just went through the drive-thru of a local ice cream joint.
I asked the young man for a pint of soft-serve. He asked if it'd be alright if he just filled a 32 ounce cup?
And no...I didn't correct him.
Thru facebook I just reconnected with some very old friends from high school and the military. Great friends that I just lost contact with.
Never would have found them without facebook or something very similar.
those youngesters always existed, they are just like their parents.
You got me pegged! haha
Self-obsessed generations started after WW II.
That's what YouTube is for.
Kinda like a professor of pharmacology at Oxford University who needs to publish papers to been seen and committed on.
Physically, I can be kind of a recluse. But I do like going on-line and bantering back and forth with my mom, my sister, a few co-workers, and a few friends from high school. We’re geographically so far apart, FB is really the only way. I get kind of sick of these little Pop Studies that constantly “warn” us of all the dangers of every new trend. I bet when flushing toilets became widespread, some twit somewhere popped up immediately to “warn” us that this new invention creates a breed of people who think all problems can be flushed away just by pulling a chain, and were therefore psychologically stunted.
I’m eating a cheese sandwich.
What kind of bread?
No, refusing to acknowledge the obvious point of obsessive narcissism is "childish."
Merely claiming to be "human" is simply a way to demonize a critic for catching you being "childish."
And no...I didn't correct him.
Where did you go? In today's economy I love two for one deals!
Sounds like self-righteousness to me. And a university hack who needs to publish.
LOL! You mean we have to wait until 2012 to get a new president?
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