One of the biggest advantages to living in modern day society is the benefits of technology. Today, our world is more productive, connected, and innovative than it has ever been; however, most people fail to realize the cost of cutting edge digital technology. A few sectors of technology, specifically, the internet and smartphones, have a higher cost than just dollars and cents. Over the last decade, usage of smartphones and the internet has grown exponentially. Today, nearly ninety percent of Americans have access to the internet, and roughly seventy percent of adults have smartphones, which is thirty-five percent more than in 2012. (Telecommunication) With this increase in use, there is an increase in cost, not only pecuniarily, but socially, mentally, and psychologically. Single texts, likes, tags, and new tabs have a microscopic effect on the brain, but when continuously compounded, the result can be drastic. Many people lack knowledge on how digital technology can affect the mind and body and therefore do not directly see its adverse effects. Although some may argue that digital technology can complement, benefit, and excel education, digital technology’s negative attributes and outcomes outweigh its positive benefits. Digital Technology has three ways of impacting us: addictively, mentally, and socially. When texts, likes, and messages are received, dopamine is released into the brain. This is the same chemical that is released into the brain when people smoke, drink, and gamble. As a result, we continue to use digital technology, and due to the brain’s plasticity, our brain becomes rewired to think more as a computer, with a coding, rather than a human. Finally, the technological rewiring of the brain inhibits our ability to form and develop human relationships. After looking at both the positive and negative effects that digital technology has on the brain, due to the releasing of chemicals, rewiring of the brain, and the diluting effects on social interaction, the use of digital technology has the potential to be harmful to the cognitive development of people.

Addiction is a battle than many people valiantly fight against and lose to. When addiction comes to conversation, many think of sex, drugs, gambling, and liquor, but what if the biggest addiction is sitting right in front of us? Digital technology is something that we cannot put away without destroying our lives. Addiction, by definition, is being physically and mentally dependent on a particular substance, and unable to stop taking it without incurring adverse effects (“Addiction”). In this case, the substances are phones and the internet. Phones and the internet, in moderation, will not destroy lives or harm relationships, similarly to sex, drugs, gambling, and liquor. All of these things are good fun, but too much use is dangerous. Simon Sinek’s talk, ““Addiction to Technology is Ruining Life,” is a section of his interview with Inside Quest in which he talks about the detrimental effects digital technology can have on adolescents. Many question why digital technology is addictive. They know it is not a substance and therefore is not ingested, so why is it addictive? Sinek explains this by saying,

 “We know that engagement with social media and our cell phones releases a chemical called dopamine. That’s why when you get a text - it feels good. We know when you get the attention it feels good, you get a hit of dopamine which feels good which is why we keep going back to it. Dopamine is the exact same chemical that makes us feel good when we smoke, when we drink and when we gamble. In other words, it’s highly, highly addictive…” (Sinek). 

Today, children are introduced to cell phones and the internet at very early stages in their childhood. Due to the lack of education in the field, many parents do not see the negative, harming effects that this has on their children. A Harvard study showed similar effects with technology, showing that use of digital technology releases the same reaction in the brain A sex, alcohol, and food (Brown). Society does not allow for adolescents to partake in activities involving drinking and gambling, so why would society allow for teenagers to take advantage of this numbing chemical. Biologically, taking a drag from a cigarette and getting a text have the same effect. Addiction is not the only problem, it is just the beginning. Soon after the addictive properties kick in, the rewiring of the brain happens, and soon after a decline in the quality of social interactions.  As a society, a question must be posed: Is the benefit of productivity worth the risk we put our future generations at?

The internet was invented in 1990, and at that time only adults who were well invested in their careers were using the internet consistently. As people get older, the brain matures, and therefore become less plastic. The brain’s plasticity is extremely high throughout adolescents, and unfortunately this is when the use of digital technology is most highly concentrated. Nicholas Carr’s, “The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains” is a book, written in 2010, about the effects that the Net, what is called the internet today, had on its first generation of users. Carr speaks about the rewiring effects that the Net had on him, along with other scholars who were introduced to it at the same time. He writes,

 “At first I’d figured that the problem was a system of middle-age mind rot. But my brain, I realized, wasn’t just drifting. It was hungry. It was demanding to be fed the way the Net fed it—and the more it was fed, the hungrier it became. Even when I was away from my computer, I yearned to check e-mail, click links, do some Googling. I wanted to be connected. Just as Microsoft Word had turned me into a flesh-and-blood word processor, the Internet, I sensed, was turning me into something like a high-speed data-processing machine, a human HAL” (Carr). Carr first accounts for the addictive properties that the internet held, forcing him back to the screen, to click the next few hyperlinks, and surf through the web. As he became more addicted to the internet he started to notice a change in the way he thought; his brain was being rewired. As the brain is rewired, there are certain negative effects that we see. One of the most readily studied is the attention span. Carr accounts for this when he writes, “What the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation. Whether I’m online or not, my mind now expects to take in information the way the Net distributes it: in a swiftly moving stream of particles. Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski” (Carr). Carr, a fifty-eight-year-old man, is seeing how the internet and computers harnesses creativity and attention span, so what will happen to a fifteen-year-old who’s brain is much more plastic? Others have written about similar accounts. Brabazon states, “Looking at schools and universities, it is difficult to pinpoint when education, teaching and learning started to hemorrhage purpose, aspiration and function. As the Internet offers a glut of information, bored surfers fill their cursors and minds with irrelevancies, losing the capacity to sift, discard and judge” (Maurer). Brabazon has also seen the rewiring of the brain at first sight. Thirty years ago, down time was an epicenter for creativity, a time where the mind could flow freely and create deep, philosophical thought, but now this time is filled with meaningless advertisements, games, and websites. The ability to think freely and creatively has been diluted by never-ending entertainment, which is a byproduct of the usage of the internet and phones. As time goes on, the brain is going to change from this; the question becomes whether we will use this to further our society, or let it hang as deadweight, slowly dragging us down. 

Many people hop on the internet to get a glimpse of some news, but soon become distracted by advertisements and other impeding information. Recently, a study at Stanford University showed some of the debilitating effects digital technology has on the brain. “Those who reported high concurrent usage of several types of media were less able to filter out distracting information in their environment, more likely to be distracted by irrelevant information in memory, and less efficient when they were required to quickly switch from one task to another” (Bavelier). This is not the only significant effect that has been discovered by research. Other research has stated that our attention span is now less than that of a gold fish; yes, a gold fish. “A recent study by Microsoft Corporation has found this digital lifestyle has made it difficult for us to stay focused, with the human attention span shortening from 12 seconds to eight seconds” (Borreli). This is going to hit heavy within elementary and middle schools. Many teachers have accounts of students having the inability to focus, and being easily distracted. Many tasks in today’s world take extreme precision and focus, but with distraction being constantly reinforced, students will have to relearn focus at an older age, which is much more difficult. 

From books to newspapers to phones, the world has constantly been distracted by some item while passing time, but the combination between phones and the internet is a whole different game. As mentioned earlier, many of the interactions we have with our phones release a chemical called dopamine. Not only is this chemical highly addictive, it also interferes with our ability to socially interact. In an interview with Inside Quest, Sinek says, “But now because we are allowing unfettered access to these devices and media, basically it is becoming hard wired and what we are seeing is that they grow older, too many kids don’t know how to form deep, meaningful relationships” (Sinek). Sinek connects parallels between alcoholism and addiction to digital technology. As alcoholics turn to the bottle during times of stress, teenagers turn to their phones. The effects this can, and if not stopped, will, be devastating to life as we know it. People’s relationships have become artificial. Friendship, today, have become less about trust, loyalty, and friendship, and more about finding a new way to release dopamine into the brain. This is all primed at a very young age, when children are first introduced to the effects digital technology has on the brain. 

Sinek is not the only one who has found evidence of this. A study done at Elon, “asked students whether they noticed quality degradation in conversation amongst the presence of technology. Eighty-nine percent of respondents believed there was a degradation, only 5% disagreed, and 6% neither agreed nor disagreed” (Drago). Some may ask what the negative effects of this may be? Essentially, there is a decrease in the quality of relationships that are built. As we know, dopamine plays a vital role in the interaction between our mind and our phones, but the chemical is absent when we have face to face interaction. Because our brain is constantly being stimulated by this chemical, our interest in face to face interaction has declined. One psychiatrist talked about the inability to handle conflict face to face. Many arguments are started and resolved behind the screen, which makes them harder to fix in person. (Bindley). Although immediate effects have not been seen, this will, if continued, reform society, but not in a productive way. As the hunt for dopamine goes on, the use for close, meaningful relationships depletes. If this is not stopped, we will no longer be a society, but a group of self-centered individuals living on the same plot of land.

Although there are many debilitating side effects from the constant use of digital technology, the idea behind using digital technology is helpful and beneficial. Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, writes, “we are targeting the best new ideas that hold the greatest promise for improving the odds... The power of technology is its ability to connect people, foster collaboration, empower learners and teachers, and challenge the status quo” (Selwyn). When thinking of the benefits of digital technology, it is easy to look at education and see the benefits of using it. Selwyn writes, “First and foremost, digital technology can offer easier and more plentiful access to education. For example, the internet is seen to have dramatically increased educational choice and diversity over the past 20 years” (Selwyn). Again, this is tunnel vision, looking at only the benefits of heavy technological use. Digital technology can greatly excel programs, but if integrated into life at too young of an age, the costs can be devastating. Although digital technology has the ability to assist and compliment education, the effects that it has on the brain and social interaction outweigh its positive effects. 

Over the past decade, digital technology has become an integral part of our everyday lives. From entertainment to communication to education, digital technology plays a key role in society’s ability to function. Without constant connection, our societal habits would become mayhem. As made apparent by research, we are able to see that interactions with the internet and social media release dopamine in the brain. We see the same chemical released when people smoke, drink, and gamble, which shows the addictive properties of digital technology. Using digital technology can be entertaining and beneficial to our lives, but too much becomes dangerous. Digital technology’s next shortcoming is its ability to change the way we think. As a result of becoming addicted to digital technology, we constantly use our phones and social media. Whether we are at dinner with family or camping with friends, the disconnection from these devices is painful. In just under a decade, our attention spans have marginally shortened. What’s next to go? Finally, digital technology’s incapacitating effects on social interaction are changing and harming many individuals. Studies have shown decreases in quality of relationships, leadership interactions, and eminence of conversation. Empathy and relationships are some of the distinctive characteristics that we hold over other animals in this world, but digital technology is interfering with this. Yes, digital technology can embrace and excel technology, but we, as a society, must learn when the proper time to implement these actions is. Do the ends justify the means? Is the loss of human nature worth sacrificing for more productivity? We must realize how the constant use of phones, social media, and the internet are altering the way we live our lives. After looking at both the positive and negative effects that digital technology has on the brain, due to the releasing of chemicals, rewiring of the brain, and the diluting effects on social interaction, the use of digital technology has the potential to be harmful to the cognitive development of people.
