Our Health in the Digital Age - Essay Example

Essay Instructions Our Health In The Digital Age Instructions: We’re approaching the end of the term. You’ve learned how to think at a higherlevel this term and how to weigh information based on its level of credibility. You will now put your new thinking skills to good use. This assignment involves watching a credible FRONTLINE documentary online, and then discussing its content related to health. As you watch, you will find questions below to help you sort the information. You should pause the program to think about and write your answers in detail. If you don’t, you may end up spending time returning to re-watch portions of the program. The last question of the worksheet will ask you to use the other worksheet answers to compile a comprehensive essay discussing the program’s content and its implications on health. There is no “right” or “wrong” answer here. However, if you fail to provide a balanced perspective or if you state opinions void of justification or thorough discussion, you will earn a poor score. This program points out the positive and negative impacts of the digital age on our lives. In the end, you will need justify based on what you learned in Health 104 this term and based on the program’s information how you think technology is helping us and hurting us in terms of health. You probably already think you have an answer, but slow down…the program will bring up ideas that you couldn’t possibly have thought of on your own, but that must be considered. This is NOT an essay built around how technology impacts your health alone. Rather, it’s time for you to step back and look at the bigger picture of how technology is impacting the wellness of society as a whole. You may include its impact on you (personally) and your family in a secondary way in your essay. If you detail your essay in such a way that I see you weighing the pros and cons that technology has on the various dimensions of health, you will fare well. If I do not believe that you watched the program due to vagueness or lack of detail on this assignment or if I see opinions void of justification or only supported by the basics given to you in the program (meaning you haven’t really thought through this), you will earn a poor score. The program is 90 minutes long and you need to focus 100% on it as though you were taking an exam. Please read through the rest of this document before you begin watching the documentary, so that you have a good idea of what you will do with the information you gather while watching. Find the documentary here: http://video.pbs.org/video/1402987791 Submission Instructions: You will submit ONLY your essay (not your worksheet). There isn’t really page or word count requirement, but as a guideline, plan to spend ? to one page per dimension of health, so this will end up being around 5-6 pages long. An introduction and conclusion is optional. Avoid simply writing the answers to the questions on the attached worksheet. This is an essay, meaning you need to organize the information in a logical way and not simply regurgitate the statements of the video. Please proof-read, spell-check, and grammar check your document as this needs to be professionally presented. Save the file as a .doc, .docx, or .pdf and submit it to your Google Drive NAMED folder on or before its due date, Thursday, December 13th, 5pm. No late work will be accepted. Please refrain from asking for exceptions or extensions. After you submit this assignment, you should continue to check into Moodle until you receive a grade for this assignment, a final course grade and a “course check-out” message from the instructor indicating that you no longer need to access Moodle. (scroll)Worksheet: Point your cursor over the video program (don’t click). At the bottom, note the timer. Watch from minute 0:00 to minute 12:25, then answer the following questions. 1. The clips shown to introduce this program suggest how vital technology is to the interviewees. Though it’s early in the program, discuss your thoughts on the emotional and mental health of a person who make a statement such as, “I can’t live without my cell phone.” I think emotionally they are being overly dramatic. There are people who can live even without their cell phone like one woman in the video who had taken a vacation for two weeks without any gadget with her. She was still alive. Mentally, I do not think there is something wrong with them. Actually, the people on the clip who said this were students at MIT, supposedly a school with the most brilliant students when it comes to technology. 2. The program brings up the fact that families can be at home, but all using different technologies simultaneously. How does this situation affect the health of the family unit? (you may need to return to this question multiple times, as this theme is revisited in the program) As the mom on the clip said, the family was at home but each in their own different world and it is a thought to ponder on. I believe it just depends really on how the family defines quality time. If this means doing activities together, then being on different technologies even while at the same time in one room is unhealthy for the family. If quality time means having everyone at home and enjoying quiet time together, although each is absorbed with a gadget, then this is healthy for the family. 3. Discuss the vast discrepancy between students’ belief that they multi-task well versus the reality generated from scientific brain research that they absolutely do not. Students think that the technology available to them today gives them the opportunity to do a lot of things, such as email, check videos, surf the net and chat all at the same time. For them, being able to do several things simultaneously is the definition of multi-tasking well. However, as the study by Clifford Nass has shown, a student focused on one task is able to do this better than when accomplishing the task at the same time as several others. 4. Our “best and brightest” students attending the most prestigious and challenging universities are multi-tasking to the extent that their professors are seeing poorer exam performance and overall learning of content than ever before due to distraction. What is the long-term impact of conditioning (training) students to multi-task rather than focus on a single idea or task? Conditioning the students to multi-task may turn them into people who will not perform an individual task well. Multi-taskers, as the study conducted showed, did poorly when they were switching from one task to another. 5. Pertaining to question 4, should we lower academic standards to account for distraction by technology? If we do, how do you think students will ultimately perform in professions that involve single-task focus? And how might this impact the progress of our country in the long run? I don’t think lowering academic standards is necessary. Students were already multi-tasking before the computer and Internet era. There are also still schools that do not allow computers in classes other than Computer class. If we do lower our standards and continue to let students do what they’re doing, then students will certainly have problems in single-task focus professions unless they are able to control themselves amidst the distractions. In the long run, society will still progress but not as fast. 6. Why is combating distraction increasingly complicated in the digital age? Combating distraction is hard because everything is just within your reach and there are other people involved. As correspondent ____ said, once you sign out of your email or log off on chat to focus on another thing, the person on the other end will ask you why. As professor turkle shares, getting to do some many things at once makes her feel powerful, like she is the master and was able to accomplish a lot. At the end of the day though, she feels like she hasn’t accomplished anything really significant or needing much thinking on her part. 7. Regarding physical, mental and emotional health, what are the potential effects of the constant pressure (stress) others put on us to respond to job-related or social emails, IMs or Facebook remarks? (think about consequences of stress on health – highlighted in chapter 2, 3, and 11 of our book) Physically, we needs to be typing and checking our gadgets and accounts constantly. So, we need to be always carrying them around or be within the area to get to them right away. Mentally, we will always be thinking of checking or replying. In the midst of doing something else, we will pause and wonder if someone had replied or what other people have posted. Emotionally, we make ourselves go on a roller-coaster ride. We excitedly reply, waiting or expecting for responses. While we’re waiting, we go from “where is it?” to “I wonder why there’s no reply” to “Maybe there’s something wrong.” Watch from minute 12:26 to minute 27:00, then answer the following questions. 8. There is a 23% higher risk of having a car accident if we are texting. Still, people do it. Discuss the implications of this on OTHER people’s health (not the driver). Texting while driving has always been an issue since the development of cellular phones. Most of the focus has been on the driver. However, in car accident there may be other people involved. For the passengers of the driver who are texting, they will be subjected to stress because they have to be more conscious of their safety. They would need to practice looking out for danger, which should be the driver’s responsibility. For other people, they may be helpless victims of the driver’s carelessness should the driver get into an accident with another car or hit a pedestrian. 9. The technology boom in Korea, something that was INTENDED to remedy an economic crisis has resulted in a major UNINTENDED public health crisis. Discuss the “technology addiction” that has been studied in Korea. What has happened to the mental health of these children and what consequences does this have on their childhood, future life (health) and their families. As exemplified by the South Korean teenager on the video, children have started to perform badly in school. They have also become withdrawn from the family. It is so bad that the government has opened Internet Rescue Camps for kids who are addicted to the Internet. 10. The program narrator describes how he once championed the internet as something we would use to improve ourselves. Now, he feels differently because of the massive unintended consequences that have resulted from internet advancements. This is an excellent lesson in why we must stop and think about possible unintended consequences that may result from something that we thought was all positive. If you have children (now or someday), what will you do as a prudent parent to protect your child’s health and prevent your child from becoming an “internet casualty”? I think Internet use will always be a part of life from now on. As a parent, the most I can do is teach my children that the Internet is a source of information and not entertainment. If they do discover Internet gaming, I need to train them that being on a computer game for how many hours is equivalent to how many hours of household chores & homework time. So, in effect, the more time they spend playing, the more time they need to help around the house and/or study. I will also try to involve them in other recreational activities that do not require Internet use. Basically, it will probably all boil down to what I can provide as other sources of entertainment for them that my children would be content to use the Internet only for research purposes. Watch from minute 27:01 to minute 41:42, then answer the following questions. 11. In reviewing the educational situation at Chatham High School, (despite the supposed test score improvements) do you think that students are actually learning more in school thanks to computer integration in the classrooms or are they simply more “entertained” during school time, resulting in better attendance, less violence, and better administrative control (which might explain the principal’s and teachers’ promotion of their idea)? I think the improvements are a result of both. As manifested by the students at MIT who are allowed to bring laptops to class, computer integration alone does not really result to better performance. Since students at Chatham are performing well, then there is something more than computer integration which is responsible for this. Like Principal ____ said, technology is the oxygen of the people now, then children need technology to survive. They may be more entertained by the availability of technology but they are also learning. 12. Think about the concept of “instant gratification education” and the impact of our conditioning (training) students to expect to have what they want whenever they want it. As a useful example, consider what happened this term when you found out that the answers to quizzes would no longer be made available to you instantly. Some students reacted inappropriately because they expected “instant gratification education” and felt they had a right to demand it. That said, how do you think “instant gratification education” is impacting social health? Instant gratification education can be a problem. If students are trained to get what they want when they want it, they may not react well when the time comes that the answers are not available right away. For example, if one wants to listen to music on the mp3 and the battery dies while the music is playing, the person might be distracted and frustrated until the music is available again. His communication with the people around him may be affected while he is in his distracted and frustrated stage. 13. Do you personally experience the “fragmented thinking” when writing essays or integrating information due to technological distractions? As an example, think back to your midterm preparation for this course. You were told you had to “integrate the concepts from chapters 1-6”. Did you not understand how to do it (until I gave an example)? Was integrating the concepts challenging for you? If so, then you may be struggling with fragmented thinking and it may be caused or worsened by technology. Suggest some ways a “fragmented thinker” may be able to adjust the use of technology to improve writing/study skills? Yes, I do. A fragmented thinker can improve writing skills by doing it old style. With a pen and paper, brainstorm and make an outline. Then, on the computer develop each paragraph. This way there is a flow in the essay. Online sources for vocabulary can be helpful so being on the computer can be a plus. As for studying, keeping only the sites needed for class would be a big help. Also, schools may put up firewalls that way only sites actually used for class will be available to the students. 14. Having learned the importance of challenging the brain as a means to preserve brain function and prevent dementia (chapter 2), comment on the fact that fewer and fewer young people are reading full novels and books. Could this eventually result in UNintended consequences? As Small has observed, the MRI of the brain showed much activity while on Google. In explaining this, he says that being on Google makes the brain work much. Challenging the brain does not only come from reading full novels and books. Computer games require analysis or the player loses or dies. Doing research online requires the right mix of words otherwise what you need may not come up on Google search. I believe the unintended consequence of people not reading full novels or books is that they would not be able to appreciate the writing itself. They would not be able to empathize with friends or acquaintances who have actually read an entire novel or book. Since books are good sources of information as well, another consequence would be a society with people who know less than their contemporaries. Also, attention span of book readers may be longer than those who don’t read books. Another unintended result may be that the students would no longer know as much vocabulary as they could if they would be reading full novels and books. This could affect their writing. Watch from minute 41:42 to minute 56:52, then answer the following questions. 15. Bubbe suggests that she thinks something is “missing” from the lives of people who reach out to her through the internet. Do you agree? Comment on the overall wellness of people responding to Bubbe this way. There is some truth in what Bubbe is saying. This can be similar to letters fashion magazines get from fans seeking advice or those that newspaper editors get from readers voicing their opinions about articles. The only difference for Bubbe is it is online. People who reach out to Bubbe may see a grandmother or mother figure in her. Bubbe’s viewers share their emotions and thoughts with Bubbe because they may want to feel loved, applauded and comforted by someone who reminds them of their mother, grandmother or sister. 16. Do you agree that the problem of alienation (a social health issue) that technology has created over the last few decades can be solved by more technology (like the virtual world of Second Life)? Explain. In a way, yes. People who reach out on the Internet may find it easier talking to people online. As the clip on cybergaming showed, players feel closer to the co-players than to the people actually around them. Because the virtual world helps people get rid of their inhibitions, they become more open to other people. They do not feel shy to reach out to others. Also, since the technology can bridge distances, people are discovering how to make friends with others who are in another country or state. 17. Many of IBM’s employees (among others) no longer drive to work because they use technology to work from home. However, we rely heavily on electricity to operate technology (and also waste electricity on appliances left in “stand-by” mode). On the whole, is technology making society more environmentally-conscious or less? Technology is helping the environment in a way, but not to be more environmentally-conscious. One of the IBM employees shared that the company is employing Second Life for meetings and work because it had saved them millions of dollars on plane fare alone. When people work from home, this is not to help the environment but to spend less. 18. Comment on whether you think “virtual worlds really bring us together or they just make being alone on the internet more bearable”. After you decide, consider whether virtual worlds are enhancing or diminishing wellness as a result. Virtual worlds can bring people together, as manifested by gamers who met each other online and became good friends and each other’s sources of support. I think nobody is really alone on the Internet because the Net gives everyone the chance to actually reach out to more people. The effect of virtual worlds on the wellness of a person would probably depend on how much the person lets the virtual world take control of him. For others who became withdrawn and make it the center of their lives, it diminishes wellness. For those who see it as a form of entertainment and can pull themselves away to go back to the real world, it enhances wellness. Watch from minute 56:53 to minute 1:26:10, then answer the following questions. 19. According to evidence from Stanford, the distinction between reality and virtual reality is blurred by the human brain. Research suggests people become more confident in themselves with something as simple as their avatar being taller and that this confidence persist in reality. Virtual reality may also ultimately prove to be capable of reducing anxiety associated with PTSD. Can you think of a situation in which UNintended negative consequences that could result from this failure of our brains to distinguish reality from virtual reality? State an example. I guess the best example would be that of their experiment with the little boy swimming with dolphins and the girl being tested with food. Virtual reality had put memories into the boy’s mind which were not real. As for the girl who was eating in the virtual world, she may end up not eating for real because the virtual food left her full. If this technology would be used with bad intentions, then bad people could convince someone that the person had committed a wrongdoing before, encouraging him to do it again or forcing him to admit to a mistake he didn’t actually do. 20. We have military operations in which predator drone pilots engage in war in other parts of the world through computers. At the same time, earlier in the program we learned that people are becoming worse at focusing on a single task. While drone operators are safe, what are the implications for ground troops and civilians? The Frontline correspondents had asked one pilot as much and he replied that he doesn’t make a mistake. Then, he is shown telling the camera that he prays every day that he doesn’t make a mistake. Since drones cannot really get close to their target, it does put ground troops and civilians at a disadvantage because they may feel the effect of the strikes. 21. What are the physical health implications of military personnel who do not need to train for physical combat? Considering that extensive scholarly literature suggests a direct association between lack of physical activity and chronic disease, what is the implication of technology as a whole on the future physical health of our society? Technology as a whole can actually make people physically unhealthy. It is a strain for the eyes, for the hands, for the wrists (carpel tunnel syndrome) and for the back (from sitting too long). It can also make people lose track of time and miss out on food or encourage them to snack and snack in front of the television or computer. 22. Considering how the brain blurs the lines between reality and virtual reality, do you believe that military recruiting using video games as “sampling tools” is appropriate? If you had a teen-ager who went to this gaming facility and decided as a result to enter the military, do you think your son or daughter would have been provided with sufficient evidence about the reality of war (and its casualties) to be making a rational decision for him/herself? Like the teenagers interviewed shared, they are old enough to distinguish games from real life. I think it is appropriate to use video games as sampling tool because it makes the player somehow aware of what happens in combat. Most of the games involve combat scenes where the player’s awareness of his surroundings is heightened and his senses are alert. I have played games like these myself and I still don’t want to sign up simply because of all the information about wars I get from school and media. I do not want to put myself and my family in that situation. If my child wanted to enter the military based on the video alone, I would sit down with my child and talk about the matter to understand what my child saw in the video to make that decision. This Frontline program has attempted to provide a perspective on how technology affects our lives. Your job now is to discuss in a balanced way the impact of our digital nation on (societal and secondarily personal) health. Because there are 6 dimensions of health, you will need to address these 6 questions in your essay: What is the Current and Future Impact of Technology on Physical Health? What is the Current and Future Impact of Technology on Mental Health? What is the Current and Future Impact of Technology on Social Health? What is the Current and Future Impact of Technology on Emotional Health? What is the Current and Future Impact of Technology on Environmental Health? What is the Current and Future Impact of Technology on Spiritual Health? The title of your essay is: “A Balanced Discussion Of How Technology Impacts Wellness” Below find a definition of each of the 6 dimensions of health (and also the term “wellness”) to help you.* Definitions Physical Health describes the condition of the human body as far as its internal processes and functions. It also encompasses a person’s ability to independently carry out activities of daily life. A physically healthy person is one free (or seemingly free) of chronic (or other) disease. Mental health is a term used to describe how we think and act as we cope with life. It also helps determine how we handle stress and make choices. Emotional Health is a term used to describe how we feel and how appropriately we express our emotions. Social Health refers to how well a person gets along with other people, how other people react to him/her, and how he/she interacts with social institutions and societal rules and expectations. Spiritual Health is a term used to describe the capacity to demonstrate love, hope, and a sense of caring for oneself and others. It also involves development of positive morals, ethics, and values and a sense of meaning or direction in life. Environmental Health addresses all the physical, chemical, and biological factors external to a person, and all the related factors impacting behaviors. It encompasses the assessment and control of those environmental factors that can potentially affect health. It is targeted towards preventing disease and creating health-supportive environments. Wellness: The achievement of the highest level of all of the 6 dimensions of health. To achieve wellness is an ongoing process, as all sorts of external and internal factors have the capacity to diminish it. To help organize this essay, before you begin writing, use different color highlighters that match the colors above to identify the responses from this worksheet that pertain to each of the dimensions of health, realizing that some responses will have implications on multiple areas of health. If you thoroughly completed the questions on this worksheet, this essay should not be difficult to assemble. Read More