Will the Internet destroy mindfulness? This question has been going through my mind ever since I read and Nicholas Carr’s book, What the Internet is Doing to our Brains. This interesting book explores the ways in which the technology we use to gather information and communicate can actually rewire our brains. We may think that we are in control of such technology and are simply using it much like we use a car to get from one place to the next. In fact, however, even driving a car regularly creates permanent changes in our neural circuitry. Almost any repetitive activity, when practiced over time, can cause important changes in the patterns in which our neurons communicate to each other and can even result in structural changes to our brains. Imagine the effects on our brains of all of the clicking, swiping, quick skimming, checking email, texting, blogging, tweeting, and so on, that we do literally hundreds of times per day. What kinds of changes are we talking about? Well, in his book, Carr has suggested that our brains are gradually becoming rewired so that we become more and more capable of quickly flitting from task to task in an ADHD type of manner, quickly digesting but not really thinking about small amounts of information, and responding to distractions, such as texts, emails, visual images, and so on. In turn, we become less capable of deep thinking, abstract reasoning, and sustained focus and concentration. We become less able to persist in the completion of difficult tasks without escaping or distracting ourselves. We also become less capable of stepping back and quietly experiencing with the present moment has to offer. In other words, we become less capable of mindfulness and more capable of mindlessness.
I believe that children and teens, with their developing brains, are likely the most vulnerable of all of us. I don’t have any scientific data on this, but I would guess with a lot of certainty that many younger people do not read books, rarely sit quietly, and spend relatively small amounts of time engaging in prolonged, meaningful conversations. I’d be curious to know how long, on average, the teenagers of today go without texting, checking email, using social networking sites, or even picking up their electronic devices. What will people growing up in this ultra-connected electronic age be like 15 or 20 years from now? Is the technology that we have created to make our lives easier also creating completely different kinds of human beings?
Well, for now, back to mindfulness. We are all vulnerable to the threat of learning to be mindless. I believe that one way that we might be able to protect ourselves and our brains from mindlessness is to have a regular, sustained mindfulness practice. If we are spending a lot of time developing our mindless brains, why shouldn’t we also spent a fair amount of time developing our mindful brains? If you are someone who is wired in most of the time, consider taking 20 minutes each day, shutting down or getting away from your devices, and sitting quietly, simply concentrating on your experience of the here and now. See what happens. I better stop here, I think I just got a text from my wife. Alexander L. Chapman, Ph.D., R.Psych.