Level 1: Background and overview
Problem: Digital Dementia
Digital dementia is a term which explains our over-reliance on digital devices such as smartphones and other technological devices. This reliance on technology can lead to deterioration of cognitive skills and issues with memory
Caused by: Over-reliance on technology and digital devices
Driven by: Endless pursuit of efficiency
Concern: Mental decline of humanity, social disintegration, dehumanisation
Statement problems:
- Is over-reliance on technology causing digital dementia?
- Are we compromising our cognitive abilities when we outsource tasks to digital devices? Does it cause lack of brain training and poor memory retention?
- If humans are becoming dumb by over-relying on technology and technology is advancing, will the capability be too wide for humans to stay in charge one day?
- If technology does all the work, how are we going to catch up with our degenerated cognitive skills we haven’t been training or using all this time?
- What inoculates humans from being replaced by computers and robots?
Level 2: Past to Present:
Level 2: Present to Future - Relating topics:
1. Cognitive Decline
To provide evidence symptoms of cognitive decline and concentration disabilities resulting from digital dementia
What to do: Memory games to compare and assess + research into scientific studies Target audience: Generation X, Y & Z
Key questions:
- How does the internet affect people?
- How do people judge their concentration and memory abilities?
- How have peoples’ cognitive abilities evolved in today’s technology-intensive world?
- What is their attitude and behaviour towards digital devices
2. Urgency of achievement
- What is achievement to people?
- What are the things people are willing to spend time and effort on even if the process is painful/difficult/time-consuming?
3. Future of humanity
- Is human intelligence in decline?
- What differentiates humans from robots?
- What makes a person self-sufficient aside the help from technology?
4. Social conformity
- What do people conform to?
- Why do people chase trends (Modernity)?
- What happens if people don’t?
5. Internet and technology restriction
- Countries: North Korea and China
- Are people in these countries happier?
6. Work-life Balance, Pursuit of happiness for self / others
- What is happiness to people?
- What is important to people in life?
7. Healthy society
- Good well-being
- Genuine relationships
- Social harmony and support
- Respect, trust, tolerance and compassion between communities
- Good balance and distribution of power
- Evolution of human intelligence
The key topics to conduct research to acquire patterns and data:
1. Cognitive Decline
6. Work-life Balance, Pursuit of happiness for self / others
7. Healthy society
Level 3: Framing Research & Level 4: Design Briefs
Glossary, Maps, Patterns, Visuals to collect qualitative and quantitative data
- To provide evidence for cognitive decline.
- To understand concerns and priorities
1. Pilot studies:
i. Pre-screening test (72 hours )
- Broad study: Online questionnaire for Gen X, Y, Z to gauge degree of internet addiction and reliance on devices before dividing them into 2 focus groups
ii. 2 small study groups for people who are aware of the research (1 week)
2 groups: Digital Savvy and Non Digital Savvy
- To acquire patterns of digital usage and reliance through tests and discussion
Objectives:
- Understand habits and behaviours
- How users determine value of time spent on devices and outsourcing of tasks
- Users awareness of their memory performance
- Discussion of concerns, priorities, opportunities to form guidelines for people to benefit from technology while alleviating risk of digital dementia
iii. 3. Probe kit (5 days)
- To reveal underlying concerns, desires and preferences of technology and digital usage
3 groups of people
1st group: People who are not aware of my research topic
2nd group: Digital Savvy people from 2nd small study group - to reiterate extent of reliance and usage context (what do they use mobile devices for, etc) and share behaviours previously not disclosed.
3rd group: Non Digital Savvy people from 2nd small study group - to know how they ‘survive’ without so much of mobile devices, what motivates them when they are bored and not retreating back to their mobile screens
2. Observational studies (1 week)
- To observe and identify patterns
Methods: Photography and note-taking
Frequency and usage of digital devices in different social settings and contexts.
- Meal times
- Shopping centres
- Parks
- Classrooms
- Homes
Concept Flow
Readings:
Books and articles that helped to inform my research and problem framing.
1. Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. Simon & Schuster, 2013.
Farenheit 451 depicts a dystopian future where books are prohibited and the population is placated with shallow entertainment. People stopped reading because they became lazy. Books made people feel stupid and the majority agreed that a non-reading society creates equality in intelligence. The government went along as this society is easier to control and banning books is a mean to keep society illiterate. This society is desensitized to genuine emotions, focuses their energies to satisfy their hollow lives with entertainment. The story follows a man who meets a girl who is non-conforming, introspective and enjoys conversations. He is influenced by her to examine his life. He embarks on a journey of self-discovery and goes to extreme lengths to experience meaning in life. This book is relevant to today’s technological era where we are surrounded by digital screens that we depend on for entertainment and information. Due to rapid use of technology, we are becoming similar to the book’s society, losing our self-reflection and deep thinking. It is frightening to imagine that we may find ourselves immersed in the midst of such a world, as we see digital devices more and more of a companionship and becoming digital zombies in the future. This book was recommended by Andrew, and I thought it was very relevant as I was looking to create a dystopian film in the beginning.
2. Carr, Nicholas G. The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains. W.W. Norton, 2011.
Carr presents the evolution of communication shifts. He states that the internet is rewiring the brain and how it changes the way people process information. He believes that we are sacrificing our ability to read and think deeply. He presents his arguments through an informative history of brain science. He explains how the Internet is encouraging fast thinking and we have become more skilful at scanning information but we are also losing capacity for concentration and introspection. He doesn’t dismiss the usefulness of the Internet but insists that the negative side effects outweigh its efficiencies. He argues that by trading away our sustained attention for the Internet, we are sabotaging ourselves. I understand more about how web has altered the way our minds work, the internet has encouraged unlimited clicking and speedy flicking and now our brains have gotten so comfortable. Like Carr, I started this research topic with an uncomfortable sense that my memory is failing me and something may be causing it. He believes that the deterioration of our cognitive abilities has nothing to do with the Internet, but because we constantly crave the short-term pleasure of new information and we are unable to resist these temptations. Internet, technology and design innovations are not the culprits, but it’s our over-reliance on modern technology that is causing digital dementia.
3. Jackson, Maggie. Distracted: the Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age. Prometheus Books, 2009.
Jackson’s book presents a collection of evidence for our distracted lives and she shares sociological analysis of attention span and cultural habits of people. She explains that we are losing ability to focus, which indicates an impending attention decline of a civilization amidst technological advancement. She shares that being overly involved in the digital world has caused erosion of our capacity for deep sustained attention and sense of space, which leads to suffering of relationships and learning. This book has been useful as she discusses relevant topics such as split-focus living, why attention is important to memory and how our reading culture has turned from depth to breadth. She believes that deep attention is an important ingredient for wisdom, intimacy and cultural progress. Despite her not being able to give concrete solutions of the arguments in the end, she provides an in-depth view of the effects technology has on society - detachment, fragmentation and inability to think deeply.
4. Kahneman, Daniel. Thinking, Fast and Slow. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011.
Kahneman provides a thorough explanation of the two different thought processing systems. He explains that System 1 is fast and automatic while System 2 is slow and logical, it requires more mental effort for attention and deeper evaluations thus we tend to be lazy and rely on System 1. He presents experiments that highlight the differences between both systems. He shares how people may make fast judgements that may be wrong due to heuristics and biases. He offers insights into how choices are made, how our intuitions can or cannot be trusted and how we can benefit from slow thinking. Key terms include attention, laziness, WYSIATI and assumptions. I have a better understanding on how people arrive at decisions and a new perspective on their behaviours and judgments. I understand that people may make errors in judgement when they rely too much on System 1. Over-reliance on digital devices may have encouraged System 1 fast thinking and cause System 2 to deteriorate. Due to easy access, instant answers and constant distractions, we may evoke less System 2 thinking into situations. I believe to help curb digital dementia, we need to apply System 2 more habitually and make conscious efforts to arrive at more critical perspectives. Reading recommended by Harah. I enjoyed reading this so much that Jason got me the book as a gift.
5. Lim, Sun Sun, and Cheryll Ruth R. Soriano. Asian Perspectives on Digital Culture: Emerging Phenomena, Enduring Concepts. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2018.
In this book, the authors discuss the emergence of digital Asia. They include Asian concepts such as guanxi, mianzi, qing and dharma to share everyday experiences of communication and technology engagement in the regions. They explain that in order to understand the digital self, we must first understand the concept of face. It is the foundation for concepts such as pride, dignity, fear of losing out, and more, which reveals why Asians are obsessed with digital communication platforms and investing in technological opportunities. Many Asian governments recognise the importance of technological development and are developing digital ecosystems to power their regions. The Asian region has been a significant driver of global economic growth and the increasingly well-educated Asians are harnessing the benefits of technological advancements. Their dynamic conversation on how identity, individuality and social networking are shaped and influenced by digital is relevant to my research. I have a clearer understanding on the social implications of technology dependency, why Asians are actively exploring ways to embrace digital change and how it has led to an insatiable digital appetite. Reading recommended by Harah.
6. Sparrow, Betsy, et al. “Google Effects on Memory: Cognitive Consequences of Having Information at Our Fingertips.” Science, vol. 333, no. 6043, 2011, pp. 776–778. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/27978404.
The researchers conducted experiments to show evidence that the Internet has become part of our transactive memory source – we don't have to remember things ourselves, we just need to remember who / what knows it, e.g., GPS devices eliminate the need to memorise directions. Internet changes the way our memories are functioning. The findings show heavy reliance on easy access and the writers question if the dependence on digital tools have negative effects on logical thinking and memory. The results reveal that people would not make an effort to remember information when they know they have access and can rely on ‘search’ as a readily available shortcut. The writers worry that as we become symbiotic with our digital devices, the experience of losing internet connection becomes like losing a friend and we must remain connected to it so we can feel complete. It is interesting to learn that the internet has changed the way we remember things – instead of ‘what’, we prioritise ‘where’. We may not remember certain details but we know where they are located and how to access them. I can look at shifting responsive behaviours instead of ‘forcing’ people to unplug from digital devices since they have become part of our lives.
7. Yelavich, Susan, and Barbara Adams. Design as Future-Making. Bloomsbury Academic, 2017.
This book brings together a collection of essays that address the different ways on how design is shaping the future. The contributors see design not only as an approach for futurity with innovation and newness, but also as a mediating practice to help people and community in understanding on how to participate, getting involved to contribute within issues of politics, environment, education, scale and access across different social agendas and positions. The book shares a few important concepts such as design intervention, agents of change, hacking, upending systems, creative destruction and elimination design. The unifying theme between them is the exploration of the capacity of people to materially change the world with an attunement to futurity. Designers see the opportunity to set new agendas, rather than being bound by past practices and definitions. The chapter of ‘up-ending systems’ shares how design can create new habits and the norms of convenience in this technological era have caused expectations to get transferred to other domains – my washing machine is a one-button-press system, shouldn’t my car have one too? After understanding the choices made by the designers in this book, I now understand that to tame a complex problem, the solution may be changing the nature of the problem itself. Reading recommended by Harah.
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