For millennia, healers have sought to ease their patients’ suffering by tapping into a vein and drawing blood. This practice originated on several continents based on different theories of how the disease worked. It was popular in the 19th centuryth century and failed completely until the mid-20th century as it did not work and a better understanding of disease processes captured the medical imagination. Society finally made the necessary course correction.
There’s another course correction I think we should do, and Pronto
When I was admitted to Radcliffe College (then Harvard Women’s Department), I was asked to submit a photo and biographical details for inclusion in a brochure, which I later found out was circulated among freshmen (and perhaps upperclassmen). , for all I know) as a dating resource.
A few words about numbers. about 1200 boys were boys, against 300 girls. It meant that since it was harder to get into Radcliffe, we girls must be smarter than the boys, or so the boys thought. It made them feel the need to mock us. they called the photo book “Pig Book”. We were hurt when we weren’t asked out, but we kept our heads down and studied harder.
Mark Zuckerberg appeared exactly 40 years after I attended Harvard. What he managed to do with the successor to The Pig Book is the stuff of business legend. But note that some of the logic of the adolescent male prefix remains. You borrow people’s likenesses and data and broadcast them wherever you want, regardless of the offense you cause them or the ridicule you may encourage in the wider community.
Practice continues
I feel sad every time I hear about another teenage girl who hates herself because she doesn’t fit the ideals that her peers and culture heroes constantly post online. Some girls realize that so-called influencers, who are easily spotted, are trying to sell them on an idea or a product. However, they remain vulnerable. The impact becomes truly devastating when a rabid mob gathers or an angry person makes a sickening threat.
Harry Lewis, professor emeritus of computer science at Harvard, explains that cell phones make it easier to be evil or violent. He writes: “Shattering glass protects us from our reporter’s feelings. (…) Children are particularly vulnerable to the inhuman temptation to interact with others while being isolated from their reactions.”*
As for the spread of artificial intelligence, Lewis warns that with ubiquitous, invisible, highly intelligent agents, we need to make sure that we and our successors remember what makes us human. He wants the people developing and consuming AI to look at things through the lens of the humanities. I believe our first responsibility is to protect our children from the inhumanity they are currently suffering.
Radical thought
What if we stopped using social media altogether? Tech moguls will stop making money they don’t need and have less influence. Many private individuals who sell items or experiences online will migrate to other web-based seller platforms. Politicians will be able to avoid confrontation with China over TikTok.
Advertising can return to newspapers and save them from extinction. Bigots will stop threatening poll workers and county recorders who are just doing their jobs. Most importantly, our children will have to interact with each other in real life. They will learn to be considerate, and perhaps even compassionate.
In real life
My friend Marilyn participates in a book club where there has been tension over politics in recent years. At the last meeting, one of the women who kept teasing Marilyn said that her husband got sick while she was out of town. He ran back as fast as he could, but she died before he could reach her.
Merlin comforted him in sympathy. He just “had to” because he’s a normal, decent person. Children will be “forced” to respond humanely to others when their real lives intersect. The vast majority of people have the capacity for empathy. Only 2% to 6% of American adults are sociopaths, the vast majority of whom are men..
It is not a new phenomenon
In ancient Greece, the playwright Aristophanes wrote a comedy that was performed in B.C. 411, where Lysistrata, an Athenian woman, is sick and tired of the endless war between Athens and Sparta. He decides to organize the women to give up sex until the men stop fighting. The women succeed and the choirs sing at the end of the play. In fact, the Peloponnesian War continued until Sparta, with the help of Persia, became dominant. But Aristophanes was on to something.
What if all mothers deleted social media accounts from their children’s phones and computers? A heavy burden would be lifted from their shoulders. True, it will be more difficult for everyone to find missing relatives or find sick people. But advanced AI search will soon enable people to connect with whomever they’re looking for. Without social media, it would be more difficult to radicalize terrorists and generate resentment. I’ll gladly trade Facebook for peace of mind.
What is possible?
I am not alone in calling for changes. The US Surgeon General has issued an official warning that teenagers’ near-ubiquitous use of social media is putting their mental health at risk. The Surgeon General’s Advisory recommends that children, parents, technology companies and policymakers manage their behavior to maximize benefits and minimize harm.
How likely is it that all these parties will voluntarily follow the Surgeon General’s instructions? Society will have to attack the problem from many different fronts, just as we attacked smoking.
It took centuries for society to reject the practice of bleeding sick people. I hope we will come to our senses much faster in the information age.
* Harvard Magazine July-August 2024 p. 40:00
Also read, Social media – boon or bane for the 60-plus community?
Share your thoughts.
What role do you think social media plays in your grandchildren’s lives? Do you think young adults are more prone to the negative aspects of social media than older adults? How can we enjoy the best of the internet without becoming addicted to it?
