Technological revolution, especially the latest digital revolution in the second half of the 19 th century has led to what sociologists refer to as “Information Society”. Information society refers to a society whereby production, dissemination, and manipulation of information is the key pillar for cultural and economic activity. An information society differs from agrarian or industrial society, whereby computers and telecommunications are the tools of trade in information society rather than ploughs or lathes. Information society has both negative and negative impacts on human cognition. Information society, particularly poses the gravest risks to the human mind. This study explores the cognitive influence of technology on humans. Technology has both resourceful and debilitative influence on the human mind.
Sociologists posit a double-edged influence of technology on cognition. For instance, McLuhan (2016) praised technology for creating a “global village”, where people could communicate with people across the globe thereby broadening human knowledge. On his part, Bell (1991) emphasized the role of telecommunication technology in the regulation of social and economic exchanges as well as in the production and retrieval of knowledge, and the character and profession pursued by men.
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Scientists have also weighed in on the debate of information society influence on cognition. For instance, Gibson (2016) disparagingly defined cyberspace, a key element of information society, as a consensual hallucination faced by billions of the global population immersed in digital technology application including school children who are plagued by unthinkable complexity of abstract data on computers.
Psychologists paint a grim picture of technology influence on cognition. For instance, psychologists posit that substitution of human intelligence with artificial intelligence leads to loss of nonverbal communication, which are not programmable in computers. Psychologists such as Turkle (2011) further posit capability of online communication to create a different personality from the substitution of face-to-face communication with real people to communication with virtual persons on computer screens.
References
Bell, D. (1991). The winding passage: Sociological essays and journeys . New Brunswick, NJ, U.S.A.: Transaction.
Gibson, W. (2016). Neuromancer . London: Gollancz.
McLuhan, M. (2016). Understanding Media The Extensions of Man . Scotts Valley: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform.
Turkle, S. (2012). Alone together: Why we expect more from technology and less from each other . New York: Basic Books.
