(all in-text links go to the supporting articles used)
P.J Manney explored empathy creation since 2008, when she published a paper entitled "Empathy in the Time of Technology: How Storytelling is the Key to Empathy" in the Journal of Evolution and Technology.
VR
Virtual reality is a technology uniquely primed to be the ultimate form of immersive empathy. There is no frame or wall to contain or edit an image. You are wherever your eyes look, experiencing what the in-game character could be experiencing.
Travis Bradberry and Jean Greaves define Emotional Intelligence (EI) as the “ability to recognize and understand emotions in yourself and others, and your ability to use this awareness to manage your behavior and relationships.” How has technology impacted E.I, especially among youths?
Daniel Goleman, says that the expanding hours spent alone with gadgets and digital tools could lower EI due to shrinkages in the time young people spend in face-to-face interactions.
P.J Manney explored empathy creation since 2008, when she published a paper entitled "Empathy in the Time of Technology: How Storytelling is the Key to Empathy" in the Journal of Evolution and Technology.
- Empathy works on a neurological system that scientists are still trying to understand, involving a "theory of mind network" that includes emulation and learning. But at the centre of empathy creation is communication.
We learn to be in the shoes of another person through real-life observation or storytelling. Communications technologies have evolved — from the beginning of language, to writing, to tele-communications, to information technologies, and soon to telepathic technologies with brain-computer interfaces. Regardless of the medium, repeated stories of the "other" have motivated the expansion of social inclusion and the liberalisation of civilisation for millennia.
In the 21st century, we use technology to communicate at a level unprecedented in human history. So, with so many opportunities to connect, why do we still not understand one another, and face such conflict?
Our brains' empathy systems have their share of problems. Most humans are generally good at empathising with individuals. But we're not so good at trying to do the same for an entire nation or ethnic group. As Emile Bruneau, a neuroscientist at MIT, has demonstrated, people especially fail if the larger group embodies an ideology or cultural trait they disagree with. In fact, you might empathise well with your friends, but if you have particularly strong associations with your "in group," you will have decreased empathy for those you feel are not in your group.
Media
But for all that information and exposure to new ideas, there are many examples of communication technologies that can destroy empathy.
We learn to be in the shoes of another person through real-life observation or storytelling. Communications technologies have evolved — from the beginning of language, to writing, to tele-communications, to information technologies, and soon to telepathic technologies with brain-computer interfaces. Regardless of the medium, repeated stories of the "other" have motivated the expansion of social inclusion and the liberalisation of civilisation for millennia.
In the 21st century, we use technology to communicate at a level unprecedented in human history. So, with so many opportunities to connect, why do we still not understand one another, and face such conflict?
Our brains' empathy systems have their share of problems. Most humans are generally good at empathising with individuals. But we're not so good at trying to do the same for an entire nation or ethnic group. As Emile Bruneau, a neuroscientist at MIT, has demonstrated, people especially fail if the larger group embodies an ideology or cultural trait they disagree with. In fact, you might empathise well with your friends, but if you have particularly strong associations with your "in group," you will have decreased empathy for those you feel are not in your group.
Media
But for all that information and exposure to new ideas, there are many examples of communication technologies that can destroy empathy.
TV Broadcast, print, website and social media, where conservatives or liberals only listen, read and watch their own thoughts repeated in recursive echo chambers of increasingly radical and exclusionary thought. [I Feel Your Pain, Unless You're From a Different Race ]
These media outlets not only destroy empathy, but actually move the needle of a group's acceptable actions to extremes. As soon as you demonise an "out group" — whether in racist, sexist or political rants — you have destroyed empathy.
There is also too much information for us to take in. Our brains can't handle the barrage of emotionally draining stories told to us, and this leads to a negation or suppression of emotion that destroys empathy. The natural response is to shut down our compassion , because we are emotionally exhausted.
These media outlets not only destroy empathy, but actually move the needle of a group's acceptable actions to extremes. As soon as you demonise an "out group" — whether in racist, sexist or political rants — you have destroyed empathy.
There is also too much information for us to take in. Our brains can't handle the barrage of emotionally draining stories told to us, and this leads to a negation or suppression of emotion that destroys empathy. The natural response is to shut down our compassion , because we are emotionally exhausted.
Keith Payne and Daryl Cameron, psychologists at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, conducted research that demonstrates how choosing whether to experience or suppress a strong and empathetic emotion can alter our empathetic feelings. However, if we are conscious of the diminishment of empathy, we can recover it.
The Army
And finally, militaries use video game technology to suppress empathy and create a new type of soldier. In his exhaustive study "War Play" (Eamon Dolan/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013), Corey Mead of City University of New York, demonstrates how the U.S. military has created a military-entertainment complex to recruit soldiers.
The Army
And finally, militaries use video game technology to suppress empathy and create a new type of soldier. In his exhaustive study "War Play" (Eamon Dolan/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013), Corey Mead of City University of New York, demonstrates how the U.S. military has created a military-entertainment complex to recruit soldiers.
However, gamers are recruited through video game sites to join air forces around the world. And as noted in the journal Military Medicine by Air Force psychologist Wayne Chappelle, et al., with this new military job description comes a new psychological issue that was not anticipated: Drone operators are suffering from their own forms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
The stress of going between killing remote, faceless targets and incurring collateral damage, and then going home that afternoon to mundane activities such as coaching a child's football game is perhaps the most exhausting empathy swing of all.
Positive Points linked with Social Media
But fortunately, there are as many (if not more) examples of communication technologies that can create empathy. From as far back as the first storytellers, humans have used the pain and suffering of "the other" to highlight the changes necessary to improve their own lives and communities.
Today, we can see that in the incredible emotional outpouring of support on social media around the tragic murders in Charleston, the quick change in opinion in the Western world regarding same-sex marriage and the growing support for equal rights for women and girls in their communities around the world.
Empathy is created when we discover the things we share. Verona, by Matthew Nolan, is a dating app that pairs Israelis with Palestinians. Using a cellphone, it asks questions like, "What are you most passionate about?" and finds the similarities in people who, based on religious and political issues, should otherwise have little in common. By emphasising our common traits, empathy can lead to romance.
Positive Points linked with Social Media
But fortunately, there are as many (if not more) examples of communication technologies that can create empathy. From as far back as the first storytellers, humans have used the pain and suffering of "the other" to highlight the changes necessary to improve their own lives and communities.
Today, we can see that in the incredible emotional outpouring of support on social media around the tragic murders in Charleston, the quick change in opinion in the Western world regarding same-sex marriage and the growing support for equal rights for women and girls in their communities around the world.
Empathy is created when we discover the things we share. Verona, by Matthew Nolan, is a dating app that pairs Israelis with Palestinians. Using a cellphone, it asks questions like, "What are you most passionate about?" and finds the similarities in people who, based on religious and political issues, should otherwise have little in common. By emphasising our common traits, empathy can lead to romance.
Virtual reality is a technology uniquely primed to be the ultimate form of immersive empathy. There is no frame or wall to contain or edit an image. You are wherever your eyes look, experiencing what the in-game character could be experiencing.
As Chris Milk of VR production company VRSE.works said in his TED talk, "How Virtual Reality Can Create the Ultimate Empathy Machine"
"[Virtual reality is] not a video game peripheral. It connects humans to other humans in a profound way that I've never seen before in any other form of media. And it can change people's perception of each other. And that's how I think virtual reality has the potential to actually change the world." I hope he’s right about VR changing the world!
Daniel Goleman, says that the expanding hours spent alone with gadgets and digital tools could lower EI due to shrinkages in the time young people spend in face-to-face interactions.
Technologies divert our attention away from a realistic present, there exists the danger of disconnect that decreases EI. But can the effect be quantified?
EI is measured by the dimensions of self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy and social skills. How does technology impact each of these dimensions?
If self-awareness is defined as the capacity for introspection and the ability to recognise oneself as an individual separate from the environment and other individuals, the digital age does indeed have a size-able impact on self-awareness.
If self-awareness is defined as the capacity for introspection and the ability to recognise oneself as an individual separate from the environment and other individuals, the digital age does indeed have a size-able impact on self-awareness.
Nora Young from CBC Spark believes that digitisation and the proliferation of data is creating a new kind of self-awareness among the digital natives. The action of posting a thought on to Twitter, Facebook or some other of the myriad social networks available, could, depending on its reception by peers, cause an ego boost (bordering narcissism) or slump, more likely the latter. In a survey of 298 users of social media, 50 percent said social media made their lives and their self-esteem worse.
On one hand, many youngsters are ignorant of the privacy intrusions in their digital presence and of permanence of digital data, making them rash in posting stuff that might backfire at a later date, either on a personal level or on their employability. On the other hand, the flexibility of new digital tools undoubtedly provides students with a platform for creativity which could have a large positive impact on self awareness.
Self-regulation, the ability to stay focused and alert, is probably the one dimension of EI that is affected most by technology. Technology-induced distractions are a common complaint among parents and teachers.
On one hand, many youngsters are ignorant of the privacy intrusions in their digital presence and of permanence of digital data, making them rash in posting stuff that might backfire at a later date, either on a personal level or on their employability. On the other hand, the flexibility of new digital tools undoubtedly provides students with a platform for creativity which could have a large positive impact on self awareness.
Self-regulation, the ability to stay focused and alert, is probably the one dimension of EI that is affected most by technology. Technology-induced distractions are a common complaint among parents and teachers.
Ability to focus is very closely related to the emotional health of the individual, as was shown in a longitudinal study conducted with over 1,000 children in New Zealand.
As Goleman aptly says, “What we need to do is be sure that the current generation of children has the attentional capacities that other generations had naturally before the distractions of digital devices. It’s about using the devices smartly but having the capacity to concentrate as you need to, when you want to.”
The role of technology in motivation is one area that has elicited much controversy. Many teachers bemoan the decrease in the motivation in the classroom due to the effect of fast-paced video games and instant information at their fingertips.
The role of technology in motivation is one area that has elicited much controversy. Many teachers bemoan the decrease in the motivation in the classroom due to the effect of fast-paced video games and instant information at their fingertips.
However, there are others who believe that the digital revolution can indeed motivate students.
Many teachers have also found noticeable increase in the level of engagement students exhibited with their projects when they were encouraged to use digital media. The appeal of digital media lies in the idea of sharing their work with a wide variety of people from all over the world through the Internet.
Empathy is another area of EI that could be affected by technology. Empathy is a trait normally thought of as requiring human touch, face-to-face interactions and communication through verbal as well as non-verbal cues. E-communication tools such as chat, messaging and social networking websites, while offering the possibility of breaking free of geographic confines, pose a challenge to developing empathetic relationships with another human being. Jennifer Aaker, a professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a co-author of “The Dragonfly Effect,” analysed 72 studies performed on nearly 14,000 college students between 1979 and 2009 and show a sharp decline in the empathy trait over the last 10 years.
The major culprit in the fall of empathy is the desensitization to shocking images and events that are perpetrated by all forms of media, Internet included. The gruesome videos online, not only feed grim curiosity but also remove the element of horror. Sara H. Konrath of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor found that the self-reported empathy of college students has declined since 1980, with a steep drop in the past decade. This, understandably, coincided with the rise of students’ self-reported narcissism reported by Jean M. Twenge, a psychologist at San Diego State University. Konrath believes that the increase in social isolation, has led to the drop in empathy.
The digital natives socialise in a way that is vastly different from their parents — over 10,000 hours playing video games, over 200,000 emails and instant messages sent and received; over 10,000 hours talking on digital cell phones — all before they leave for college. Yet, they are apparently less “connected” than their digital immigrant parents. MIT Professor Sherry Turkle states that social media, and technology are actually causing us to disconnect. A similar refrain is played by Stephen March as “we are more connected, yet we feel less connected” in, as Goleman calls it, “a kind of cauterised life.”
Thus it seems that technology does not bode particularly well for Emotional Intelligence. That however, does not demonize technology. As an intelligent species, we have made technology cater to our “intelligence”; as emotional beings, how difficult could it be to make it serve our emotional quotient as well?
Empathy is another area of EI that could be affected by technology. Empathy is a trait normally thought of as requiring human touch, face-to-face interactions and communication through verbal as well as non-verbal cues. E-communication tools such as chat, messaging and social networking websites, while offering the possibility of breaking free of geographic confines, pose a challenge to developing empathetic relationships with another human being. Jennifer Aaker, a professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a co-author of “The Dragonfly Effect,” analysed 72 studies performed on nearly 14,000 college students between 1979 and 2009 and show a sharp decline in the empathy trait over the last 10 years.
The major culprit in the fall of empathy is the desensitization to shocking images and events that are perpetrated by all forms of media, Internet included. The gruesome videos online, not only feed grim curiosity but also remove the element of horror. Sara H. Konrath of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor found that the self-reported empathy of college students has declined since 1980, with a steep drop in the past decade. This, understandably, coincided with the rise of students’ self-reported narcissism reported by Jean M. Twenge, a psychologist at San Diego State University. Konrath believes that the increase in social isolation, has led to the drop in empathy.
The digital natives socialise in a way that is vastly different from their parents — over 10,000 hours playing video games, over 200,000 emails and instant messages sent and received; over 10,000 hours talking on digital cell phones — all before they leave for college. Yet, they are apparently less “connected” than their digital immigrant parents. MIT Professor Sherry Turkle states that social media, and technology are actually causing us to disconnect. A similar refrain is played by Stephen March as “we are more connected, yet we feel less connected” in, as Goleman calls it, “a kind of cauterised life.”
Thus it seems that technology does not bode particularly well for Emotional Intelligence. That however, does not demonize technology. As an intelligent species, we have made technology cater to our “intelligence”; as emotional beings, how difficult could it be to make it serve our emotional quotient as well?
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