In our Digital Media Literacy class, we have often discussed the social ramifications of technology use. We have talked about social-shaping versus technological determinism, and have so often settled on a point somewhere between the two. We discuss these concepts in terms of primarily social impacts – how technology affects our lives and relationships. But there is another part of technology that we have not discussed, perhaps because there is too little research or because it is too complex for an entry-level freshman seminar: the physiological effects of technology. To talk about how technology fundamentally changes us is quite deterministic, but if there is an impact inherent to technology, then how else can we view it?

If you are interested in this sort of thing (all two of you who are reading this), then I advise you head over to the New York Times section about it. There are concerns ranging from flashing lights affecting sleep, to use of technology limiting attention span (although this claim has often refuted), to affects on children of computer use by parents, and many more. I would even go so far as to stress concern about our constant exposure to plastics that are almost entirely unregulated and possibly carcinogenic, as well as the potentially mutagenic effects of radiation. I worry about these things for the same reason that we don’t study them: we just don’t have enough information. Try finding a good study about the effects of light on REM sleep, or about the possibilities for plastics to contain harmful chemicals (I find it hard to imagine that BPA is a fluke).

Obviously until we know more there can be no such thing as informational literacy about the physiological effects of computers. We do know of links between computer use and conditions like carpal tunnel, but repetitive motion injuries are much easier to document than brain and cellular impacts. For now, we need more research on what actually happens to the brain and to the body in response to digital stimuli. There is much to be learned in this regard. For the moment literacy about the physiological impacts of digital media means knowing that there is the potential for risk. A kind of play-it-safe, guilty until proven innocent approach would definitely slow down the infiltration of useful technology into our lives, but it also has the potential to avoid problems down the road.

-epn