Yes! To an extent. I think that the modern world has lead to a decline in critical thinking, yet has not destroyed our skills completely. After reading Stephen Johnsons’ book “Everything Bad Is Good For You”, I have rethought my initial beliefs concerning this issue. You can read any magazine or Psychology book today and be told the same thing, technology in to too much quantity is bad for you. Current research state that our children should have no more than an hour of video game play or television time a day.
However if you were to have read Johnsons book you would find that he explores the other side of that argument in great detail. As a matter of fact, video games actually help our children to develop different parts of their brains to problem solve the game dynamics. Also, television and current movies are more complex in their plot lines and require the viewer to use more thought in viewing the plot line. If you compare modern television to television fifty year ago you will see exactly what I’m talking about.
So in essence games and modern media are good for us in appropriate quantities. Which is the same for anything, food, beer, exercise, etc. It basically comes down to the individual and their discipline.
I do not think that there will ever be a time when we burn our books and say goodbye to our history. I do believe that they may be damaged in the next Civil War, or maybe even 2012, but that is a whole other discussion.
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