LONDON: A leading professor of sociology says social lives are being "sacrificed" as people increasingly interact through devices rather than face-to-face in "the most dramatic shift in human communications patterns in history."
Vidar Halldorsson, a professor at the University of Iceland and De Montfort University in the UK, warns in a new book that increasing reliance on digital devices is reconfiguring human brains.
"The interaction ritual chains that once formed the rhythm of daily life, and provided people with security, stability and human connection, have been disrupted," says Halldorsson.
The transition could have profound long-term effects as people lose the ability to empathise and interpret body language, Halldorsson warns.
"Social media platforms, algorithmic feeds and digital interfaces increasingly mediate relationships, replacing human-to-human interaction with human-to-object engagement," the author says, citing research showing how when people interact via screens, the same neurological connections that are forged during face-to-face meetings are impossible.
"Neuroscience research shows that during natural conversation, neural activity in the right temporo-parietal junction, a region involved in social cognition, begins to mirror between individuals," publisher Taylor & Francis said in a statement launching Halldorsson’s book.
By contrast, a screen removes "facial micro-expressions" as well as body language and smell from interactions, in turn leaving people less able to read a room or pick up on non-verbal cues.
It all means that the impact of so-called "digital life" is turning out to be the opposite of the greater connectedness promised, Halldorsson says.
How Digital Screen Use Alienates Human Societies: A Treatise on Social Magic and Its Decadence was published on Oct 6. – dpa
