Members of the COD faculty met on Thursday, Sept. 21, to discuss how the constantly evolving technology of the twenty-first century is changing the way people now communicate, specifically on the way interactions with technology changes the makeup of our brains. The discussion, titled “Communication: Our Rewired Minds” featured professors Eva Maria Räpple (philosophy), Alexander Bolyanatz (anthropology), Carolyn England (computer information), Brandon Wood (speech) and Jason Ertz (library, asst. professor), and was moderated by Prof. Jennifer Kelley.

The discussion was part of the year-long Thematic Focus “Technology and Society”, the goal of which is to “[engage] students to develop interdisciplinary fluency in preparation for a future which will likely require them to tackle complex problems through diverse sets of methods and concepts.”

At the discussion, such questions were raised as: What influence does technology have on the way our brains change and develop? Why do we have parts of our brains which allow us to read and write when literacy has only been around for a few thousand years? Do new technologies affect our focus, and will we lose our in-brain memory?

“Students should attend the discussion because it gives [them] a broader look at things they do every day,” said Kelley. “We learn to analyze the way we interact with technology—we think about it as a tool, but that’s not always what it is.”

Räpple discussed how language is a unique technology providing an extension of thought. “Technologies permit humans to extend abilities into possibilities, but also failures,” her slide read.

Asst. Prof. Ertz examined the way in which online interactions affect people’s ability to deep read. He shared that distractions or divided attention found abundantly online are real issues—time spent online weakens neural networks, and the increased cognitive load makes it difficult to comprehend and retain texts.

“This is an opening of opportunity,” said Kelley. “We hope that instructors pick up on the topics discussed and integrate them into their classes, so at the end of the year, students can look back and realize how [these themes were] interconnected.”

Technology affects the way in which people interact, both within and across generations, and it always will. The Thematic Focus theme will continue with the next faculty discussion “On the Nature of Time” on Nov. 2, at 1 p.m. in SSC 2201, with presenters Tom Carter (physics) and Tom Fate (English).