The New Social Disease: From High Tech Depersonalization to Survival of the Soul [Paperback]

Highly technological machines are invading our lives and separating us from personal relationships. The balance between the use of technology for human advantage and developing valued human relationships has yet to equal, and we continue to subject ourselves to a rapidly growing sense of depersonalization.The New Social Diseaseis about how we personalize our computers and associated technologies while depersonalizing others and ourselves. The well-researched content will provide readers with insights into how the increased use of technology-mediated communications has affected the way in which we live our lives, resulting in loneliness, depression, social isolation, and ultimately a rise in uncivil behaviors based upon frustration hopelessness and the devaluation of human life. Authors Laura, Marchant, and Smith explore the prevalence of uncivil behaviors in the world and in our schools, combined with increased physical and mental health problems, in an aim to explore the depersonalization of the school curriculum and provide ways to repersonalize education contexts.Ronald S. Laurais Professor of Education at the University of Newcastle, Australia and a Perc Fellow of Harvard University.Timothy Marchantis a K-6 teacher in the Hunter Region.Susen R. Smithis Lecturer in Education at the University of New England, Australia.

Laura, Marchant, and Smith have undertaken a huge task in successfully drawing together several large, often divergent areas of investigation into a cohesive whole. They provide a systematic discussion of the work of Rifkin and other on the undue reliance on technology contributing to technostress/anxiety, perceptual changes of the time, shorter attention spans , separation from the natural world, depersonalization and loss of social capital. The authors do a fine job of illustrating how computechnology is value-laden. Professor Roberta Hollander, Howard University, Washington

The authors provide philosophicln