Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Digital Data Dings vs. Engaging in Stories


Pondering Dopamine vs. Oxytocin
The New York Times recently reported on the effects of constant interaction with computers and digital media that it may be affecting our ability to focus.  “The stimulation provokes excitement — a dopamine squirt — that researchers say can be addictive. In its absence, people feel bored” www.nytimes.com/2010/06/07/technology/07brain.html?pagewanted=all&
On the other side we have Oxytocin, which some scientists, notably neuroscientist and economist Dr. Paul Zak,  have linked to love and a feeling of empathy.  His studies show that a compelling story leads to a the release of Oxytocin, and when we feel something and are more likely to care about and remember it.  His March 2014 presentation at SXSW with ad agency exec from Innocean looked at how individuals responded to brands vs. people and why they sometimes seem to display more love for brands than people.   The research goes back to story -- when the brand was embedded into a story, the subjects connected with the brand.  
Taking these two disparate and popular neuroscience claims we can hypothesize that  as individuals in modern society, we are exposed to ever-more digital stimuli in the form of ‘media’ and in dire need of good stories.
In order to feel truly connected to the world, we need stories that generate empathy for individuals beyond our immediate circle. But how often do we stop our twitter feed and email pings long enough to actually read, watch or listen to a long-form story?
In the absence of dopamine people report feeling bored: without digital media stimulation input they don’t know what to do with themselves.   As children, if my sister and I ever said ‘I’m bored,” my Dad would respond: “You can not be bored.  You are young.  Go do something.”  And, he meant it.  We went out and played, we built tree houses and invented inhabitants, made stuff up.   If a person is free to take action and is bored, there is something wrong. Maybe they’ve lost connection to their own inner life, forgotten how to stop and process information, make sense of it or more pointedly, question it.  They have temporarily (one hopes) lost the ability to be creative with their time.
Children are naturally, spectacularly creative, and they are notoriously easily bored when they are stuck in the backseat on long car rides, stuck in shopping malls on sunny days, or restaurants on a Saturday evening.   Children in the developed world quickly get bored when denied digital media stimulation.  So parents give them the iPad, and they play with it.  But games are about response, not invention.   They do not for the most part allow for full-scale creativity -- the kind of stuff we did like building a tree house inhabited by characters played by us but with different names and personalities.   The kind of play that involves mind and body and make-believe.
Will children brought up on iPads and consistent digital stimuli find themselves unable to connect with their own inner lives, addicted to stimulation?  As video games replace story, what happens to empathy?
Sherry Turkle’s book Alone Together explores the effects of media technology on individuals and communities.  Her chapter ‘Don’t Call” explains that  contemporary adolescents are averse to talking on the phone, essentially it is too engaging and risky compared to the texting, instant message and Facebook (email does not really fall into the equation.)  
I came of age before the world wide web, it evolved as I entered the workplace.   For anyone over 40, computers were work first, social second.  For children today, I wonder how are they going to separate work from play, business from pleasure when it all comes at them in screens of varying sizes?   
My work involves creating impact––a.k.a. social change––with media.  I spend a lot of time thinking about how to engage audiences in stories that matter.  Social media connections and click-thrus are a large part of how we measure engagement.  The question for storytellers and journalists whose work is essential element to an open society, as well as folks like me charged with connecting content to communities, is how to balance stimulus and involvement?  The old challenge was simple yet challenging, how to create a compelling headline that would warrant reading the story.
Now, neuroscience points to a dynamic between the dopamine inducing digital dings and the ability of a good story to trigger release of Oxytocin.   The dopamine rush may be addictive and the Oxytocin requires time, attention and real engagement, the most precious of human resources.
Patricia Finneran
March 17, 2014








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