Is Modern Technology Ruining Culture? - Nature Deficit Disorder
Nature Deficit Disorder
Technology is now and technology is the future but have we really all just become slaves to the machines?
According to many sources, up-to-date technological advancements combined with social networking and viral marketing, has led to an outbreak in something called Nature Deficit Disorder. This term was first coined by Richard Louv in 2005 in his book Last Child In The Woods.
Louv explains in Last Child In The Woods, that Nature Deficit Disorder results in a wide range of behavourial problems in children that do not spend enough time outside with nature. However, there is no official diagnosis of Nature Deficit Disorder and there are no plans to add the disorder to the medical manuals which means that it will remain an unofficial diagnosis, perhaps until a time in the future when the issues surrounding the alleged become more widely recognized.
It's true that in this day and age, the digital age, that children are becoming increasingly more hypnotized by technology. However, this issue does not just affect children. There are now plenty of adults who have been brought up on technological advances and it's also true that society, justice and government have come to rely on technology. What on Earth would we do if we were suddenly made to live without it? Systems would collapse, important information would be lost and there would be devastating consequences not just for governments but also for the majority of the general public and the entire infrastructure that religion, society and government are based upon.
In other words we are already slaves to the machines!
The Potential Consequences
Not only are children becoming addicted to technology such as video games and mobile phone apps (and Facebook, of course) but our establishments now have satellites orbiting Earth, rockets and missiles being shot into space, mobile phone networks and infrastructures which would all be adversely affected if something devastating was to happen to the technology. Consider the recent news that the UK is prone to EMP attacks from space and that the MoD (Ministry of Defense) plan to do nothing about it. Then there's the fact that UK have just signed a deal with France to have nuclear power plants build throughout the UK. It's not just children who are reliant on technology.
World governments are actually concerned about what could happen during expected upcoming solar flare (CME) activity (expected in May 2013), especially when combined with the rip in Earth's magnetosphere and the depletion of the sun's heliosphere. Potentially, GPS satellites could be wiped out and swallowed by solar flares affecting global communications. If the North American power grid is hit then America could be left without power for two months or more - these are not conspiracy theories, this information has been officially announced! The depletion of the sun's heliosphere has already been verified by NASA and the potential of the expected solar flares due to the sun's 11-year cycle was officially reported by the National Academy of Sciences - this report was funded and commissioned by NASA in 2009.
In addition the Public Broadcasting Service already announced that they had discovered an extremely powerful energy emanating from the core of Earth responsible for generating Earth's magnetosphere.
How would we survive if our technology was suddenly wiped out by solar flares?
Effects Of Technology On Children
Nature Deficit Disorder has been widely related to scholarly articles on the subject of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. ADHD can actually be present in a child without the 'hyperactivity' aspect even being present leaving just ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder). Although not widely known information, ADD and ADHD can actually be a result of narcissistic parenting. In simple terms, a child with a narcissistic parent/parents is left without the attention they truly deserve as the parent sees them as just another source of narcissistic supply - they are there for the benefit of the parent. The child therefore never attains enough attention or love from the parent/s and becomes wrapped up in their own world, just as they have been left to. True bonding never takes place due to a lack of empathy.
The child then keeps their self occupied and comforted with the use of video games, movies and suchlike. This becomes long-term and the child uses these technologies as a source of entertainment, a source of motivation, a source of education and a source of recognition. They have been left to their own devices whilst the parent(s) fail to adequately educate them and parent them properly and they are rarely taken outside to play and/or to appreciate nature. The child grows up accustomed to their technological surroundings, they do not know any different.
So, is technology ruining culture?
Although Nature Deficit Disorder is not an official medicalized disorder, David Pencheon of NHS' Sustainable Development Unit said:
"there's undoubtedly a phenomenon that's not good for health, which is about not giving access to outdoors or green space, safe risk-taking and so on but I wouldn't say we've identified a medical condition. In fact we don't want to 'medicalise' it, we should see it as part of everyday life - if you medicalise it, people say 'you'd better go to your doctor and take a pill".
In defense to the alleged unofficial condition, parents state that higher numbers of vehicles on the roads and public attacks on children are two basic reasons why children are spending less times outdoors. However, as pointed out earlier in this article, these two reasons actually indicate a lack of attention and care from parents towards their children.
When a particularly young child is out crossing the road they should be in the company of an adult. If there is a risk of public attack, then a child should not be out in public alone - this doesn't mean that they have to be kept indoors, it simply means that parents need to do more to keep their children secure and to bond with them properly.
Preventing children from going outside for such reasons shows self-centredness by the parent/s who should be accompanying them when going outside in order to keep them safe anyway.
So are Attention Hyperactivity Deficit Disorder, Nature Deficit Disorder and basic Attention Deficit Disorder actually a result of being hypnotized by technology?