Apparently technology is exacerbating the traits of those with various “mental disorders” according to a new book by Larry Rosen, PhD entitled iDisorder: Understanding Our Obsession with Technology and Overcoming Its Hold on Us. I thumbed through the book to find that many of the chapters have a quiz where you can find out what type of psychological disorder you have, learn how technology is making you worse and then do something about it. Wow! Who knew those of us who use technology were that messed up. In a quiz on Narcissistic Personality, I learned that if you think you will be a success, would prefer to be a leader, rarely depend on other people to get things done, and take responsibility for making decisions, you will accumulate points towards being a narcissist. Apparently, scoring high on authority and being self-sufficient are now interpreted as being “disordered.”
I think what is making me crazy is the notion that traits of individualism, high self-sufficiency and leadership are now being interpreted as “crazy.” Is this just soft socialist propaganda disguised as research? Is the flip side that if you share with others, look to others for guidance and conform to what others want, you are deemed “well.” I don’t think so. The author is very clear that he does not think people should give up technology but should learn to moderate their time and use of it. Agreed. But using tools that tell people they are disordered when their traits are perfectly fine is in my opinion, disordered itself.
Technology certainly can make you crazy. I mean, look what it did to Ted Kaczynski!
But seriously, I’d be less surprised by a condemnation of automation because it impedes the goal of full employment. If “technology can make you crazy” is among the premises of Dr. Rosen’s book, all I can say for him is that he’s really sick and should seek professional help at once.
I’m glad to see that a book devoted to the notion that technology is making us crazy can be purchased on the Internet, and is available in a Kindle edition.
Ed,
Yeah, me too but you might be a narcissist if you purchase it without asking someone for some advice on whether or not that’s the right thing to do. Afterall, that would take some self-sufficiency and apparently, that’s not a good sign.
Its not making me crazy, but it certainly makes me wonder about the sanity of our so-called “leaders”. I maintain tat the majority of them are willfully insane.
http://pjmedia.com/lifestyle/2012/03/31/for-the-mentally-ill-the-right-kind-of-help-is-the-most-important/#comment-225589
I attempted to make that same point recently. Psychology attempts to engineer human behavior by defining certain behaviors as illness.
Since the high deacons of psychology tend to be leftists it makes sense that they would attempt to define any traits conservatives value as undesirable.
Since psychology so much resembles a religion, complete with holy book, perhaps its time for a great schism.
And in the same week, an Oregon University professor declares that climate change skepticism is a mental illness.
I’ll speak for myself. Yes, the Internet has made me crazy. I have spent countless hours arguing with anonymous strangers to no avail, over and over again, hoping the results would be different. That makes me crazy. It has largely been a complete waste of time.
I have a new policy: I will no longer argue with strangers in cyberspace. I don’t argue with strangers in the meat world. Why would I do it in cyberspace? Because I’m crazy.
Also, I seem to intentionally seek out websites that irritate me, or focus on the negative behavior of other people. Why the heck do I do that? Because I’m crazy.
Is it the Internet’s fault? Of course not. But it’s easy to fall into a lot of time-wasting, energy-draining, life-sucking traps in cyberspace. And if you do and don’t get out, you can get crazy.
I think that at some level we enjoy emotional arousal, whether it’s “positive” like happiness or “negative” like anger. Our brains get a stimulating jolt of hormones either way. Could be all this arguing on blogs is just a form of self-medication. Cheaper than heroin, anyway…
“Is the Internet Making You Crazy?”
That was a done deal, long before they invented the internet.
I don’t think using the Internet can “make” someone crazy. For people who are already suffering from intellectual or emotional problems, however, the Internet can be a vast reservoir of mental poisons. The Internet has made it easier for people to feed their minds a steady diet of bad news and partisan anger. That’s not the Internet’s fault, but it is a fact. If you’re clinically depressed, reading the Drudge Report and half a dozen political blogs every night probably won’t help you feel better in the long run.
Dare to be average! Strive for the mediocre! Could this be an outgrowth of the Self Esteem Movement? We are all wonderful in our own wonderfully wonderful ways as we already are. No one is better than another (and don’t you dare try to be). Gold stars all around.
I think it’s the nonstop access to bad news. Also, the nonstop news that people are tracking every. single. thing. I. do.
It’s no longer paranoid or fiction.
There’s no downtime.
The Internet can also give an illusion of proximity or immediacy to things that really don’t affect us that much. Paying the bills is an immediate problem but who wins the Egyptian presidential elections is not. Yet the scary news from Egypt is right there on your computer screen, right up in your face, seemingly needing to be dealt with or at least needing an opinion to be formed about it. Blogs increase that feeling. I think that makes it harder to figure out what’s important and what’s not. There’s a tendency to worry about EVERYTHING rather than prioritizing concerns.
Bugs: Well said, both times. Tks.
Can we sue Al Gore?
It’s too late for the Internet to make me crazy — newspapers, magazines, and television did that long ago. Catastrophes, wars, murders, plagues, all were front-page news. I was being fed a steady diet of what’s-wrong-with-the-world. Good news seldom got such prominent placement. It’s a recipe for depression and paranoia.
Then internet simply saves me time, and it’s easier to find people who agree with me. The newspapers never published people like that. The world is still a nasty place (just listen to the Net!) but it’s not as unrelievedly so.