Psychology Today

The lost art of eye contact in the digital age

mthomp7 — Fri, 08 Nov 2024 15:46:12 +0000

The lost art of eye contact in the digital age mthomp7 Fri, 11/08/2024 - 10:46

In This Story

Every day, as I walk down the halls of George Mason’s College of Public Health, I see the heads of students, faculty, and staff buried deep into their digital devices. Phones have made us always on and available, responding to the digital pings of friends, colleagues, children, parents, or caregivers seeking an immediate response to an idea, question, or post. So, while we might be working, sharing a like or a smile, a wink, or a hello, we also are missing an opportunity for simple eye contact.

I see this as a fundamental shift in our interpersonal communications capacity. Raised in a rural environment where greeting each person with a smile or a nod was commonplace, I find it increasingly difficult to catch someone’s eye. This has me wondering about the implications of our diverted gazes on our culture and social well-being, the capacity for deep connection and, therefore, empathy among the next generation, and how we might approach addressing this growing concern.

The Shift in Gaze

"As an educator, it concerns me deeply that the opportunity for spontaneous, genuine connections—so vital for building trust and understanding—is being overshadowed by the lure of glowing screens," says Perry, pictured here speaking with CPH faculty.

Our modern lifestyle locks our eyes more frequently on screens than on human faces. Whether it's in public transportation, cafes, or even during intimate gatherings, people are more often engrossed in a digital world. This change is not merely a shift in where we look but fundamentally how we connect and interact with others. In the academic corridors, this shift prompts a critical inquiry: when do we truly look at each other? As an educator, it concerns me deeply that the opportunity for spontaneous, genuine connections—so vital for building trust and understanding—is being overshadowed by the lure of glowing screens.

Scientific Insights Into Eye Contact

Eye contact is not just a social signal; it is a complex, brain-stimulating interaction that is vital for human connection. Neuroscience research shows that when two people make eye contact, their neural activity synchronizes, enhancing communication and understanding. This phenomenon, known as interbrain synchrony, fosters a shared sense of purpose and emotional state. As a dean, I ponder the implications of this science on our teaching methods and student interactions. Are we nurturing an environment that encourages these meaningful connections, or are we succumbing to the ease of digital communication?

Direct eye contact stimulates specific brain regions tied to social cognition and empathy. These areas include the prefrontal cortex and the superior temporal sulcus. They are essential for decoding another person's emotions and intentions, serving as critical components in the architecture of empathy.

The Shift in Gaze

Scientific Insights Into Eye Contact

This story was originally featured on Psychology Today in the Dean's recurring column The Mindful Epidemiologist.

Topics

Mental Health

Psychology Today

Mindful Epidemiologist

Why the digital world is making us forget things

mthomp7 — Fri, 08 Nov 2024 15:01:10 +0000

Why the digital world is making us forget things mthomp7 Fri, 11/08/2024 - 10:01

In This Story

Melissa J. Perry, Sc.D., MHS

Back in the old days—the 1980s—when I was a graduate student, the start-up whir of my Gateway computer focused my brain as I studied, wrote, and retained scientific information that would serve me in my future career in academia.

That type of concentration was possible throughout the ’80s, ’90s, and early 2000s—until the arrival of what Thomas Friedman described as our age of extreme acceleration in his book Thank You for Being Late (2016). After decades of computers becoming mobile, powerful, and ubiquitous, focus seems to be our most endangered mental commodity, leading to a collective memory loss, or what I call digital-induced amnesia, the inability to process, retain, or recall information due to chronic overconsumption of digital stimuli. As our world becomes ever more information-rich and time-poor, our inability to retain and analyze that information for ourselves has us relying on machines—potentially to our detriment.

Melissa Perry, ScD is a regular contributor to Psychology Today. Her column is The Mindful Epidemiologist.

The Way Things Were

When I started my academic career, I understood that command of information and deep knowledge of my field was paramount to my success. I dutifully read and filed away mounds of scientific journal articles into manila folders inserted into pea-soup green file folders that would hang suspended on metal rods in the filing cabinet. Eventually, I would spice things up with folders of different colors.

To meticulously maintain command of increasing amounts of information, every paper was placed in a folder and every folder in a category. Categories were assigned main numbers, and folders within categories got a decimal point added to the main number to give it a unique identifier. If I read a new article on injection drug use among adolescents, it was assigned the file number 600.007, 600 for the category “adolescents,” and 007 was the next available number after paper 600.006 on adolescents and smoking. The system legend was kept in a three-ring loose-leaf binder. Until recently, I knew all of the category numbers by memory. I was a blast at parties, I’m sure.

At the time, I believed—maybe a little smugly—that this system gave me a competitive edge as a scholar, scientist, and expert, and I was unfailing in my filing discipline. But gradually, and then seemingly all at once, the world changed around me, file folders be damned. My efforts to migrate my file folder system into this exponentially expanding digital world quickly fell apart.

Losing Our “Human Hard Drives”

At the same time, many people seemingly welcomed the ability to turn their memories and the contents of their “human hard drives” over to a machine. It freed up their mental capacities for higher-order creative thinking. Data processing steps and quantitative analyses now could produce results without a human touch. But I found that threatening to my very identity as a scientist who needed to stay on top of the field.

Now I recognize that they were right and I was wrong—human memory skills no longer are the asset they once were. Most technology analysts agree that changed in 2007 when the iPhone entered our pockets and transformed our relationship with information—it became more readily available and much more voluminous.

James Lang observes in his book, Distracted (2020), distractedness is the norm among American college students, and my students in the classroom and the lab at George Mason University sometimes tell me they can’t remember the sentences they just read. Not being able to shift from the sympathetic (reacting) to the parasympathetic (contemplating) parts of our brain long enough to retain information can leave one anxious, agitated, and without the secure feeling of being knowledgeable.

I consider these to be symptoms of the widespread problem of digital-induced amnesia.

What It Means to Rely on Machines

T.S. Elliot once asked, “Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?” That is an apt question that encapsulates what we are missing in our distracted digital age. Without the learned ability to acquire knowledge by commanding, synthesizing, and retaining information, our critical thinking skills are only as good as the machines we depend on.

It isn’t tragic that I no longer need to meticulously hand-file my articles and that I can search whatever pops into my head by effortlessly typing it into a search field. But it contributes to what Cal Newport describes in his book A World Without Email (2021) as the hyperactive hive mind. Our brains serve as human routers, receiving and transmitting data, day in and day out, as we search, find, forget, and repeat. It is a radically different set of behaviors from reading, contemplating, critiquing, synthesizing, physically filing, and ultimately retaining enduring knowledge.

Perhaps the loss of memory and retention at any age is the price we have accepted for the conveniences and instant rewards of fingertip information. Perhaps accessing it and knowing it for the moment is all that most people actually want. Some futurists foresee that the notion of lost human capacity is all short-term and that our brains will become more machine-like in time as we adapt to the constant conditioning of the thousands of digital acts we each perform every day.

If that is the case, we need to remember what we are losing even as we make forgetting our standard way of being in the world.

This story was originally featured on Psychology Today in the Dean's recurring column The Mindful Epidemiologist.

Topics

Mental Health

Psychology Today

Mindful Epidemiologist

Why connection still matters at work

mthomp7 — Fri, 08 Nov 2024 14:24:58 +0000

Why connection still matters at work mthomp7 Fri, 11/08/2024 - 09:24

In This Story

Melissa J. Perry, Sc.D., MHS

Emails and messages alone can’t replace the human connections that fuel true productivity.

by Dean Melissa Perry

Picture a freezing winter morning in Vermont. I’m 14, delivering newspapers on an icy road, bundled up against the chill with a heavy satchel over my shoulder. My neighbors are up early, waiting for their papers, and when I’m late, their frustration is palpable. But with a quick smile and genuine connection, I smooth things over. Those early mornings taught me grit, empathy, and the importance of trust—qualities that continue to guide my leadership today.

"Impact isn’t measured by clicks but by connections—like all-hands meetings, hallway conversations, and one-on-one chats. These interactions keep us engaged and thriving as a team," says Perry, pictured here having a hallway conversation with Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, Cathy Tompkins.

As a university dean, I see the same need for connection, even in our fast-paced, digital world. It’s tempting to manage through quick taps on a screen, where emojis and read receipts replace face-to-face interactions. While I embrace tech for efficiency, I know that emails and messages alone can’t replace the human connections that fuel true productivity. Impact isn’t measured by clicks but by connections—like all-hands meetings, hallway conversations, and one-on-one chats. These interactions keep us engaged and thriving as a team.

Managing from "the palm of my hand"—through endless emails and notifications—often feels like a placebo for real human connection. My childhood paper route taught me that showing up and building trust matters, a lesson that’s only grown more relevant in our digital age, where some people go weeks without a real conversation.

The allure of managing from a digital control tower is hard to ignore. Hitting “send” is easy, but it’s not true communication. In our rush to respond instantly (or reply all), we lose the space for real problem-solving and strategic thinking. I’ll admit: I sometimes fall into this trap myself, relying on quick replies instead of deeper, more meaningful connections. It takes conscious effort to step back, refocus, and re-engage.

This isn’t just nostalgia for simpler days. Keeping human connections alive is essential for our teams’ well-being. Constant urgency without personal connection fuels stress, burnout, and disengagement.

Howard Gardner, in Five Minds for the Future, calls this approach the Ethical Mind: a way of thinking that prioritizes responsibility and integrity over convenience. Decisions should consider our impact on others, a reminder that human connection must come first—even in what often feels like a speed-of-light-driven world.

5 Strategies for Balancing Tech with Human Connection

Finding a balance between tech convenience and human-centered leadership is critical. Here are five strategies to foster a healthier, more productive approach:

Lead with Values: Following Gardner’s Ethical Mind, lead with empathy and responsibility. Foster a culture where choices are guided by values, not just speed.
Prioritize Face-to-Face Communication: Distinguish between urgent and non-urgent issues. For complex discussions, encourage in-person or video interactions to reinforce connections and reduce misunderstandings.
Set Aside Deep Work Blocks: Dedicate time for uninterrupted, deep work to encourage strategic thinking and creativity. A break from constant notifications allows focus on what truly matters.
Reward Human Connection: Choose in-person or video meetings for sensitive matters to build empathy and understanding—critical for a positive, supportive work environment. Reward by recognizing your team members’ efforts. This could be through collaborative problem-solving, organizing informal team gatherings, or mentoring a newer team member. By celebrating these actions, you reinforce the importance of relational skills alongside traditional performance metrics.
Model Work-Life Boundaries: Demonstrate a balanced approach to digital communication by setting clear boundaries. For instance, avoid sending non-urgent emails outside of business hours and encourage your team to disconnect after work. By modeling healthy boundaries, you show that well-being and presence in both personal and professional spaces are valued, fostering a more mindful work culture.

Conclusion

Managing from the palm of our hands may be a modern necessity, but it can’t replace the interpersonal and ethical skills essential to effective leadership. We must model a balanced approach, creating workplaces that are productive, humane, and mentally healthy. Just as my paper route taught me the power of trust, today I see these same lessons guiding me through the complexities of modern leadership.

This story was originally featured on Psychology Today in the Dean's recurring column The Mindful Epidemiologist.

Topics

Mental Health

Leadership

Psychology Today

Mindful Epidemiologist