Mind Change: How digital technologies are leaving their mark on our brains

In Mind Change, Susan Greenfield discusses the all-pervading technologies that now surround us, and from which we derive instant information, connected identity, diminished privacy and exceptionally vivid here-and-now experiences. In her view they are creating a new environment, with vast implications, because our minds are physically adapting: being rewired. What could this mean, and how can we harness, rather than be harnessed by, our new technological milieu to create better alternatives and more meaningful lives? Using the very latest research, Mind Change is intended to incite debate as well as yield the way forward. There is no better person to explain the situation in a way we can understand, and to offer new insights on how to improve our mental capacities and well being.

Review
“In Mind Change, neuroscientist, entrepreneur and British politician Susan Greenfield argues that our technologies are not only addictive—they are an existential threat. The brain, she writes, has an ‘evolutionary mandate to adapt to its environment,’ and the digital world is changing at too rapid a pace for individuals or government regulations to keep up. … Greenfield’s application of the mismatch between human and machine to the brain introduces an important variation on this pervasive view of technology. … She has rare talent for explaining science in accessible prose.”—The Washington Post

“How many of us work with six tabs open on a browser, a smartphone within reach and maybe another screen or two nearby? How often does ‘I’ll just look that up real quick’ lead to several hours of indeterminate Googling? Or an impulsive peek at social media turn into a headlong tumble down some cyber rabbit hole? … Greenfield’s focus is on bringing to light the implications of Internet-induced ‘mind change’—as comparably multifaceted as the issue of climate change, she argues, and just as important.”—Chicago Tribune

“Mind Change is exceedingly well organized and hits the right balance between academic and provocative. There is no question about the need for us to think more deeply about this topic.”—Booklist

“[A] challenging, stimulating perspective from an informed neuroscientist on a complex, fast-moving, hugely consequential field … Greenfield raises questions with startling implications.”—Kirkus Reviews

About the Author
Susan Greenfield is a neuroscientist, broadcaster, and the bestselling author of The Private Life of the Brain, Tomorrow’s People, ID: A Quest for Meaning in the 21st Century, and the novel 2121: A Tale from the Next Century. She is a senior research fellow at Lincoln College, Oxford University, an honorary fellow of the Rocal College of Physicians, and a member of the House of Lords.