The Mind-Bending World of Neurotechnologies

With little fanfare, technologies that manipulate brain activity (both external and implanted) pose dangers to health, identity, and society, even as they achieve medical successes.

By Robert Martone | April 15, 2020 | Cognition, Ethics, Health, Neurology, Philosophy, Psychology | Agency, BCI, BRAIN Initiative, Brain-Computer Interfaces, Coercion, DARPA, DBS, Deep Brain Stimulation, Depression, ECT, Electrical Brain Stimulation, Electroceuticals, Electroconvulsive Therapy, Elon Musk, Halo Sport, Identity, Inequality, Manipulation, Memory, Military, Neuralink, Neurotechnologies, Parkinson's Disease, Performance, Performance Enhancement, Personality, TES, Therapy, TMS, Transcranial Electrical Stimulation, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

Read more  

Going Dark to Reconnect to the Night Sky

Across the globe, communities are working to preserve existing areas of natural darkness and reduce the spread of light pollution.

By Tim Lydon | March 6, 2019 | Environment, Health | Artificial Light, Astronomy, Awe, Darkness, Depression, Hunting, International Dark-Sky Association, LEDs, Light Pollution, Migration, Milky Way, Moon, Night Sky, Sleep, Stars

Read more  

Podcast #27: Robert Lustig on Biochemistry and Health

Author and endocrinologist Robert Lustig explains the neurochemical difference between happiness and pleasure and how it’s been exploited to make so many of us fat, addicted, and depressed. Then, he reminds us how to reclaim our health.

By Mo Lotman | February 27, 2019 | Cognition, Environment, Family, Food, Health, Medicine, Neurology, Podcasts, Well-Being | Academia, Addiction, Adolescence, Alcohol, Amino Acids, Aristotle, ATP, Availability, Behavior, Biochemistry, Caffiene, Calories, Cancer, Cardiovascular Disease, Cavities, Cell Death, Child Development, Chronic Metabolic Disease, Chronic Renal Disease, Clinicians, Cocaine, Computers, Connection, Connectivity, Contentment, Contribute, Coping, Cortisol, Dementia, Dentistry, Depression, Diabetes, Diet, Dieticians, Doctors, Dopamine, Drugs, Dyslipidemia, Endocrinology, Enjoyment, Environment, Exercise, Exposure, Facebook, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, Flow, Food, Food System, Fructose, Giving, Glucose, Happiness, Health Care, Heroin, Hypertension, Hypothalamus, Information, Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill, Marketing, Metabolic Syndrome, Metabolism, Mindfulness, Mirror Neurons, Mitochondrial Dysfunction, Money, Multitasking, music, Myelin, Neurons, Neurotransmitters, Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease, Obesity, OCD, Omega-3 Fatty Acids, Opioids, Peer Pressure, Personal Responsibility, Philanthropy, Pleasure, Polycystic Ovarian Disease, Prefrontal Cortex, Processed Food, Profit, Propaganda, Quantification, Refining, Regulation, Religion, Reward, Sales, Seizures, Seratonin, Sleep, Sleep Deprivation, Social Security, Stimulation, Substance Abuse, Substances, Sugar, Suicide, Taking, Taylorism, Technology, Tolerance, Tryptophane, Utilitarianism

Read more  

Podcast #26: Adam Gazzaley on Our Distracted Minds

Neurologist Adam Gazzaley discusses how the brain’s attentional system functions–or doesn’t–when buffeted by digital distraction.

By Mo Lotman | February 6, 2019 | Cognition, Health, Neurology, Podcasts, Psychology, Well-Being | ADHD, Aging, Anxiety, Attending, Attention, Attention Deficit, Boredom, Cognition, Concentration, Depression, Digital Devices, Distraction, Education, Empathy, Enhancement, Exercise, Filtering, Focus, Goals, Habit, Ignoring, Information, Information Foraging Theory, Interference, Marginal Value Theorem, Medicine, Meditation, Memory, Metacognition, Monotasking, Multitasking, Nature, Neurology, Perception, Plasticity, Prefrontal Cortex, Prescribable Video Game Treatment, Psychology, Smartphones, Suppression, The Brain, Therapy, Video Games

Read more  

Curbing Our Tech Obsession: What, Why, & How

Young people are obsessively checking their phones more every year. Here are some reasons why, and strategies to regain control.

By Larry Rosen | January 30, 2019 | Media, Neurology, Psychology, Relationships, Society, Well-Being | Addiction, Alerts, Android, Anxiety, Apple, Attention, Blue Light, Boredom, Circadian Rhythm, Cues, Depression, Digital Media, Digital Wellness, Distracted Driving, Distraction, FOMO, Google, Information Foraging Theory, Marketing, Metacognition, Nir Eyal, Nomophobia, Obsession, OCD, Psychology, Sleep, Smartphones, Social Media, Social Obligation, Teens, Tim Wu, Young Adults

Read more  

Podcast #18: Catherine Steiner-Adair on Tech and Child Development

Catherine Steiner-Adair is a clinical psychologist whose empathic 2013 book The Big Disconnect warned us about the impacts of digital tech on child development and family relationships. She’s been on a non-stop speaking tour ever since.

By Mo Lotman | May 16, 2018 | Cognition, Education, Family, Health, Identity, Podcasts, Psychology, Relationships, Society, Well-Being | Anxiety, Apps, Attachment, Bonding, Boredom, Childhood Development, Creativity, Cyberbullying, Depression, Disconnection, Education, Exercise, Families, Gaming, Impulse Control, Laptops, Learning, Motor Skills, Obesity, Overstimulation, Parents, Permanence, Play, Porn, Quiet, Schools, Sexting, Shaming, smart phones, Social Media, Suicide, Tablets

Read more  

Podcast #17: Cal Newport on Deep Work

For a computer scientist, Georgetown professor and author Cal Newport is hard to reach via email. But it’s part of his philosophy that focused concentration–so elusive in our overstimulated world–is the key to a better and more rewarding work and personal life.

By Art Keller | March 14, 2018 | Artificial Intelligence, Automation, Cognition, Employment, Ethics, Podcasts, Society | Accessibility, AI, American Girls, Attention, Automation, Boredom, Business, Clarity, Communication, Computer Science, Concentration, Deep Work, Depression, Economy, Effort, Email, Exercise, Extrovert, Flow, Georgetown, Impulse, Impulse Control, Introvert, Jerry Seinfeld, Jobs, Laptops, Learning, Meaning, Multitasking, Open Office Plans, Opportunity Cost, Outsourcing, Overstimulation, Practice, Productivity, Quick Checks, Quiet, Robots, Shallow Work, smart phones, Training

Read more  

A Message From the Publisher

It’s our 2nd birthday! Publisher Mo Lotman shares a few thoughts about where we’ve come and where The Technoskeptic is going.

By Mo Lotman | February 28, 2018 | Artificial Intelligence, Automation, Community, Economics, Ethics, Government, Media, Philosophy, Privacy, Relationships, Society, Well-Being | Addiction, Amazon, Anxiety, Apple, Attention, Business, Center for Humane Technology, Community, Depression, Disconnection, Economics, Ethics, Facebook, Farhad Manjoo, Google, Microsoft, Opioids, Reality, Roger McNamee, smart phones, Specialization, Suicide, Tristan Harris

Read more  

The Suicide Algorithm: Facebook’s Self-Appointed Role in Mental Health

Facebook’s invasive attempts to identify suicidal individuals, while collecting revenue from advertisers targeting them, may do more harm than good.

By Lucy Uprichard | June 28, 2017 | Advertising, Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, Health, Media, Prediction, Psychology | Advertising, AI, Algorithms, Anxiety, Artificial Intelligence, Care, Community, Depression, Facebook, Forums, Health Care, Insecurity, Intervention, Medicine, Mental Health, Profiling, Suicidal Ideation, Suicide, The Australian, The Guardian, Therapy, Trust, Vice

Read more  

A Message From the Publisher

Happy birthday us! This month marks one year since we moved to weekly updates. Publisher Mo Lotman shares a few thoughts about The Technoskeptic and the stakes of its mission.

By Mo Lotman | February 22, 2017 | Cognition, Economics, Environment, Law, Media, Philosophy, Politics, Privacy, Publishing, Relationships, Society, Well-Being | Attention, Civility, Community, Democracy, Depression, Distraction, Ethics, Impatience, Journalism, Loneliness, Public Space, Robert McChesney, Rudeness

Read more