Children born in the information age are inseparable from electronic products. However, while enjoying the convenience brought by informatization, the hidden dangers have caused international experts in the field of neuroscience to cry out in pain that “electronic products are poison.” With the publication of the book Creating Idiots, the way electronic products threaten the next generation and harm children’s physical and mental health has begun to be exposed.
“Under no circumstances and for no purpose should children under the age of 6 be exposed to electronic screens.” This is the serious view put forward by Michel Desmurget, an international expert in the field of contemporary neuroscience, in his book Creating Idiots. As soon as the book was published, it won the 2019 Femina Prize for Non-Fiction and topped the GfK non-fiction book ranking for 28 consecutive weeks, sparking a global debate.
No matter how people argue about the convenience and impact of electronic products in the Internet age, Michel Desmurget firmly insists that “these electronic devices seem to be a double-edged sword with both advantages and disadvantages, but in the end, it is always the uses that make people dull that prevail.”
Starting with the characteristics of statistical analysis and the features of interview, survey, and experimental research methods, the book compiles all reports, experiments, and articles on this topic and provides a comprehensive summary, revealing the real impact of electronic products on children’s growth. It can be said to be the most impartial and in-depth summary of contemporary research on electronic products.
The central idea of this book is the prominent warning on the cover—”Be alert, the human IQ is experiencing its first intergenerational decline.” Beware of electronic products; they are a slow-acting poison!
It cannot be denied that the 21st century belongs to Generation Z. Children born in this era are called “digital natives.” Electronic products and the digital world are inseparable from their growth. The recent globally disruptive ChatGPT has even declared a revolutionary reshuffling of future careers. As a result, more and more voices have emerged: In the new era, parenting cannot follow the old path. The learning methods of Generation Z have been completely changed. In order to adapt to the “future world,” children must be trained from a young age to skillfully operate electronic products and acquire the ability to navigate the digital world, otherwise they will be left behind by the train of the times.
Therefore, for children of Generation Z, everything from homework check-ins, online courses, information searches, to listening, speaking, reading, and writing can all be completed on electronic devices. Paperless teaching is being promoted in more and more schools. It seems convenient, easy, and diversified. However, in the face of the reality of the widespread use of electronic products, Michel Desmurget, based on physiological foundations, has revealed the cruel truth—”In human history, perhaps there has never been such a large-scale ‘lobotomy.'”
Dazzling Information Bombardment and Starving Brain Senses
Who are the biggest victims of electronic products? The answer: children under the age of 6.
Research shows that the more 3- to 6-year-old children do not follow the recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics (such as screen time duration and content viewed), the higher the probability of language deficiency and the more abnormal the microstructure of white matter tracts in the brain related to language, executive function, and early literacy skills.
Because from birth, they are accustomed to tapping and touching on screens, watching various novel and bright things pop up on the screen. Before they have formed a perception of real things and before they have been exposed to enough of the real world, they are already used to watching, searching, and playing games through electronic screens to understand everything.
Their brains do not need to operate much because the constantly changing images attract their attention. They are lazy to observe and think, lack real interaction and communication, and are immersed in the virtual world, unable to extricate themselves, completely changing the way their brains think.
The information age seems to bring boundless and thriving information resources, but in fact, it has cut off children’s brain thinking ability.
A single screen contains endless information, and as long as you want it, it is readily available, which seems so tempting. But children sitting in front of the screen receive information that has been digested, re-synthesized, and packaged by others and then fed to them like “processed food.” They do not need to think much; they just need to open their mouths to receive the feed.
Their brains have been captured by pre-digested information and do not need to exert effort; they just need to lie back and accept it.
In order to attract attention and dominate the market, electronic product developers, driven by profit, compete to use entertaining content to create a “Brave New World.” However, this easily accessible information subtly deprives children of basic thinking and intelligence.
Therefore, Michel Desmurget lamented in the book, “The brain needs sensory restraint, social interaction, physical activity, sleep, and beneficial cognitive nourishment to build itself, but electronic products do the opposite. They create a world where intellectual stimulation is chronically insufficient and sensory bombardment is excessive. Everyone is profiting for themselves, while children are suffering.”
Sean Parker, the former president of Facebook, described his own product in this way: “I would never use that thing, nor would I allow my children to use it.”
Sean Parker is not the only one who strictly forbids his loved children from using electronic products. Steve Jobs, who created the miracle of Apple, and many other tech tycoons in Silicon Valley, who sell various “digital tools,” have all closed the door to their children’s use of electronic products. Therefore, the New York Times called it “a dark consensus about electronic products and children emerging in Silicon Valley.”
Some people can’t help but mock this contradictory yet thought-provoking phenomenon: Ordinary people let their children use electronic products and take pride in their children’s proficiency, while the creators of electronic products try every means to encourage their children to swim in the ocean of books.
Tech tycoons compare electronic products to “cocaine” and say sincerely, “We have seen the dangers of technology with our own eyes. I have experienced it myself and do not want to see it happen to my children.”
Education Lacking “Human” Presence, Threatening the Next Generation’s Interpersonal, Language, and Focus Skills
Modern parents are busy with work. They want to save effort in soothing their children while also hoping to promote their children’s cognition and learning. Therefore, using “electronic babysitters” to accompany and teach children has become the first choice for many families.
But how big is the gap between “video companionship” and “human presence”? Look at this research result.
Researchers used both live demonstrations and video playback to teach a group of 12- to 18-month-old children specific actions with dolls. The results showed that children who learned through “watching videos” performed worse.
This is because the human brain is much more sensitive to real people’s reactions than to the indirect images of the same person in videos. A large number of experiments have proved that when teachers are present, children can learn, understand, apply, and remember the presented information better than when watching teachers’ teaching videos.
Just as the effect of online classes in recent years has been mixed, it is because there is a lack of real interaction and communication. Information is only passively received without being stored, internalized, and outputted. It is like being fed without chewing, digesting, and absorbing, resulting in malnutrition no matter how much is consumed.
In Phone Brain, this phenomenon is called the “Google Effect,” also known as digital amnesia. Just as we sometimes use screenshots and photos instead of taking notes by hand, it seems that we have saved key information, but in fact, we have only “remembered” it without retaining it.
This self-deceptive “convenience” makes it difficult for children to consolidate, internalize, and output knowledge, let alone build their own knowledge system.
Those colorful and attractive images make them lazy to use their brains, lazy to communicate with real people, and lazy to focus on a task that requires long-term concentration to complete.
Many studies have come to the same conclusion: The more time children and parents spend on electronic products, the less they communicate with each other.
At the same time, for every additional hour a child watches TV per day during elementary school, the probability of developing attention disorders in middle school increases by nearly 50%.
And the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) has even warned everyone: In the contemporary world where technology is increasingly advanced and artificial intelligence is more sophisticated, the Flynn effect (the annual increase in IQ test results since the first half of the 20th century) that began in the 1970s no longer continues. On the contrary, IQ test scores have been decreasing year by year.
Electronic products and digital technology seem to bring endless convenience to the world, but they also hijack our lives.
Therefore, the author of Creating Idiots clearly pointed out that if electronic technology is used improperly, such as watching videos (short clips), playing video games, and overusing social media, occupying time for other more beneficial activities, it is very likely to cause behavioral disorders (aggressiveness, depression, risky behaviors, etc.), intellectual deficiencies (language skills, memory, attention, etc.), and health problems (obesity, cardiovascular diseases, reduced life expectancy, etc.), causing serious harm to children’s cognition, emotions, and relational interactions.
Opening Pandora’s Box, Where Depressing Entertainment Takes the Lead
Although the Internet provides multi-channel learning pathways, for the vast majority of children, the role of Internet learning in improving grades is almost zero!
The book Creating Idiots gives an example of MOOC (Massive Open Online Course), which can be understood as our online classes:
The University of Pennsylvania once offered a MOOC course in microeconomics, and the great appeal of being able to complete it online attracted a huge number of students at the beginning, with as many as 35,819 people signing up.
However, as the course progressed, fewer and fewer people attended, and by the end of the term, only 886 people (2.5%) remained, with only 740 (2.1%) obtaining a paper certificate. In other words, out of 100 people, only 2 completed the course and passed the exam.
The final conclusion of the experiment found that the dropout rate of online courses is usually between 90% and 95% for courses of average difficulty, and for more difficult courses, the dropout rate can even exceed 99%.
Do not overestimate children’s self-control, because even adults find it hard to be disciplined.
When we provide children with electronic products under the guise of learning, we are actually opening Pandora’s box for them. The temptations are not only interesting teaching videos but also dazzling and captivating games, videos, and social networks. Useless entertainment functions will soon overpower useful educational functions.
A large number of studies have shown that when children or teenagers use electronic products (computers, tablets, smartphones, etc.), the dominant activity is almost always depressing entertainment, which overcomes other positive activities.
There was once a famous international project called “One Laptop per Child,” which aimed to provide “low-cost” computers (later tablets) to children in poverty, hoping to have a positive impact on their learning abilities and intelligence.
However, the results were contrary to expectations. After multiple surveys and assessments, the promoters of the project had to admit that this costly project was futile in improving children’s learning and cognitive abilities.
For example, in Catalonia: “The project had a negative impact on students’ grades in all subjects. Their test scores dropped by 0.20 to 0.22 standard deviations, accounting for 3.8% to 6.2% of the average test score.”
From the opposite perspective, sociological research in recent years has found that families with excellent students have a consistent and significant characteristic: they strictly limit their children’s use of digital entertainment products and emphasize more positive extracurricular activities (homework, reading, playing musical instruments, sports activities, etc.).
How many children use electronic products under the guise of learning, and how many children fall into decadence after being exposed to games and lose themselves after becoming addicted to social networks. Although electronic products are wrapped in a sugar-coated shell, the screen that encompasses everything harbors a lurking monster. If children are dominated and controlled by it, it will become a “drug” in the new era, ruining their academic performance and physical and mental health.
Electronic Double-Edged Sword: Only by Wielding It Properly Can It Be a Sharp Weapon Without Hurting the Body
After reading this, you may be full of worries but also can’t help asking: In the network information age, the use of electronic products is inevitable. How can this double-edged sword be wielded so that it is powerful and does not hurt the body?
In this regard, Michel Desmurget also proposed seven basic rules in the book:
For children under the age of 6, it is simple and clear: Do not use electronic products! Playing, chatting, and reading with parents are the most effective ways to learn.
After the age of 6, there are mainly six items:
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No more than 30 minutes to 1 hour per day
Strictly control screen time. Children under 12 years old should use electronic products for no more than 30 minutes per day, and those over 12 years old should use them for no more than 60 minutes per day.
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Do not allow electronic products in the bedroom
Having electronic products in the bedroom can increase usage time (especially damaging to sleep), and children may sneakily access inappropriate content when adults are not paying attention. There are also many cases of addicted children waking up in the middle of the night to play games or watch videos.
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Do not access inappropriate content
Children lack not only self-control but also the ability to distinguish right from wrong. Therefore, while parents hand over electronic products to their children, they must strictly control the scope of use to prevent children from being exposed to inappropriate content intentionally or unintentionally and going astray.
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Do not use electronic products before going to school in the morning
Many parents, in an attempt to make the most of every minute to “grind their children’s ears,” will let their children listen to audio or watch learning videos while eating breakfast. However, continuous “stimulating” content not only distracts attention and disrupts sensory perception but also affects normal nutritional absorption during meals. Allowing children to daydream and eat breakfast in a quiet environment and chat with their parents can actually enhance their sense of life experience and happiness.
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Do not use electronic products before going to bed at night
The audio-visual stimulation in the evening can shorten sleep time and affect sleep quality. Turning off all electronic products 1.5 hours before bedtime is more beneficial to both body and mind.
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Focus on one thing at a time
The lack of concentration in contemporary children is not due to poor cultivation but rather destruction. The more the brain is used to handling multiple tasks across multiple channels, the more frequently it gets distracted and the lower its efficiency becomes. When listening to a story, focus on the story; when eating, focus on eating; when chatting, focus on chatting. The less utilitarian the parents are, the better each activity can perform its intended function.
These suggestions may seem simple, but each one is difficult to achieve. If parents want to enjoy the benefits of electronic products, they must also take on the corresponding responsibility of supervision.
At the same time, there is one suggestion that is not mentioned in the book but is extremely important:
If you want your children not to be addicted to electronic products, parents must set an example first. For example, start by quitting the bad habits of browsing Taobao, watching short videos, and playing games before going to bed at night.
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