Can Books Avert What Digital Stuff Does to Our Brains?
Around a hundred years back, The Oxford and Cambridge Review published E.M. Forster’s short story, The Machine Stops, in which an enigmatic machine controls everything, from food supplies to information technologies. The imagined society communicates and settles down all its matters through that machine without face-to-face meetings. Eventually, the machine stops working, and society crumbles.
Inadvertently, the story relates to the modern era wherein the involvement of the internet and digital technology in our lives has gone too far, and unfortunately, it has started negatively impacting our brains as well. Yes, our digital devices are damaging our brains, health, and behaviors. They are fine-tuned to grab our attention no matter what we are doing: studying, eating, driving, or else. Every email, instant message, TikTok, and YouTube video gives a push to our dopamine, a chemical released in the brain that makes us feel good, and we robotically perform for the sake of that pleasure, up to the point of exhaustion.
The Problems with Digital Stuff
We are not disregarding the transformation in education, communication, health, and other sectors of life caused by digital advancement. However, we cannot turn a blind eye to the negative impact of intensive and unfair use of technology on our mental, physical, and emotional health. If we exemplify the education sector, the development of eBooks and open educational resources have played a pivotal role in widening access to textbooks and learning material while also reducing students’ financial costs. However, this digital learning material does not come without distractions and other concerns.
Suppose you are reading an eBook on your smartphone and, meanwhile, your device notifies you of an email. What would you do? Won’t you stop reading to check out that email? Even if you are dedicated to your studies and don’t check that email right away, that unread email will continue distracting you until you open it. And this is not just one email, your friends’ social media activities, phone calls, instant messages, latest news stories, and the whole digital world seem geared up to derail you.
The digital dopamine addiction keeps you from concentrating on books, work, family, and friends. And don’t forget the sleepless nights that keep you fatigued in the morning. A Harvard University research study found that reading an eBook before bed reduced the production of melatonin, which is an important sleep hormone. As a result, people took more time to fall asleep and experienced less deep sleep. It doesn’t end here. Melatonin suppression also increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes, and even cancer.
Can Books Save Us from This Damage?
Reading is the greatest habit one can ever have as it prevents mental decline, boosts knowledge, and shapes up intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually. But the way you are reading also matters. The old-fashioned paper books have something special that Kindles and Nooks seem to lack. Reading a good book while putting your smartphone aside helps you focus on a tale that takes you to an unexplored world and makes you feel better on every level.
Furthermore, a paper book can actually help you sleep better by turning off all the digital distractions and clearing your mind from the stress of staying connected to the digital world. The soft light reflecting from the papers does not strike your brain the way an eBook, or a screen does.
Shifting to classic paper books can help readers have a healthier brain, improved concentration, and an enhanced learning experience. And the best thing is that you don’t have to pay for these books all the time, thanks to the resources for free paper books. Upgrade your reading list by getting popular and widely regarded books, fiction novels, non-fiction books, textbooks, and more learning material utilizing online and offline resources. You’ll experience a positive change in your health and life, and we can bet on it!
