Mind Change

“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
 
“[Greenfield] is not just an engaging communicator but a thoughtful, responsible scientist, and the arguments she makes are well-supported and persuasive.”—Mail on Sunday
 
“Greenfield’s admirable goal to prove an empirical basis for discussion is . . . an important one.”—Financial Times
 
“Greenfield’s Mind Change . . . proposes that global climate change can serve as a useful metaphor for how human minds—our inner environments—are, in her view, being recklessly altered by digital technologies. . . . Mind Change is an important presentation of an uncomfortable minority position.”—Jaron Lanier, Nature
 
“Greenfield is a lucid and thorough communicator, and this book is highly accessible to those with no knowledge of neuroscience. . . . That I kept being distracted from my reading to check Facebook was less a reflection on the quality of the book than a sobering lesson in how relevant these issues are.”—The Independent
 
“Susan Greenfield has produced a gem of a book—written with both verve and impressive clarity—warning not of the obvious dangers like a loss of privacy, but of what technology might do to our brains and social relations, to how we learn and teach, to the narcissism exemplified by ‘selfies.’ While the author is a scholar, she is never obscure. Nor is she a Luddite, hitting readers over the head with a certitude about our dour future. Rather, she adds a fresh voice, vividly connecting the dots to reveal that ‘mind change,’ as she calls it, is as vital to grapple with as climate change.”—Ken Auletta, author of Googled: The End of the World As We Know It
 
“This is just the book we need now as we proceed to absorb fresh digital innovations: a scientific review of their effects on the brain and what they mean for our minds. Neither a naysayer nor an enthusiast, she is a sober, reliable, and engaging voice on screen experience, telling us what happens inside our heads each time we log on, connect, play, and emote.”—Mark Bauerlein, author of The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future (Or, Don’t Trust Anyone Under 30)
 
 “Susan Greenfield is the David Suzuki of the digital moment. She is a wise and conscientious scientist intent on waking up a complacent world. While others demur that the jury is still out about the effects of screen time on our minds, Greenfield is emphatic: We are changed in very real ways by our digital lives—and not always for the better. I was thrilled and fascinated to read this brave new work.”—Michael Harris, author of The End of Absence: Reclaiming What We’ve Lost in a World of Constant Connection