DL 318

All That Becomes You

Welcome back, all. Here is Digitally Literate, issue #318.

I posted the following this week:

🔖 Key Takeaways

📚 This Week’s Highlights

1. The story of Replika, the AI app that becomes you

A deep dive into the technology behind Replika and its implications for society, including concerning trends like users verbally abusing their AI companions.

In a related story, this week I started reading about men creating AI girlfriends and then verbally abusing them.

Why this matters: The development and use of AI tools reflect broader societal norms and behaviors.

Alan Lightman in The Atlantic writes about the challenges of living in an almost natureless world.

In the more frenzied and tech-heavy times of today, we require more effort to creep out of our close and crowded houses. But the poet Mary Oliver succeeded. In her 1972 poem “Sleeping in the Forest,” Oliver writes that she “slept as never before, a stone / on the riverbed, nothing between me and the white fire of stars / but my thoughts, and they floated / light as moths among the branches / of the perfect trees … By morning / I had vanished at least a dozen times / into something better.”

The woods are particularly restorative. Japanese doctors and psychologists have developed a mental therapy called “forest bathing” (shinrin-yoku). The idea is that spending time in nature—specifically walking through forests—might improve mental health.
Why this matters: Incorporating nature into our lives is essential for mental and emotional well-being.

Kate Hardin writes in Dame Magazine about the challenges of critical reading in an era of information overload and digital noise.

Since the internet has made the entire world a library with no exits or supervisors, many readers treat every published piece of writing as a conversation opener, demanding a bespoke response.

Why this matters: Critical literacy is a foundational skill for navigating today’s information-rich environments.

A new study from MIT Sloan researchers takes a look at the role of digital literacy — familiarity with basic concepts related to the internet and social media — with mixed results.

Digital literacy is associated with more discerning judgment about what’s true and false, but it doesn’t seem to predict whether the person is more or less likely to share false information on social media.

Digital literacy matters...but it doesn't make people less likely to share false information.
Why this matters: Combating misinformation requires more than just digital literacy—it demands deeper behavioral and cultural shifts.

Jacqueline Nesi writes in Psyche about the narrative of technology wreaking havoc on society, destroying the mental health of its young people. Is it true?

Has the proliferation of social media caused a decline in mental health? Some researchers have argued as much, citing associations between digital media use and mental health outcomes such as depression. Yet others have challenged this view, arguing that these associations are inconsistent and too small to be practically meaningful. A controversial debate has unfolded among researchers and the general public. Is social media use good or bad for our mental health?

Nesi's research suggests that outside of excessive use that interferes with daily functioning, the average frequency with which individuals use social media is not reliably associated with suicidality. Social connection is a major protective factor against suicide risk, and social media provides social support that is both immediate and accessible.

We can stop asking simply whether social media is good or bad for our mental health, and instead ask when and how social media affects us, as individuals.
Why this matters: Social media can be a double-edged sword for mental health, offering both connections and challenges.

Elizabeth M. Renieris suggests that without a critical perspective, familiar harms will not only be replicated; they will be exacerbated.

And increasingly apparent in the Web3 discourse is a kind of imaginative obsolescence: As one vision of the future rapidly replaces the next, the technologies and systems now in place suffer decay and disrepair. Our imaginations and resources are once again diverted from fixing or rehabilitating what exists. Meanwhile, familiar problems, inevitably, resurface. Imaginative obsolescence also upends efforts at effective technological governance — and perhaps that is exactly the point.
Why this matters: As new technologies emerge, scrutiny is essential to ensure they serve societal needs.

🛠️ DO: Cognitive Load Theory and Its Applications for Learning

Scott H. Young explains cognitive load theory, which highlights the mental bandwidth needed for learning.

Learn more here.

🌟 Closing Reflection

“Understanding means throwing away your knowledge.”
— Thich Nhat Hanh

Reflect and Engage

Thank you for reading Digitally Literate. Stay tuned for more insights and discussions. Connect with me at hello@digitallyliterate.net or explore Newsletter Index for all past issues.

I really enjoyed these morning messages shared on the episode about misinformation on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.