1. “To be or not to be …
human…
in our digital world”

2. “What makes me different
from other forms of life?”
Neurologist’s findings*
• Pursuit of Social Connection
• Empathy
• Art, Beauty, Music
• Superior Thinking
• Moral Compass
* Michael Gazzaniga, 2008.
Human: The Science Behind What Makes Us Unique

3. The human choice
To friend or
to unfriend…
The friendship deficit
syndrome*
“ I have 1,372 friends on
Facebook …
but I feel lonely
and depressed”
* Reference: The Friendship-Deficit Syndrome
http://www.catholicculture.org/news/features/index.cfm?recnum=30077
Utopia
Dystopia
Technology as a tool to
enable or supplement
real connection
and true friendship

4. The human choice
To empathize or
not to empathize
Desensitization to
other people’s pain
“ The average child will
watch 8,000 murders
on TV before finishing
elementary school…
200,000 acts of
violence by age 18. ”
- www.csun.edu
Utopia
Dystopia
Increase in our awareness
of suffering in other
countries and our ability
to rally as a global family
to support them

5. The human choice
To see or not
to see beauty
Emphasis on the ugly,
the distorted,
“culture of death”.
Pornography
(utilitarian view of
women vs. real
beauty)
Utopia
Dystopia
Rediscovery of arts
and music
Almost equal chance
for talent discovery
via YouTube

6. The human choice
To be or not to
be thoughtful
Bombardment of our
minds by various
frivolous stimuli,
tweets, e-mail,
videos, etc., that
denies man of time to
think, reflect, to be
mindful*.
Utopia
Dystopia
Technology as a
tool to provoke
profound questions
about man and life
e.g. Coursera, good blogs, web
content
* Ellen Langer (2014)
https://hbr.org/2014/03/mindfulness-in-
the-age-of-complexity

7. The human choice
To seek or not to seek
what is good and true
Technology enables
and amplifies our bad
acts
Utopia
Dystopia
Technology enables and
amplifies our good
motives, actions, and
their good consequences.

8. “To be or not to be …
human…
in our digital world…
Is our choice*
* Sorry, Chandler

9. Thank you for all the great ideas that were
shared by everyone these past 4 weeks
Romualdo Rodriguez (Toronto)
rcrodriguez2004@yahoo.ca