海角大神

The constant glow of our electronic devices is not dimming, nor are concerns about everything from addiction to safety. But is our well-being really in jeopardy from technology?

This week, the Pew Research Center published the results of a 聽it conducted with Elon University to see what experts thought.

Just under half of the more than 1,000 respondents predicted that our well-being will be more helped than harmed by digital life in the next decade. About a third foresee more harm than help. The rest say they don鈥檛 envision much change from now.

Making a case for the 鈥渉elp鈥� group is Europe-based Pete Cranston, a tech trainer and consultant. He argues that worries about hyperconnectedness, though real, come from first-worlders who are not lacking in resources. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a rest-of-the-world response which focuses more on the massive benefits to life from access,鈥� he notes, citing finance, research, shopping, and keeping in touch with family (鈥渢hink migrant workers rather than gap-year youth鈥�).

Respondents offer evolutionary ideas for mitigating the problems raised by the 鈥渉arm鈥� group (which are bolstered by ). Pew puts the interventions in buckets like 鈥渞eimagine systems,鈥� 鈥渞einvent tech,鈥� and 鈥渞egulate.鈥澛�

The comments of Sheizaf Rafaeli, a professor at the University of Haifa in Israel, show up under 鈥渞ecalibrate expectations.鈥� 鈥淧eople are adaptive,鈥� he explains. 鈥淚n the long run, we are reasonable, too. We will learn how to rein in the pitfalls, threats, bad guys and ill-meaning uses. These will continue to show up, but the march is towards progress.鈥�

Here are our five stories, which focus on hope, diligence, and perseverance.聽