The universal use of technology has resulted in a constant current of information interrupting the "flow" of our life. This disturbing pattern was initially marketed as "call-waiting" for our phones. But now our eyes, ears, and fingers are glued to our technology24/7. We are flooded by emails, texts, or the news feeds on our Face book pages. My friend Ron refers to this technology as "weapons of mass distraction."

    1    According to a 2010 Kaiser Family Foundation report, children from eight to eighteen spend an average of seven hours and thirty-eight minutes a day using entertainment media. In addition, a study published in the August 2010 issue Pediatrics found that exposure to screen media was associated with attention problems in a sale of 210 college students.

    2    . Dealing with a crowd of daily text messages and emails makes it difficult for us to be by ourselves when all that activity stops. Although a sense of loneliness is natural at times, our addiction to the nonstop interaction afforded by technology deepens that feeling when access to the technology is unexpectedly unavailable. Just think how you feel when you lack cell phone or web access. Is it possible that our obsession with continually checking our emails and text messages has contributed to our inability to genuinely relate with others and find enjoyment without constant stimulation?

Aside from the impact of technology on our attention and our ability to be at ease in the absence of our technology, let's examine how interacting with our devices interferes with the development of our fundamental communication and social skills. Many researchers observe that everyday conversation between human beings is becoming increasingly rare.

Many of today's children are growing up with a built-in dependence on devices, making it difficult for them to feel comfortable in everyday social situations.    3    .

Over time these children forget how to relate with each other because they have become habituated to using technology to avoid direct contact with others and life itself.    4    .

【推荐2】Although his 1-year-old smart-phone still works perfectly, Li Jijia already feels the need to replace it. “There are many better ones available now. It's time to upgrade(更新)my phone.”

Li’s impatience is shared by many. Shortly after the season when new products are released(发布,发售), many consumers feel the urge to upgrade their electronic equipment, even though the ones they have still work just fine.

As consumers’ minds are occupied by Apple’s newly- released products and debate whether the Google tablet is better than the new Amazon Kindle, it might be time to take a step back and ask: “Do we really need the latest upgrades?”

According to Donald Norman, an American author, “planned obsolescence (淘汰)” is the trick behind the upgrading culture of today’s consumer electronics industry.

Electronics producers strategically(战略性地) release new upgrades periodically, both for hardware and software, so that customers on every level feel the need to buy the newest version.

“This is an old-time trick---they’re not inventing anything new,” Norman said. “This is a wasteful system through which companies--many of them producing personal electronics-- release poor-quality products simply because they know that, in six months or a year, they’ll put out a new one.”

But the new psychology of consumers is part of this system, as Norman admitted, “We now want something new, something pretty, the next shiny thing.” In its most recent year, Apple's profit margin(利润) was more than 21 percent. At Hewlett-Packard, the world’s biggest PC maker, it was only 7 percent.

Apple’s annual upgrades of its products create sales of millions of units as owners of one year’s MacBook or iPhone line up to buy the newest version(版本), even when the changes are slight.

As to Li Jijia, the need for upgrading his smart-phone comes mainly from friends and classmates. When they are switching to the latest equipment, he worries about feeling left out.

“Some games require better hardware to run,” said Li. “If you don't join in, you lose part of the connection to your friends.”

【推荐3】One recent report found that adults in the US check their phones, on average, 344 times a day—once every four minutes—and spend almost three hours a day on their devices in total. The problem for many of us is that one quick phone-related task leads to a quick check of our email or social media feeds, and suddenly we’ve been trapped into endless scrolling (刷屏).

What we do know is that the simple distraction of checking a phone or seeing a notification (提示) can have negative consequences. This isn’t very surprising; we know that, in general multitasking harms memory and performance. One of the most dangerous examples is phone use while driving. One study found that merely speaking on the phone, not texting, was enough to make drivers slower to react on the road. It’s true for everyday tasks, too. Simply hearing a notification “ding” made participants of another study perform far worse on a task-almost as badly as participants who were speaking or texting on the phone during the task.

In one recent study, for example, researchers asked participants to either put their phones next to them so they were visible (like on a desk), nearby and out of sight (like in a bag or pocket), or in another room. Participants then completed a series of tasks to test their abilities to process and remember information, their problem-solving, and their focus.

They were found to perform far better when their phones were in another room instead of nearby—whether visible, powered on or not. That held true even though most of the participants claimed not to be consciously thinking about their devices.

Our brains may be subconsciously hard at work in preventing the desire from checking our phones, or constantly monitoring the environment to see if we should check our phone (eg. waiting for a notification). Either way, this distracted attention can make doing anything else more difficult. The only “fix”, the researchers found, was putting the device in a different room entirely.

【推荐1】A young and successful manager was traveling down a neighborhood street, going a bit too fast in his new Jaguar (捷豹) . He was watching for kids rushing out from between parked cars and slowed down when he thought he saw something.

As his car passed, one child appeared, and a brick smashed(撞击) into the Jag’s side door. He slammed (砰地关上) on the brakes and spun the Jag back to the spot from where the brick had been thrown.

He jumped out of the car, grabbed some kid and pushed him up against a parked car, shouting. “What was that all about and who are you? Just what are you doing?”

Building up a head of steam, he went on “That’s a new car and that brick you threw cost a lot of money. Why did you do it?”

“Please, mister, please, I’m sorry. I didn’t know what else to do! pleaded(恳求) the youngster.

“It’s my brother,” he said. “He rolled off the curb and fell out of his wheelchair and I can’t lift him up. Sobbing, the boy asked the manager, “Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair?

He’s hurt and he’s too heavy for me.”

Moved beyond words, the driver tried to swallow the rapidly swelling lump in his throat. He lifted the young man back into the wheelchair and took out his handkerchief and wiped the scrapes and cuts, checking to see that everything was going to be okay.

“Thank you, sir. And God bless you,” the grateful child said to him. The man then watched the little boy push his brother to the sidewalk toward their home.

It was a long walk backs to his Jaguar... a long, slow walk. He never did repair the side door. He kept the dent (凹痕) to remind him not to go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at you to get your attention.

Life whispers in your soul and speaks to your heart. Sometimes, when you don’t have the time to listen... Life throws a brick at your head.

It’s your choice: Listen to the whispers of your soul or wait for the brick!

【推荐2】In this semester, Professor Van Rijnsoever of Utrecht University of the Netherlands is to teach “Dutch Culture in the World”, in English.

The language is the university’s choice. Actually sixty percent of masters’ programs at Utrecht University are in English. At higher degrees' level, no courses are taught in Dutch at all.

Utrecht is not alone.

The University of Eindhoven has even completely kicked the Dutch language out of its campus. Even the sandwiches in the stores there are sold as cheese rather than with the Dutch word “kaas”.

As a result, the Netherlands has one of the world’s highest levels of English proficiency （流利）among non-native speaking countries, second only to Sweden.

But not everyone is happy with that .

“I don't mind. Most of the literature is in English,” says Professor Van Rijnsoever. “As a teacher it’s not that much of a problem because we also do research in English. For the students, you see they are struggling to express themselves properly.”

He added “We aren’t as good at English as they think we are. We shouldn’t use a weaker language in education. If we use just English in higher education, Dutch will get worse. We add a bit of English and we lose a bit of Dutch. We cannot master Dutch and English at the same time.”

Actually, English is so widely used in Dutch universities that a group of lecturers are worried about a possible “linguicide” and demanded that the universities stop creating more courses in English until an official research has been carried out.

“Dutch is our mother tongue. Our culture is based on Dutch,” says Annette de Groot, a lecturer at the University of Amsterdam. “What would happen to our identity（身份）if our mother tongue is no longer the main language of higher education?”

“It is high time for an honest debate.” said a teacher from the University of Erasmus.

【推荐3】I was diagnosed(诊断)with cancer last June. Finding out that I had breast cancer felt like I’d been locked up in a prison cell, but I later found something unexpected: freedom.

Tests and procedures followed. Once the daily treatments started, I was tired out. The tiredness that came with cancer was not like any kind of tiredness I’d known before.

Then the magic happened.

I started to realize that this life change had brought an unexpected gift. The usual pressures of life gave way to a different kind of stress, but it came with self-discovery. I do what I can and don’t care about the rest. With the disease, decisions come more easily, and things that I’d previously weighted more heavily no longer matter as much. I don’t need a perfect home. What does matter now is having family and friends and a husband who can shoulder this new responsibility with me.

The doctor says my situation is very good and there’s a 91 percent chance that I’ll still be alive in 10 years. I look forward to simple things like my garden this spring, and going back to work when I’m healthy again. I’m also imagining the joy of getting my quiet and modest life back. It’s inspiring and there are lots of people there with me. And the professionals are really good at what they do.

I used to wonder how it would feel to be told I had cancer. Sure, my first reaction was fear, panic, sorrow, and anger. Then I found my strength. The fear is still there, but to my amazement, I am handling it. “You got this,” people say encouragingly.