雄性衰落

Man (Dis)connected: How Technology Has Sabotaged What It Means To Be Male"" is a compassionate look at the phenomenon of young men disappearing into the virtual worlds of videogaming and porn - to the detriment of everyone. It's grounded in a 20,000-subject survey conducted in 2011, highlights of which are visually represented in an appendix. For example, almost 60% of the men surveyed thought there was a strong relationship between video gaming/porn watching and ""lack of interest in pursuing or maintaining a relationship"" (social isolation). Authors Zimbardo and Coulombe go beyond cautioning about today's hyper-alluring technologies. They tackle additional contributing factors, such as absent dads, failing schools, environmental toxins, economic realities, etc. Finally, they offer a range of suggestions for parents, media, governments, men, women and schools. Clearly, guys deserve information gleaned from the hundreds of recent studies on how today's hyper-arousing stimulation potentially interacts with the brain, how plastic (and vulnerable) adolescent brains are, and how users are always training their brains for where they will end up sexually and otherwise. They need solid, scientific information on why balance is essential. They also need to hear about the experiences of their peers who experiment with unhooking from internet diversions. This brings me to the book's gravest omission: Where is the clear call to young men to make the experiment of unhooking from porn and gaming for a few months, just to see what they notice? Guys don't have to be addicted to be adversely affected by internet overuse, although certainly not every user will be negatively affected. The point is that, until they unhook, they don't know whether it has affected them or not. Guys who make this simple experiment often report unexpected increases in motivation, ambition, focus, charisma and desire to socialize. Excessive users who make the same experiment frequently see more dramatic reversals of severe social anxiety, concentration/memory problems, debilitating apathy, lack of attraction to real partners, inability to orgasm during sex, and erectile dysfunction (which has now risen to over 30% in young men). While other elements of society may also be able to help young men re-engage, the young men already have the power to make this straightforward experiment themselves. For many, unhooking from their virtual worlds and engaging with reality becomes a challenging, yet rewarding rite of passage out of The Cloud into a satisfying adulthood.