While ISIS is not exactly in the media spotlight at the moment, they have been hard at work in the shadows damaging lives and uprooting peace all over the world. J. M. Berger writes an article on how ISIS uses technology and social media to recruit followers for ISIS, but also how to disrupt the communication to prevent ISIS from gaining footholds.

Berger, J. M. “How Terrorists Recruit Online (and How to Stop It).” Brookings, Brookings, 9 Nov. 2015, www.brookings.edu/blog/markaz/2015/11/09/how- terrorists-recruit-online-and-how-to-stop-it/.

Having a physical change occur in the body due to a conscious choice can be the most satisfying thing to experience, whether it be working out or changing the neuronal structure in the brain. Seeing that your choice can make a difference in your life gives a kind of power that shows you have control. Choosing to ignore hate-filled accounts on social media will make the choice easier and easier over time, to the point where the choice is not even conscious anymore.

Here is an article on how our brain decides to make decisions and what happens during those choices.

According to this point easily distracted people are more likely to be less intelligent due to self-control issues. Does this mean that someone who allows their social media lives to be easily influenced by the likes of ISIS is automatically less intelligent than someone who knows to report or block these nefarious distractions?

Technology provides many people with ways to express themselves they would not be able to otherwise, as well as discover other people who share common values or goals. While this is a major positive for many situations, it can sometimes lead to an echo chamber effect where the only opinions one hears are shared. This effect reinforces the idea that their opinion is correct and others are wrong. This is shown to be the case when recruiters for ISIS surround a potential recruit and shower them with ideas that they have comrades with similar ideals in ISIS.

Technology provides many people with ways to express themselves they would not be able to otherwise, as well as discover other people who share common values or goals. While this is a major positive for many situations, it can sometimes lead to an echo chamber effect where the only opinions one hears are shared. This effect reinforces the idea that their opinion is correct and others are wrong. This is shown to be the case when recruiters for ISIS surround a potential recruit and shower them with ideas that they have comrades with similar ideals in ISIS.

Accomplishing a goal on any kind of social media can be a difficult task for anyone. With all the distractions like comedy pages, news stories, and a host of other entertainment venues, it is a wonder that anything can get done. Unfortunately, these distractions can sometimes be disguised as something sinister. The Islamic State is an organization that employs terroristic tactics to achieve their goals. Due to the advancements of technology, IS has been able to use social media to recruit people for their war. If an unprepared person happens upon an IS recruiter then they could be swayed to join or participate in IS activities.

This point hints toward how many people will complain about new technology no matter what the technology is. If the internet had not existed and horse and carriage was still popular when Davidson had this experience, she still would have likely hit the dog. Because Davidson made a conscious effort to pay more attention to her surroundings, the dog was saved and she learned a lesson about the human mind that could not be learned otherwise; our attention can be tracked and learned from.

Stanislas Dehaene is an accomplished professor at the Collège de France, author, and director of INSERM Unit 562. He is most recognized for his work on numerical cognition, which began as a test to understand whether numbers were understood in an analog or compositional manner.

Stanislas Dehaene

Here, he is arguing his view that consciousness is not philosophical, but an evolving process.

Rheingold ponders whether or not genetics have a significant impact on what he observes as multitasking. When he presents the same question to Clifford Nass, Nass reveals that what the student is most likely doing is task switching rapidly. In fact, Nass says that when people multitask, productivity goes down.

This is a Clifford Nass TED Talk on the matter.

Howard Rheingold has been a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and Most recently, Stanford. He has been interested in how the human mind interacts with the internet almost since it was available to the public.

Here is his TED talk with nearly one million views.

Here is his personal website.