Susan Greenfield: The Quest for Identity

Yesterday, I went to hear Susan Greenfield speak at the State Library of Victoria. Her latest book is ID: The Quest for Identity in the 21st Century. She posed the question: Is individual identity in crisis? In other words, instead of being SOMEONE or ANYONE, could we be heading towards being NO-ONE? In exploring these questions, she differentiated between 'People of the Book' and the 'People of the Screen'. To explain the latter, she listed the effects of screen culture on thinking, identity and risk-taking. She believes that an emphasis on sensory stimulation and sensational fragments leaves little room for a continuous narrative, a characteristic of book culture where cognitive meaning-making develops a conceptual framewok for navigating the world. She sees a focus on creativity as vital for the future...

Two of many reviews of her book and ideas can be found at:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/may/31/scienceandnature.society

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article3901315.ece