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Recently on CNN it was mentioned that scientists are beginning to think that all of this social networking that is going on, especially something like Twitter just might not be all that beneficial for us, especially children who are still developing mentally. Scientists believe that Twitter and other networks will eventually numb the senses and eventually make us immune to human suffering.

New discoveries have surfaced and what they have discovered is that the massive amounts of information streaming from these sites are actually far too rapid for our brains to be able to process properly and may bypass our brains “moral compass”. This could be extremely harmful for children and teens development on an emotional level.

When bombarded by all the information that comes streaming at them from these types of site, the brain simply does not have enough time to digest let’s say a sad story about someone or a group of people, because the brain is immediately bombarded with more information from Twitter updates and other types of information coming at the person from all directions.

They believe that if things continue to come at you in such a massive rapid pace, a person will not be able to actually feel the emotions that they should feel when seeing bad or sad news about others. That then will have an impact on the person’s own morality.

The information that we may be becoming numb or immune to others pain was discovered through testing volunteers by giving them real life stories which was suppose to stimulate their compassion, pain cause by social factors, pain that was physical and admiration for a virtue of someone. The test revealed that the human brain can process a lot of information and rapidly but it did show that the volunteers responded to physical pain in others rather quickly but they were way slower to show any compassion or admiration for others.

In order for people to be able to show compassion or high regards for another human being, the brain actually needs a little time to be able to process this information in order for the person to be able to express and feel compassion. This is why it is becoming alarming to some that these sites are throwing so much information at us that is nearly impossible to process it all.

Scientists are extremely concerned with how much information continues to bombard the human mind. What will the minds of the youth be like if they continue to be hit with one piece of information after another, not allowing the brain to completely process it? It is important to understand how social interactions like social networks can affect the human brain and how can it possibly be used safely so that people remain to have a moral compass to help direct their lives.

This is a culture where media rules, where most things that are experienced is via some sort of media. We are being overloaded with human suffering and violence through fiction and in the real world. This type of exposure could lead to where we as a people become completely indifferent to the real suffering of others.

What do you think?  Are the "scientists" right?