Book and computer: consider the pros and cons

Computer

pros

Workflow optimization. Agree, many programs make life easier, in particular work life. Even if you take a banal calculator, a calendar with a clock. There is no need to change time when traveling to other countries. And these are just the minimum functions and capabilities.
Information storage. Photos, documents, various lists, tables, etc. can be stored in one space. And also remain calm about reliability and safety. Unless some hacker decides to hack you.
Availability. Having saved the data on one computer, you can easily view it on another by logging into your account. No matter what city or even country you are in.
Information content. You can find an answer to almost any question. And quickly, without flipping through a large number of pages in search. And this is very important, both for solving work problems and for hobbies, self-development and learning.
Leisure. With the help of the Internet and a tablet, a smartphone in particular, you can significantly diversify your leisure time. Watch your favorite or new movies, download music, play games, and so on, depending on your preferences.
Communication. Now, thanks to programs such as Skype, Viber, etc., you can stay in touch with friends and loved ones, even if you are in different parts of the world. What can we say, if groups are already being created in schools and universities, in which important information is laid out, and homework assignments are given.

Minuses

Vision. Due to screen flickering and glare, vision is reduced, even leading to the development of a disease such as cataracts. The eyes withstand a lot of stress, the muscles of the lens become overstrained, as a result of which the person feels tired. It manifests itself in the desire to close the eyes at least for a while, to blink more often due to dryness. Everything around seems blurry, not clear.
Overwork. Working at a computer for a long time can cause headaches, fatigue and even insomnia. An overabundance of information throughout the day simply will not give you the opportunity to relax and fall asleep. And this, as you know, threatens not just chronic fatigue syndrome, asthenia, but also depression.
Diseases. Sedentary work has an extremely negative impact on the spine. Uneven load distribution usually results in neuralgia, osteochondrosis or scoliosis. As well as migraines, problems with intervertebral discs and pinched nerves.
Carpal tunnel syndrome. This is numbness, tingling of the fingers, their swelling. Which leads to difficulty moving and pain.
Physical inactivity. That is, a decrease in the body’s activity, which causes problems with the cardiovascular system, metabolism and even blood supply. Our organs receive less oxygen and nutrients, which, as you understand, is the cause of general malaise, and this is at best.
Stagnation of blood in the pelvic area. Those who spend a lot of time at the computer are usually in a sitting position, which provokes hemorrhoids. Which is a rather painful disease that brings a lot of trouble.

And more about the disadvantages

Addiction. The virtual world gives completely different emotions than the real one. After all, you must admit, it’s easier to communicate when you can’t see faces, when you can hide something and no one will notice, you can even pretend to be a completely different person. The ability to save in the game gives you a chance to take advantage of the experience gained, which cannot be said about life, in which even the slightest mistake can be fatal.
Degradation. Unfortunately, in addition to development, which provides access to any information, its inept use can lead to the opposite consequences. For the most part, this concerns children, who sometimes have access to material that is completely inappropriate for their fragile psyche. For example, to pornographic videos or films with violent scenes, obscene language, etc. Those who become dependent lose interest in the values that previously helped them move forward and achieve some results in self-development. Which inexorably leads to degradation and loss of the knowledge and skills that he previously possessed.

The computer can become your friend or your enemy, depending on how much time you devote to it. So try to use electronic assistants only when necessary, or at least within reasonable limits.

How to avoid harmful consequences

The problems described above are not a given, but a possible development of the situation. Experts recommend protecting children 3-5 years old from getting acquainted with the computer. From 5 to 7 years old, you can let your child play for no more than 20 minutes a day, since the fragile psyche at this age does not allow the child to distinguish virtuality from real life.

A schoolchild between the ages of seven and twelve can already spend a couple of hours at the computer, but not at night. The period after 12 years is less dangerous for development

At this age, a person is able to distinguish between the real and virtual world, but it is worth paying attention to the individual development of the child. Even during this period, it is not recommended to allow playing on the computer before bedtime and at night.

A computer for a schoolchild should be an assistant in his studies. For example, using the Internet, you can prepare abstracts, and elementary school students can prepare short reports. It is also worth keeping an eye on the games your child enjoys. Ideally, educational or “good” games should be installed on the computer.

It is better to limit programs with aggressive content. In addition to this, it is advisable to captivate the student with other entertainment: clubs and sections of any kind, space, theater or dinosaurs. It can be anything, as long as the child gets joy not only from “communication” with this smart machine. Also, the negative impact of the computer can be significantly reduced by following simple rules:

Getting a good monitor will help reduce eye fatigue. The distance from the display to the eyes should be 45-60 centimeters. The source of natural light should be on the left. For an adult, 2 hours of continuous work is acceptable, for a child – half an hour. Then you should be distracted for at least 15 minutes. To preserve your eyesight, you should limit your time playing games and surfing the Internet.

A special computer chair without armrests and on a gas cartridge will allow you to avoid uncomfortable posture and joint pain

It is important to maintain the correct posture. When sitting at a computer, your feet should rest firmly on the floor and your back should remain level.

The position of the head should also be level, and not protruded forward. If it is not possible to purchase a special chair, you should choose the most comfortable chair. It should have a firm seat and a comfortable height. It is also recommended to purchase a computer desk equipped with a retractable keyboard board.

· To prevent mental stress, it is necessary to limit the time spent playing shooting games and spending time on the Internet. You need to regularly take a break from the monitor and ventilate the room.

· With a properly equipped workplace, time spent at the computer can be increased. Accordingly, if the organization is poor, it is advisable to refrain from prolonged contact.

It is also recommended to monitor your child’s hobbies: what games he prefers, what sites he visits. For the convenience and peace of mind of parents, there is a “Parental Control” function on computers that allows you to limit screen time and block dangerous sites.

The main question is to limit your child from using a computer or not? The issue is quite complex, but solvable. A computer, like any household item, can be not only beneficial, but also harmful. But this can be used to describe any household item and any toy. In everything you need to observe moderation and use simple but effective recommendations.

The computer has become a replacement for video consoles, typewriters, stereo systems, and even televisions. But the main advantage is that it has become a means of communication and allows people from different parts of the world to communicate.

Books

pros

Lexicon. When reading literature on different topics, or simply different authors, you will come across words that you usually do not use in your everyday speech. Accordingly, you will encounter terms whose definition you will begin to understand in meaning.
Self-esteem. It increases because with each book you read, your intelligence grows and your horizons expand. Therefore, in a conversation you will feel more confident and free. And in close and not so close circles you may well be considered an interesting interlocutor.
Fighting stress. What do you think will relax you more, relaxing on the sofa with a tablet in your hands, or reading a book in a cozy chair, accompanied by delicious tea? Especially before bed, unless, of course, you decide to choose something mystical with horror elements.
Development. Both thinking and memory, along with spelling literacy.
Youth. By relaxing and feeding your brain, you can help your body fight aging more effectively.
Concentration of attention and the ability to take a balanced approach to solving issues. Having to focus on the content of the book helps you ignore the noise that becomes the background. Therefore, a person learns to think, reflect, without being distracted by the conversations of strangers, the hum of cars, and so on.
Fighting dementia. Brain tone not only helps to prolong youth, but also protects against Alzheimer's disease, which usually affects people in old age. Accompanied by memory loss and fading intelligence, which over time becomes like that of a small child.

And these are not all the advantages that invariably arise when reading. You can get more detailed information by clicking on this link.

Minuses

Vision. Again, vision suffers due to the strain that invariably occurs during prolonged reading. Or if the font is too small and there is not enough lighting in the room.
Change of consciousness. Which does not always bring happiness, as a person begins to understand how limited he is in this world and the like. And a change in consciousness necessarily occurs, since books push one to think, to involuntarily compare oneself in reality with the main characters of the work. And the more we know, the more we understand how little this is compared to how much information exists in principle.
Waste of time. In some cases, we simply waste time, as it happens that we literally completely forget the contents of the textbook and so on. Although it seems that not much time has passed since reading it. But this only applies to those who have memory problems.

Computer or book. People are reading less and less

On September 1 in Russia, and on September 2 in America, the next school year begins, which was preceded by another discussion about the first generation of students who strongly prefer monitor screens to paper books. I am talking about this dramatic problem, including for writers, with the poet Vladimir Gandelsman.

– One of the summer issues of The New York Times discussed the burning question: Do people today really read? This means, first of all, a young man - a schoolboy and student. This is natural, because this is the most impressionable age, besides, from so many books - and, moreover, the classical repertoire - we quickly grow up, and if they are not read at a tender age, they will never be read.

– I read this article, and I would like to clarify the question a little: we are talking about reading a book in its traditional, paper form compared to reading from a computer, from a screen.

– The article (Literacy Debate: Online, RU Really Reading?) begins with an example, for which the girl Nadia (Nadia Konyk) is chosen, she is 15 years old. She, like everyone else these days, is hooked on the Internet. Spends at least 6 hours a day on a computer and lives in the suburbs of Cleveland. She checks email, reads popular websites, watches video clips on YouTube. The mother wants her daughter to read books, but she is also glad that she is reading at least something, even from the computer. What does READING mean in the digital age? This is the question.

- And it’s very important. The discussion took place at the state level among education experts, teachers, not to mention parents who are raising the first generation to discover computer reading.

– Testing shows that the level of reading, and the ability to read in general, is falling. Many believe that surfing the Internet is the enemy of reading, that because of this, literacy decreases, attention is scattered, and in general the culture, which is based largely on communication with books, is dying. Others believe that the Internet is a new way of reading, that it inspires people like Nadya to read and write during leisure hours, which, without the Internet, she would spend watching TV.

– Bill Gates once said that the computer took children away not from the book, but from the TV.

– In addition, even avid readers sometimes talk about the advantages of online reading: the speed of recognizing different points of view on the subject of reading, the ability to instantly exchange opinions. All these are advantages.

– To be fair, it must be said that concerns about the fate of the book arose a long time ago, even with the advent of television.

– Another point: on paper, in a book, the beginning, middle and end are predetermined by the author of the book. A rapid slide begins on the Internet, all stages are mixed at the will of the reader.

- It's not that simple. Postmodernist critics, and myself, unfortunately, wrote that maybe this is good, because the world itself is not linear, it’s not line by line. Any linearity is already violence against nature. That's why new writers like Milorad Pavic are trying to write non-linear novels.

– Well, philosophy can be added to anything, if there is a desire. However, I am not inclined to welcome or condemn screen reading. A matter of taste and habit. For example, I can’t read prose from a computer...

- I can not too. I just don't understand the subtlety.

“You and I don’t have this habit, that’s all.” But I read poetry easily - it’s quick, and it works out quite well. Traditionalists sometimes compare reading on the Internet to consuming calories. And those who believe in the Internet, their minority, sometimes deny the value of reading in general. They are convinced that today's young people will not read To Kill a Mockingbird or Pride and Prejudice for pleasure. And it is not necessary. Let them read what they read on the Internet. But, experts say, those who read on the Internet are more successful in finding work in the digital age, in the digital age. This is, so to speak, a practical view of things.

– In short, reading is impractical. Like any love. This is understandable, but does this mean that there are fewer and fewer impractical people?

- Alas, there are statistics. In 1984, 9% of 17-year-old Americans said they never read for pleasure. In 2004, this figure was already 19%. The number of non-readers has doubled. Average statistical figure: how much time does a child from 8 to 18 years spend in front of a computer screen? In 1999 – 45 minutes, in 2004 – 2 hours. The process is clearly irreversible. Okay, let it be at the computer, but let it be COMPETENT at the computer. Therefore, Internet evangelists propose to evaluate children's ability to work at a computer, just as is done with ordinary oral and written tests of comprehension and reading. An international digital literacy assessment program will be introduced next year.

– The reading public is declining. I heard the following statistics: 40% of Russian children do not read anything at all.

– The statistics probably don’t lie. But perhaps this is a problem for fathers, not children. Let's remember how we read War and Peace. How many of us during our school years read this book not because it was required by the program, but because we WAS READ?

– I must say that I really read “War and Peace” five years ago. Only then did I understand what I had been deprived of at the time.

– In addition, everything that we read according to the program was pre-packaged: Pushkin is “our everything”, Pechorin is an extra person. Today's savage does not know this, and this is perhaps good - his thinking is freer. But savagery also has a downside... A friend of mine, a teacher at a medical university, that is, a person who deals with people who have recently graduated from school, just told me: he read a couple of lines in the audience: “Once upon a time an old man lived with his old woman by the very blue sea... " And asked what it was. NOBODY knew. It is good to have free thinking, but it cannot be free if there is no subject of thinking.

– It is interesting that the New York Times correspondent says that the greatest successes are achieved in those countries where there is a public policy in the field of reading and where the emphasis in this policy is on reading for children and youth.

– Yes, and the most striking examples in this regard are France and the UK, where there is a comprehensive policy in the field of reading support. In France, for example, it is initiated by the Ministry of Culture, in Great Britain - by the Ministry of Education. In the USA, a government program was adopted in 1985. It states that “to preserve and advance American democracy, it is urgent to transform America into a nation of readers.” That's it - no more and no less: to preserve democracy...

- This is logical. Elections require literate voters...

– If we summarize what we talked about, then we should say this: we live during the computer revolution. The speed at which it happens is mind-blowing. This is reflected in a person’s biorhythm; in other words, he goes further and further into the computer. Therefore, if a modern person or a person of the future “not my stupid lord, but Belinsky and Gogol from the market,” then, most likely, we will not know about it, because he will have a computer in his hands, and will the “user” request e-books? - God knows. For some reason I wish there were.