Zehn Jahre Digitale Demenz

Im Sommer 2012 erschien meine Monografie Digitale Demenz [43] und löste einen Sturm der Entrüstung aus [44]. Noch nie hatte ich einen solchen Shitstorm[ ¹ ] erlebt. Wie könne man so etwas behaupten? Es gäbe keinerlei Daten, die einen Zusammenhang zwischen der Nutzung digitaler Medien und Demenz beweisen würden – sagten nicht nur Journalisten und Medienleute, sondern auch Psychologen und Neurowissenschaftler, zu denen ich mich ebenso zähle wie zu den Psychiatern, die das Buch zumeist nicht wirklich ernst nahmen und meinten, ich hätte mit der Verwendung des Begriffs der Demenz unsachlich diskutiert. Trotz einer großen Leserschaft (Spiegel Bestseller und Übersetzungen, nach Angaben des Verlags, in 17 Sprachen; [ Abb. 1 ]) und eines gewissen Interesses der Medien (Talkshows) hatte das Buch keinerlei Auswirkung auf die Nutzung digitaler Medien, die in den letzten 10 Jahren noch deutlich zugenommen hat.

Abb. 1 Titelseiten (Cover) von 12 Übersetzungen, die ich in meinem Bücherschrank finden konnte, in (von links oben der Reihe nach bis rechts unten) Russisch, Niederländisch, Chinesisch, Norwegisch, Koreanisch, Spanisch, Kroatisch, Slowenisch, Tschechisch, Rumänisch, Japanisch, Dänisch und Slowakisch. Zudem sind mir Übersetzungen ins Italienische, Polnische und Taiwanesische bekannt. Foto: ©Autor

Man könnte das Ganze als „Lebenserfahrung“ (so nennt man seine eher unschönen Erfahrungen, wie schon John Lennon formulierte) beiseite tun, wenn der Inhalt mittlerweile an Bedeutung verloren hätte. Im Gegensatz zur öffentlichen Diskussion – kaum noch jemand spricht davon – ist digitale Demenz jedoch aus wissenschaftlicher Sicht dabei, Mainstream zu werden.

Publication History

Article published online:
11 November 2022

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