The 21st century society has witnessed significant changes, which reflect a tremendous deviation from the 1950 society. Researchers and scholars have studied these changes for the past several years and their findings vary considerably. To begin with, some researchers attribute the changes in society, both positive and negative, to the fast changing technology. For instance, in her work, Davidson observes that the introduction of technology in a learning environment has contributed to an enhanced level of creativity and innovativeness among learners, as well as improved their learning experience (52). Whereas Davidson promotes the aspect that technology contributes positively to the growth of society, Nelson thinks technology has a negative impact on society. In particular, Nelson reiterates that due to the too much exposure to torture, rape, violence and gory images through the media, people have become insensitive to different vices that promote violence and bloodshed in society (301). Importantly, whereas Nelson and Davidson emphasise the fact that technology is transforming society in different ways, other researchers argue that society in itself is changing due to the changing nature of its values. In particular, Twenge notes that whereas the 1950s society valued the society over an individual, the modern society is obsessed with the self (491). Thus, apart from the impacts of technology, there is a significant shift in the values and perceptions in the modern society, which has significantly transformed the way people relate with themselves and with others. This paper explores the work of Nelson, Davidson and Twenge on the transformation witnessed so far in modern society.
21世纪的社会发生了重大变化，反映了与1950年社会的巨大背离。过去几年来，研究人员和学者对这些变化进行了研究，他们的发现差异很大。首先，一些研究人员将社会的变化，无论是积极的还是消极的，归因于快速变化的技术。例如，戴维森在她的工作中观察到，在学习环境中引入技术有助于提高学习者的创造力和创新水平，并改善他们的学习体验（52）。戴维森提倡技术对社会发展做出积极贡献，而纳尔逊则认为技术对社会有负面影响。特别是，Nelson重申，由于媒体对酷刑、强奸、暴力和血腥形象的曝光太多，人们对社会上助长暴力和流血的各种恶习变得麻木不仁（301）。重要的是，Nelson和Davidson强调技术正在以不同的方式改变社会，而其他研究人员则认为，社会本身正在改变，这是因为其价值观的性质在改变。特温奇特别指出，20世纪50年代的社会重视社会而不是个人，而现代社会则沉迷于自我（491）。因此，除了技术的影响外，现代社会的价值观和观念也发生了重大变化，这极大地改变了人们与自己和他人的关系。本文探讨了纳尔逊、戴维森和特温奇关于现代社会迄今为止所见证的变革的工作。
The analysis of the articles by Nelson, Davidson and Twenge indicate that there are different positive and negative changes that have occurred in society since the 1950s. To begin with, Davidson perceives that the modern society has made significant transformations as far as learning is concerned. In line with this, she observes that whereas the integration of digital technology in the modern learning environment promotes collaboration between learners, thus enhancing their ability to not only develop new ideas but also produce new innovations (50). For example, she notes that the introduction of the iPod as a learning tool creating a platform for student to develop innovative ways of using this device to enhance their learning experience, thus extending its use from an entertainment gadget to a learning gadget (54). On her part, Nelson argues that through the use of technology, especially in the media industry, people from different parts of the globe have a chance to be connected to each other and as such, enhance their awareness of what is happening in different societies around the globe (303). Such interconnectedness has helped promote the emergence of different groups and organisations such as the Hub, which promote the need to uphold human rights in different parts of the world. Similarly, Twenge observes that due to the increasing focus on the self, the modern generation has a high level of self-esteem as compared to the 1950s generations (493). This implies that the modern generation, that is Generation Me (GenMe), have a better personal perception as compared to the baby boomers generation. On a negative perspective, both Twenge and Nelson agree that people in the modern society are obsessed with themselves and as such, they care less regarding what happens to other people. For example, from Nelson’s perspective, despite the rising awareness on different vices in society, people have become insensitive to the point that they are unable to condemn such vices (305). This is echoed by Twenge who notes that obsession with self implies that there is little concern with the happiness of other people in society (491). Similarly, Davidson notes that technology is likely to take over human jobs at the workplace (60). This, from the perspective of Twenge, may end up isolating some people since the loss of jobs could undermine the success of most people in society, thus undermining their level of self-esteem.
Nelson、Davidson和Twenge的文章分析表明，自20世纪50年代以来，社会发生了不同的积极和消极变化。首先，戴维森认为，就学习而言，现代社会已经发生了重大变革。与此相一致，她观察到，数字技术在现代学习环境中的整合促进了学习者之间的协作，从而提高了他们不仅开发新想法而且产生新创新的能力（50）。例如，她指出，iPod作为一种学习工具的引入为学生创造了一个平台，让他们开发出使用该设备的创新方式，以增强他们的学习体验，从而将其使用范围从娱乐小工具扩展到学习小工具（54）。Nelson则认为，通过技术的使用，特别是在媒体行业，来自世界各地的人们有机会相互联系，从而提高他们对全球不同社会发生的事情的认识（303）。这种相互联系有助于促进不同团体和组织的出现，例如中心，促进在世界不同地区维护人权的必要性。同样，Twenge观察到，由于越来越注重自我，现代一代人与20世纪50年代的一代人相比具有高度的自尊（493）。这意味着，与婴儿潮一代相比，现代一代，即我一代（GenMe），有更好的个人感知。从消极的角度来看，特温奇和纳尔逊都认为现代社会的人们沉迷于自己，因此，他们不太关心别人的遭遇。例如，从纳尔逊的角度来看，尽管人们对社会上不同的恶习的认识不断提高，但人们已经变得麻木不仁，以至于无法谴责这些恶习（305）。这一点得到了特温奇的回应，他指出，对自我的痴迷意味着对社会上其他人的幸福几乎不关心（491）。类似地，戴维森指出，技术可能会取代工作场所的人类工作（60）。从Twenge的角度来看，这可能最终会孤立一些人，因为失业可能会破坏大多数人在社会上的成功，从而破坏他们的自尊水平。