The Great Rewiring: Social Media, Smartphones, and the Transformation of the Human Mind (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9798188358495)

The Great Rewiring: Social Media, Smartphones, and the Transformation of the Human Mind

Smartphones and social media have fundamentally reshaped human psychology. In this timely, evidence-based book, Elizabeth McLean explores how these technologies have rewired attention, self-concept, social bonds, and collective cognition-particularly during the vulnerable window of childhood and adolescent brain development.

Core Topics Include:

• Historical media panics and the unique scale of the current revolution
• Dopamine-driven design, attention fragmentation, and the attention economy
• Social comparison, FOMO, performative identity, and self-esteem impacts
• The paradox of digital connection: rising loneliness despite hyper-connectivity
• Algorithmic amplification of outrage, polarization, and epistemic bubbles
• The post-2010 youth mental health crisis: anxiety, depression, self-harm trends
• Societal consequences for education, workplaces, democracy, and culture
• Evidence-based remedies: digital minimalism, school policies, platform accountability, and healthier design

Grounded in key research from Haidt (The Anxious Generation), Twenge, Orben & Przybylski, the U.S. Surgeon General, and others, this volume balances documented harms with nuance on causation, individual differences, and potential benefits. It connects to McLean's broader series on moral psychology, political cognition, and human resilience.

Ideal for students, parents, educators, mental health professionals, policymakers, and technologists, The Great Rewiring provides historical context, empirical clarity, and practical pathways toward a healthier relationship with technology.