Can Humans Reconnect in an Age of Isolation?

When Facebook marked its 15^th birthday recently, founder Mark Zuckerberg wrote a post expressing optimism about the positive role the social media site has played in reshaping society and communication for its 2.7 billion users. Douglas Rushkoff, professor of media theory and digital economics at City University of New York Queens, would disagree. In his new book, Team Human, which is based on his podcast by the same name, Rushkoff says social media is being used to divide people into increasingly atomized groups. Modern technology certainly has made life easier, he says, but it’s also made it easy for people to isolate themselves from opposing views, critical thought and even each other.

But Rushkoff believes there is a way for humans to reconnect. He draws on research from evolution, biology and psychology to show the benefits of working collectively. Rushkoff, who is also founder of the Laboratory for Digital Humanism, joined the Knowledge@Wharton radio show on Sirius XM to explain why he is ready to bat for Team Human. (Listen to the podcast below.)