I’ve spent the past few weeks reading about social media like Twitter, Facebook and other digital means by which people today can now stay in constant contact with each other and the world as a whole. I’ve used both Facebook and Twitter for some time now, so my reading has been less aimed at learning how to use these services than about trying to understand the impact they are having.

I was particularly interested in several scientific articles I read that suggested that frequent use of these and other web-based services may actually have neurological effects upon the brain. Scientists had test subjects use the various services over a period of months and did scans of the subjects’ brains daily. What they found was that before the experiment began, the scans showed certain patterns of brain activity, while after several weeks, new patterns began to show up in the subjects’ brains. Of course, there is a difference between seeing neurological changes and understanding what the changes mean. But I think the fact that subjects’ brains changed at all is fascinating and, perhaps, just a bit frightening.

I am 58 years old. When I was a child there were very few machines in my life; I rode in my grandfather’s car; I was occasionally permitted to say hello to a relative on the telephone. On weekends, I was permitted to watch the television (a small black and white screen in a large wooden case). But most of what I learned I learned from books and from school. On rare occasions I’d go to see a movie in a theater. The common way for me to meet with friends was in person, at school or on a play-date.

Today that all seems very quaint. I can reach my friends 24 hours a day. I can text message them on my cell; I can follow their every action on Twitter; I can view their news on Facebook. I never really have to see anyone in person at all. As for learning, it’s pretty clear that, for most people, Wikipedia online has replaced my cherished Britannica 11th Edition. The idea of being solitary, of being forced to find ways to amuse oneself with no help from another human being has disappeared, at least in the “wired” world.

I love social media. I love my laptop. I enjoy contacting people on Twitter and Facebook. I’ve even learned to text message with my thumbs. But I still like solitude. I still like being wholly away from the world. But it’s getting harder and harder to do these days. Perhaps, the neurological changes that the scientists have been seeing reflect the growing “connectedness” of human beings, made possible by our new technologies. Perhaps, as we become more connected, the world might become a better place as we know and understand each other. Nevertheless, I hope that we never, as a species, lose the capacity for solitude.