Behaviors are changing. But why? Attention spans are decreasing at an alarming rate. Patience is down. Communication skills, written and interpersonal, are eroding. Manners are lost in self-absorption. Tempers are short, rudeness runs high, and cell phone dependency approaches neurosis. Frustration is relentless, with angry reactions just keystrokes away. On-line engagement times are rising, as are cyber-crime and bullying. Social media has turned from a happy community to a dark and negative place that tracks our every move. The web archives and analyzes where we go and what we say, building behavioral profiles to sell to advertisers and thieves. Road rage keeps rising, digital addiction is skyrocketing, and political unrest is fracturing societies and friendships. Information inundates us but the web has erased all lines between fact and fiction. Politics swirls in a cauldron of emotional toxins. Campus stress and suicides are up, while coping and resilience skills diminish. How and why are these things happening? More importantly, what can you do to protect yourself? The answers to all of these and more are here. The trends are indisputable, the research startling, and cognizant awareness required to protect your head is vital. After all, if YOU don't look out for you... who will?
About the Author: Multiple award-winning author and creator of 16 books and motion picture screenplays, Ocean Palmer is the nom de plume for Denver-based behaviorist and consultant Ted Simendinger. An inspiring communicator of personally relevant behavioral-based research, his work reflects a modern mix of ingredients: people development, sales and life skills, simple explanations, and heartfelt inspiration. A champion of charity, professional joke writer, and one of the USA's top teaching experts on the subject of Worry, his popular book Managing the Worry Circle (How to Improve Your Life by Worrying Less) led to appearances on every major American television network and radio programs broadcast on thousands of stations around the world. Long a supporter of higher education and inspired by campus behavioral trends, Ocean researched and wrote The Impact of Technology on Behavior & Happiness to explain topics like why heads are becoming increasingly crowded, the seductive lure of digital addiction, and why patience and attention spans are shortening. He also shares the pluses and minuses of social media, along with an inside look at what lies ahead. Most importantly, he offers instant solutions for positive behavioral change. Born in Philadelphia, Ocean grew up in Severna Park, Maryland. He attended college in Florida and graduated from Jacksonville University as a business major with a triple minor: psychology, economics, and marketing. A brief stint as a newspaperman was followed by a distinguished 20-year career with Xerox Corporation. He left on the Millennium, striking out on his own to follow his passion: helping people with crowded heads better manage their cranial air space. His work and progressive research centers on the changing dynamics of human behavior. Having taught and lectured in more than 40 countries all around the world, his life skills approach is relevant to all. The Impact, his fourth life skills book, is a powerful extension to his life skills body of work. Ocean enjoys fishing, reading, golf, baseball, and walking his dogs. None requires a computer or phone but all allow for "think time," a block of which he builds into every day. Always happy to hear from book clubs and readers, if something in The Impact grabs your attention, feel free to visit his website at www.OceanPalmer.com and drop him a note.