Information Ecology as a “Survival Strategy” of a Person in the Digital Environment

Abstract

The digital environment has already become a lifeworld of modern man. In this new lifeworld, the fundamental parameters of human existence, such as space and time, are being transformed. The forms of interpersonal and linguistic com­munication, types of personal identity and ways of understanding reality are changing. The main target of the impact of the digital environment is the human brain as a biological substrate of the psyche. In particular, under the influence of the digital environment, the nature of the adaptation of information by the human brain is changing. As a result, transformations (often negative) occur in various fields: emotional and behavioral (changes in needs and motivation, impaired em­pathy and attachment), cognitive (clip thinking, weakening of the synthesizing capabilities of the mind). These transformations entail changes in the human mind, in the ways of his self-identification, in his worldview and culture. The author traces how all these processes are studied in the recently developed new scien­tific field – information ecology. An attempt is also being made to philosophi­cally reflect on how information ecology can help in a positive change in the di­gital environment that best meets human needs and requirements. Information ecology is a kind of culture of interaction with the digital environment. Its devel­opment is a manifestation of environmentalism – an “environmental change” in the study of the digital environment