As wired as I am, spending hours a day online, working on a computer, a smartphone with me 24/7, I still find myself oddly resistant to some of the cutting edge aids to recovery.  I understand how the old-timers feel when they say “all I needed was the (whatever), and that’s all anyone needs now,” and speeches to that effect.

And yet, I’m committed in my own way to “cyber-recovery,” as is apparent from what I do.  I have to remind myself that the digital natives look at the world differently than us digital immigrants who learned to type on typewriters — and, in my case, not even an electric.  They communicate differently, relate to the outside world differently, have different kinds of relationships, and are in touch with each other and the rest of the world with a scope that was unimaginable when I was their age back in the 1950’s and ’60’s.

Researchers now tell us that our grandchildren have begun to think differently than any other humans in history. They are restructuring our language, our ideas of community, and doubtless their own concepts of self.  It is totally unreasonable to think that they won’t recover differently, using different resources, or to assume that they will not do so as successfully as my generation or that of their parents.

So us old-timers need to understand that we are dealing with an evolving species.  If we’re not to be left in the dust of their changing worldview and thought processes, we need to force ourselves to understand and admit that we don’t have all the answers.  In fact, when it comes to these newcomers, if we don’t keep up we are likely to be left behind entirely.