Tech anxiety: how the printing press compares to internet porn

This week, CBC Radios Mainstreet is taking stock of the anxieties people have about digital technology, whether its concerns about privacy and surveillance, online bullying, porn consumption, or the internet making people more narrow minded.

Today in Tech & Consequences, Atlantic School of Theology professor David Deanetalks about how the rise of the printing press 500 years ago reinforced social changes already underway within Christianity.

There is a symbiotic relationship between technology and cultural development, Deane says.

But these days its not necessarily religious text thats being reinterpreted in our own communicationrevolution.

The American pornography business on the internet is bigger than the business the NFL, NHL, MLB and the NBA does combined on the internet," Deane says.

"What were talking about here is a massive, ubiquitous industry, bigger in the online environment then all major sports in North America put together.

"There is no question that this is shaping us. There is no question and therefore we need to pay significant attention to how its shaping us.

Deanetalks about the impact of the printing press onMainstreetat 5:15 p.m.

Also today on Mainstreet, Tim Caulfield talks about the selfie, and how its shaped a generation thats grown up with smartphones and social media.

Caulfield,a University ofAlbertalaw professor and Canada research chair in health and law policy, is the author of Is Gwyneth Paltrow Wrong About Everything?He says we are biologically wired to compare ourselves to others, and thats what a lot of selfies are about.

There has been a lot of studies that say people do use [Likes] to compare themselves to others.Caulfield says.

There is some studies that have shown that people who are more vulnerable, people that perhaps have a lower self esteem, are more likely to compare themselves to others. Sort of then amplifying their self esteem problem.

Caulfields interview airs at 5:40 p.m. today. And hes doing a chat right here online on Wednesday, March 25, from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.