# The Human Nervous System May Be in Decline by Douglas Rushkoff > “We should be worried about the decline of the human nervous system. We should be worried that something—likely environmental, but possibly more subtle than that—is hampering our ability to parent new human beings with coherently functioning perceptual apparatuses. We should be worried about what this means for the economic future of our society, but we should also be worried about what this means for the future of our collective cognition and awareness as a species.” > **— Douglas Rushkoff**, *2013, Edge Annual Question, “WHAT *SHOULD* WE BE WORRIED ABOUT?”* ## Sources and Context - **Direct Edge response and surrounding essay:** [Edge response](https://www.edge.org/response-detail/23685) — Edge published this passage in its 2013 Annual Question collection, *WHAT *SHOULD* WE BE WORRIED ABOUT?*. - **Exact archived wording:** “We should be worried about the decline of the human nervous system. We should be worried that something—likely environmental, but possibly more subtle than that—is hampering our ability to parent new human beings with coherently functioning perceptual apparatuses. We should be worried about what this means for the economic future of our society, but we should also be worried about what this means for the future of our collective cognition and awareness as a species.” - **Complete local collection index:** [[research/Edge 2013 Full Quotation Curation|Edge 2013 Full Quotation Curation]] — retained source-first record for the response cohort and this passage's promotion status. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Edge|Edge]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Simple Reminders|Simple Reminders]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Greatest Transformation in Human History|The Greatest Transformation in Human History]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley|The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley]] - **Wiki map:** [[wiki/Human Animality|Human Animality]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Human Animality|Human Animality]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “We should be worried about the decline of the human nervous system. We should be worried that something—likely environmental, but possibly more subtle than that—is hampering our ability to parent new human beings with coherently functioning perceptual apparatuses. We should be worried about what this means for the economic future of our society, but we should also be worried about what this means for the future of our collective cognition and awareness as a species.” — Douglas Rushkoff, 2013, Edge Annual Question, “WHAT *SHOULD* WE BE WORRIED ABOUT?” https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-douglas-rushkoff-human-nervous-system-decline ```