PBS's FRONTLINE Explores What It Means to Be Human in a World Immersed in Technology with "Digital Nation" 90-Min.TV Documentary to Air Feb. 2

"Digital Nation," FRONTLINE's multiplatform project exploring what it means to be human in a 21st-century digital world, will televise a 90-minute documentary on Tuesday, Feb. 2, from 9 to 10:30 P.M. ET on PBS (check local listings). In a unique collaboration with the public that began last March on the "Digital Nation" Web site, award-winning producer Rachel Dretzin ("Growing Up Online") probes how digital technology is changing nearly every aspect of modern culture, from the ways we think and learn to the ways in which we socialize, work and even conduct war.

As with most FRONTLINE films, the full-length documentary will also stream free in its entirety on the series Web site at:
http://www.pbs.org/frontline/digitalnation/

Joining Dretzin on this journey is commentator Douglas Rushkoff, a leading thinker on the digital revolution who has authored 10 books on media, technology and culture. "In the early days of the Internet, it was easy for me to reassure people about what it would mean to bring digital technology into their lives," says Rushkoff. "Now I want to know whether or not we are tinkering with something more essential than we realize."

Is it possible to multitask well? Is too much digital media bad for young brains? Should we fight wars by remote control? What are the real-world effects of immersion in virtual worlds?

"Digital Nation" takes you from the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where students confess to having increasingly limited attention spans, to the labs at Stanford University, where researchers are examining the impact of this split-focus attention and the effectiveness of self-proclaimed multitaskers.

"Digital Nation" also explores the phenomenon of virtual reality from multiplayer online games like "World of Warcraft" and 3-D virtual worlds like "Second Life" to how the military is using technology to fly unmanned drones over war zones and treat returning veterans' post-traumatic stress disorder with virtual reality therapy.