ABSTRACT
The following chapter is devoted to considerations on the changes that man has undergone in the context of development, in the era of technology and digitization. It assumes that man develops in interaction with the environment and that his development trajectory is the result of the action of the entire system of biological, personality, socio-cultural and environmental factors. Factors which, depending on the context, are risk factors or protective factors. The first part of the chapter deals with the issue of the impact of computerization of life and information and communication technology on human nature, their importance in the process of developmental changes throughout life, as a consequence of the changes that human psychosocial functioning has undergone. Reference was made to the discussion in the scientific and social space about the need to separate a new generation – the digital generation. It also discusses how the behavioral, emotional and social functioning of the growing up has changed during significant overlapping changes – the technology development and pandemics. The second part of the chapter deals in detail with the issue of social touch, as it is crucial for human development. The phenomenon of mediated social touch with the use of modern digital technologies was discussed, as well as the area of reflection on the phenomenon of digital touch. The chapter is an invitation to a discussion about the hybrid form of functioning and development of modern man and the boundaries in the combined offline world (direct physical contacts) and the online world (virtual reality).
