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Author of Virtually You to speak at Bridgewater College

Elias Aboujaoude, author of Virtually You: The Dangerous Powers of the E-Personality, will speak on Thursday, April 28, at 7:30 p.m. in Cole Hall at Bridgewater College.

Aboujaoude, a Stanford University psychiatrist and director of the Impulse Control Disorders Clinic and the Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Clinic, has conducted a study on Internet addiction and has treated patients whose lives have been disturbed by their cyber lifestyle. His talk examines the effects of the virtual world and what he calls the “big social experiment” people engage in online.

“In the virtual world,” Aboujaoude says, “we come alive as distinct beings: more confident and efficient, but also more aggressive, impulsive and child-like.” This new self, dubbed by Aboujaoude as a person’s “e-personality,” manifests itself in every curt email sent, emoticon drawn, Facebook “friend” made and “buy now” button clicked.

According to Aboujaoude, “e-personality” traits bleed into real life manifesting into undesirable traits such as impatience, immoderation, impoliteness and impulsivity.

Aboujaoude earned an MD from Stanford University and a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley. He lives in San Francisco.

The program, sponsored by the Anna B. Mow Endowed Lecture Series, is open to the public at no charge.