Harald Welzer

Prof. Welzer has long been exploring the social and political consequences of the digital transformation, including through his bestselling book *The Smart Dictatorship* (2016) and the founding of the “Council for Digital Ecology” (2020). As a social psychologist, he is interested not only in the effects of digital communication on our psyche but also in the changes occurring within behavioral norms in politics and society. The central question here is: Is democracy losing its fundamental prerequisite—citizens capable of making informed judgments?
This question has become particularly urgent as findings on the effects of digital media on the brain development of young people continue to accumulate. Is the greatest experiment in human history currently taking place here, with the neural architecture of the next generation being altered in an uncontrolled manner?