Pernicious effects of modern technology on human mental
faculties –
“Why bother
learning ten things when your phone can find out any one of a million things in
a few seconds?
The answer is that
the brain requires exercise, and we allow it to atrophy at our peril. While we
get better at juggling ideas, our memories are taking a battering. An academic
study into the ‘Google effect’ showed that people tend not to bother
remembering something if they believe it can be looked up later. People were
more likely to index; to remember where information was-located rather than the
actual information itself. That study was five years ago and technology has
moved on significantly. Want to bet that people’s memories have got better — or
worse — since then? Last year, 91 per cent of people surveyed for another study
into ‘digital amnesia’ said they used the internet as an ‘online extension’ of
their brain and 44 per cent relied on their smartphone. Of 6,000 adults
surveyed across Europe, more than a third turned to computers to help recall
information. The UK had one of the worst rates: more than half of British
adults admitted that they don’t even try to remember answers, they just search
online. We are becoming a flabby-brained nation.”