Technologies That Are Making Us Dumber

reply to post by generik


next they hit the internet for making you dumber.

This constant distraction changes the way we think by encouraging information to be little more than a fleeting short-term memory. Instead of retaining new details, our brains process the info and move on to the next tidbit.

The Internet puts at our fingertips the single greatest archive of information ever assembled in human history. Having that volume of information available has affected our focus, and is leading us to increasingly become unfocused and superficial thinkers, according to research.

news.discovery.com...

my first question is in all honesty how is this really any different from say using a book? the major difference is the SPEED that you can find the info. i just don't buy into that because you can find it faster and even sometimes find more in-depth information that it would cause you not to retain said info worse than if you spent hours in a library searching for the same info. in fact i would almost thing that by taking so long searching for the info you would be MORE prone to forget it as you then start searching more books (read taking in yet more irrelevant info), and disturbing your "focus" on the info you are looking for. not to mention spending even less time absorbing the info as you do more "skimming" trying to save time that you know will be needed just locating the info you are searching for.

blaming "smartphones" is just really an extension of blaming the net, with the added bonus of time wasting stuff that you can "choose" to waste time with, just like they could without it all on the phone. ok so some people DO use things like schedules on it another point they try to make. yet before "smartphones" people used things like "daytimers" for the same purpose, the phone just makes it handier.

next up is putting the blame onto "spellcheckers", and "auto correct"

Auto correct and spell check may seem like a good idea, especially if we're not using our brains to their utmost capacity, thanks to technology. But auto correct is not helping us. It's been shown to affect the ability of adults to correctly spell words consistently

hate to tell them, if you can't spell a word, you can't spell a word. in fact i would myself say that the OPPOSITE is true. spell check has HELPED my spelling tremendously. first off by seeing that i have misspelled the word to begin with, something that i could go on doing forever without being aware of it then the fact that you have to be close in the first place in spelling to actually bring up the word you are wanting, i think that has all by it's self has helped my spelling, (and another plus for the internet by using it to try to FIND the correct spelling when the spell checker won't come up with the word i want, yet i know i have spelled it wrong). the other bonus of a spell checker is it can catch typos you may miss even proofreading it. so yet again i don't think it "makes you dumber".

Originally posted by butcherguy

Originally posted by Dianec
reply to post by smyleegrl

 

By the way, and if I'm on topic just delete me but what happened? How did we get to where we are from black and white tv and operators to connect phone calls 40 years ago. Doesn't it seem strange that all of this knowledge came about in less than 1 generation?

The change in technology increases faster all the time.

Ten years from now should show us incredible wonders. But why are men still stuck in low earth orbit, when we walked on the moon over 40 years ago???

Does it,

I thought it followed Moores law, something like every 18months or so there would be that technological leap in processing. This is a computers processing power however what in today's world doesn't use some kind of microchip.

Originally posted by InhaleExhale

Originally posted by butcherguy

Originally posted by Dianec
reply to post by smyleegrl

 

By the way, and if I'm on topic just delete me but what happened? How did we get to where we are from black and white tv and operators to connect phone calls 40 years ago. Doesn't it seem strange that all of this knowledge came about in less than 1 generation?

The change in technology increases faster all the time.

Ten years from now should show us incredible wonders. But why are men still stuck in low earth orbit, when we walked on the moon over 40 years ago???

Does it,

I thought it followed Moores law, something like every 18months or so there would be that technological leap in processing. This is a computers processing power however what in today's world doesn't use some kind of microchip.

Moore's law was about computing speed.

Moore's law is the observation that over the history of computing hardware, the number of transistors on integrated circuits doubles approximately every two years. The period often quoted as "18 months" is due to Intel executive David House, who predicted that period for a doubling in chip performance (being a combination of the effect of more transistors and their being faster

Source: Wikipedia- Moore's Law
If you double something every two years it does expand at a tremendous rate.

reply to post by generik


then we come to the ONE part i generally agree with. while i don't see "multitasking" as making you dumber, it CAN make you appear dumber as with you concentration being divided you are more then likely to make mistakes.

now blaming this on "technology" is just silly, it's not the technology at fault but the person doing it or those who push to have more done at once. i once got into an argument with a boss. he was wanting me to do work on multiple cars at one time to get the work done faster, for "customer service" of course. we are not talking about while waiting for parts or something and going on with other work, but simultaneously working on several vehicles at the same time. i refused as i knew that by doing this that the likelihood of making a mistake or "forgetting" to do something would multiply with the more cars worked on at once. i even backed myself up by siting examples of damages done to customer cars by people he had already conned into doing this. and that by doing damage to costumer cars we were not satisfying customers. (in fact we were becoming KNOWN for damaging vehicles and not doing all the work we were supposed to). his response was that that was the fault of the worker (and would be of course disciplined for it), not the fault of trying to do too many things at once.

lastly they hit on using a cellphone while driving. i WILL agree that texting is bad because it takes your eyes and attention off the road. how is this "making you stupider"? as for "talking" on the phone how is that ANY different from talking to say a passenger? some people can do it others seemingly can't (personally i can't understand why some people can't seem to talk and drive at the same time but i see it all the time). it has nothing to do with being stupid or dumb at all.

i don't know i guess i just see this article trying to point the blame of "stupid/dumb" people on inanimate objects, instead of looking for REAL causes like the education system for example. strangely this reminds me of the whole "guns kill people" thing. i guess some people just like looking for a "quick fix" problem instead of looking more in depth and finding the issue is harder to fix or unpopular to deal with the real causes.

reply to post by smyleegrl

It would have been nice if there was a "technology free day" so we could all experience life like our ancestors experienced for so long up until a few years ago....Can you imagine a day without electricity,cars,phones,computers, etc...I suggest everyone to try that at least for one day, it will teach us a great lesson and puts us in touch with our real spirit.

reply to post by shapur


That actually happened to me. It was a hurricane that knocked out everything, and we went a week without power. There was no TV, no Internet, no phone, and no lights or hot water. We read books by candlelight, told stories and played board games. We bathed in cold water and it was no fun, but it was kind of peaceful. I think I could totally be happy in a world without computers, TV, phone and electricity....but I need very hot water to shower with



reply to post by ErgoTheConclusion


Exactly. It's our choice if and how we use the tech. I am old school, still write out my math, still prefer ink and paper to write, but I also know that it is good to have tech in some cases. We are only lazy if we choose to become dependent on it.

I think there is or should be room to teach both ways, give kids both options. I think the foundations should be mastered in elementary though, and once the foundations are strong enough, then build on them with tech. But if the world ended tomorrow and we had to rebuild from scratch, we'd all be hoping those that survived had the basics to rebuild with.

If I were a teacher, I'd be pretty strict by today's standards. That is one reason why I choose not to teach. I'd also have pretty high standards, and I'd want to stay with my group of kids from 1st to 5th grade, guiding, teaching and nurturing them all the way through. That way, I'd really get to know each kid and have the time to work with them.

I think that is a more consistent and stable approach, and allows the foundations to be strong. In this chaotic world, kids need consistency, stability and disicipline (and by discipline I do NOT mean the physical kind). If we want to live in a structured, ordered society we need to build it that way, and it starts first at home but secondly in school. If we want a society that is not dependent, we need to teach independence. If we want kids to have options, we need to teach them in a way that allows them to have options to choose from.

If they choose to use tech, they will do so because it is a good option, not because they are not educated enough to have any other choice.

Thank you for sharing this! But it is going to get worse with so much in your face technology we won't remember what having a face to face conversation under a tree is anymore. This video is old but still paints a nice picture of where we are headed if we manage to not blow ourselves up by then.....

Originally posted by smyleegrl


. 7 x 8? No calculator? Gotta give me a minute.....

if you're counting, it's 5 6 7 8 ... 7x8 = 56

or it goes down by 2 as you go up by 10 (adding 8 instead of adding 10 is what causes it, you're 2 short) ; 48, 56, 64, 72

Originally posted by kthxbai

or it goes down by 2 as you go up by 10 (adding 8 instead of adding 10 is what causes it, you're 2 short) ; 48, 56, 64, 72

Doing it THAT way makes my brain hurt! Is that some of the "new" math?

Originally posted by littled16

Originally posted by kthxbai

or it goes down by 2 as you go up by 10 (adding 8 instead of adding 10 is what causes it, you're 2 short) ; 48, 56, 64, 72

Doing it THAT way makes my brain hurt! Is that some of the "new" math?

nah, just little tricks to help with memorization

I don't think technology makes you dumber, its the way its used. When I was in school for ECE we were expected to use a calculator. If you are going to be an engineer you should know basic math. It should be banned in middle and even high school. There is no need a simple problem cannot be done on paper.

As for the internet I know so much random information that I can recall because I was able to get my hands on it. Again it gives you information quickly so less need to learn but gives you the ability to learn a lot of new things.

Technology doesn't make people dumb just makes them loose focus at times.

Originally posted by an0nThinker
I don't think technology makes you dumber, its the way its used. When I was in school for ECE we were expected to use a calculator. If you are going to be an engineer you should know basic math. It should be banned in middle and even high school. There is no need a simple problem cannot be done on paper.

As for the internet I know so much random information that I can recall because I was able to get my hands on it. Again it gives you information quickly so less need to learn but gives you the ability to learn a lot of new things.

The first time I remember hearing the concept was when the teacher we had for our Gifted and Talented classes would talk about either going deep or going wide. I guess this is an example of it. We can all increase the breadth of our knowledge but it's not as deep as it once was.

Jacks of all trades, masters of none

We're discussing this topic on ATS Live! tonight!

There are more details on the show in the link