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Google damages users' brains, author claims

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posted on Sep, 14 2010 @ 07:33 PM
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Google damages users' brains, author claims


www.telegraph.co.uk

Search engines’ function of providing us with information almost instantly means people are losing their intellectual capacity to store information, Nicolas Carr, said...[he]claimed that the web was depriving our mental faculties of the regular workouts they need.

He told the BBC that the internet meant people now found it harder to concentrate, for example when trying to read a book.
(visit the link for the full news article)



posted on Sep, 14 2010 @ 07:33 PM
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Um, what was this topic about again? tl,dr, lol, brb...lol wut?

I have no trouble believing this is true. Several years ago I noticed my spelling and grammar skills were declining markedly. By disabling auto spell check on as many interfaces as possible, I have noticed an improvement.

Google auto-fill becomes increasingly more detailed and rapid...I have decided to finish typing out all items when I search even if my desired search term pops up while I am still typing.

"Use it or lose it" is equally true of the brain and of physical muscles. The good news is that even relatively severe forms of brain damage can be improved with conscious effort. Neural plasticity is a wonderful thing. I think we all need to work on improving (or at least maintaining) memory and attention span.

www.telegraph.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)



posted on Sep, 14 2010 @ 07:40 PM
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There just could be something in this !
I noticed that this sort of thing started with me with mobile/cell phones.
Years ago long before mobile/cell phones came along, i could remember
all the phone numbers of all my friends family etc but now i even have to
check my own phone for my own bloody number to give to people !
Theres a link in there somewhere ?



posted on Sep, 14 2010 @ 07:45 PM
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I disagree with the reading aspect of this study. It's been my experience that the Internet requires me to read more than ever before. I've discovered many books online that I've enjoyed reading and still have a Barnes and Noble card because of the all the books I buy. Perhaps the study is biased in some way.

It is true that Google is changing the way that we use are brains. In fact, a lot of the stuff my kids learn in school is useless at this point because when they need that information that can simply Google it.

If this guy thinks that Google is bad, just imagine how much worse it will be with augmented reality! Just looking at a person brings up their name and important facts about them. The need for long term memory will be replaced with a processor and storage device...



posted on Sep, 14 2010 @ 07:47 PM
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reply to post by silent thunder
 


I hate the way Google brings up pages of search as I type now. As for spell check, I do use it and grammar check, everything I type out is almost always done in Word beforehand. However, I also used Word a lot when working on my degree for writing papers so I just got used to using it all the time.

I think it has actually improved my spelling a lot and even my grammar a bit. After a few times of seeing a word spelled the correct way I start doing it right on my own. The key is learning from my mistakes not just offhandedly changing it.

My spelling and grammar have always been horrid nevertheless, I feel certain my spelling has improved from what it was before I started writing all the time. I can see how for many the article is correct though. Looking at many I speak to on a daily causes my head to spin. I wonder how so many can walk around so free of real thought other than what is on the stupid box tonight or whom is sleeping with whomever.

Raist



posted on Sep, 14 2010 @ 07:56 PM
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interesting. i use search engines ALL the time. i still read frequently, at a faster speed than i have in the past while retaining probably more information than i used to. my spelling and grammar skills have also increased substantially. i can concentrate much better now than i could a couple years ago, i have an easier time with remembering information i've taken in, i can recall it faster...my brain has increased in functioning so much in the past year or 2...and i've never used the internet more in my life than the past couple years. so i dont know what to think of this article at all.
lol



posted on Sep, 14 2010 @ 07:59 PM
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Speaking for myself I have noticed an improvement of absorbing information since the internet. When in high school and college I hated going to the library to reference for an assignment. Once you get to the library you have to find the right book, then find what you are looking for. You have to stay there - read and study it or make copies to take home. All of this was a dread and by the time I was ready to study I was too drained to comprehend. With the net I can search, read and study more information - I can do it when I am not tired in the leisure of my own home. As for spell check, I have never used it - I was one of those kids that won spelling bees - just not too good at Math (I need Math check). Now I read books for enjoyment, the net for reference and enjoy that as well. Looking forward to seeing what others have to say.



posted on Sep, 14 2010 @ 08:00 PM
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reply to post by silent thunder
 


I have no doubt that internet use rewires the brain to some extent.

The ability to store information `externally` was a major turning point in human history ...... we are well down that path that diverged in a yellow wood.



posted on Sep, 14 2010 @ 08:05 PM
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Search engines’ function of providing us with information almost instantly means people are losing their intellectual capacity to store information


Do books have the same effect? Learning damages our ability to learn? lmao

Come on...



posted on Sep, 14 2010 @ 08:07 PM
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This only works if you believe that before the Internet people sat around reading books all day, well I remember the days of old as told of in the ancient scrolls when we had no modems and phones were attached to walls and what people mainly did was sit around watching episode of "Married with Children" and Dynasty.

Do the Dewey decimal system and card files cause similar damage? Should all books be kept at the end of a labarynth guarded by fierce dogs so you really appreciate the knowledge your getting?


edit on 14-9-2010 by davespanners because: (no reason given)



posted on Sep, 14 2010 @ 08:41 PM
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Oh Noes! "Study finds that the Internet makes you not want to read books, unless you are on the Internet reading or looking for ebooks."

So, now that people can look up virtually any question they have about the world at the touch of a few keys they think that this is what is making us stupid? How does that make any sense? That is like saying, "Now that we have libraries people can look up the answers in books too quick instead of solving the problem for themselves. That means they'll get way much-more-gosh-darn stupid with brain damage and everything!"

Well old dudes, the internet as shared more information with more people than every book and every library ever constructed has. If you call that damaging user's brains then you are the one with Alzheimer's, not us.

BTW, I love how they blame Google for everything now. Did Bing fund this research or just design the title of this article?


edit on 14-9-2010 by tooo many pills because: (no reason given)



posted on Sep, 14 2010 @ 08:53 PM
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I have suffered from CRS (Can't Remember S#*t) way long before google so I doubt it has an affect on me the way the OP describes, who knows it may affect others, . As for reading online, call me old fashioned, PDF or text is fine, but I rather have a book. So If I like it and it is in book form I usually get it to read. One thing google is good for is to find the correct spelling of a word...(see 1st sentence). When it comes to concentrating, give me some good internet porn as I have no problems there!


edit on 14-9-2010 by MyStrawMan because: (no reason given)




edit on 14-9-2010 by MyStrawMan because: (no reason given)



posted on Sep, 14 2010 @ 09:10 PM
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reply to post by silent thunder
 




Search engines’ function of providing us with information almost instantly means people are losing their intellectual capacity to store information


I see. So then we should obviously stop using reference tools, and remember everything that's relevant to us. I suppose we should also stop driving cars, as surely they result in a lessening of our ability to walk and run on our own. And while we're at it, this reliance on ranching and farming has surely had disastrous effects on our ability to hunt.

Yes. Clearly we should do away with these things.




This post has been brought to you by sarcasm. Any resemblance it bears to real opinions is purely coincidental.



posted on Sep, 14 2010 @ 09:14 PM
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memory is not about how best you can store as much information but rather how best you can forget irrelevant information. I think the digital age actually helps in this regard.



posted on Sep, 14 2010 @ 09:20 PM
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I may NOT remember the name of a certain everyday thing and have to Google it, but I read ALL the time - online and off - and I think that it is helping me add 2+2 on topics that deal with politics and the interrelatedness of events. I suspect that is why the conspiracy field is booming - it ain't all conspiracy, it's just some sorts of things require a human brain and not a calculator, but human brains NEED access to information.

People may not be remembering some things, but I think they are processing a LOT of things.



posted on Sep, 14 2010 @ 10:00 PM
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reply to post by ProRipp
 


really ?

i dont know about you - but i too have noticed that my memory has degraded since getting my firts mobile phone

but i dont blame the phone , i blame the 21 years that have passed



posted on Sep, 14 2010 @ 10:57 PM
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reply to post by LordBucket
 


I realize your being facetious, but your remarks about doing away with things that impact other abilities makes no real point whether it's your real opinion or just sarcasm. Just an overall waste. The poster you quoted did not say to get rid of the Internet or it's functions, simply to learn to be without them. It is not wise to rely on the Internet or spell check or search engines and such or rely on cars to get around or rely on farming to get food. Such things are luxuries, they aren't things we absolutely must have, they are things that we choose to use. Only problem is, luxuries have a way of disappearing temporarily or even for long spans of time and if you don't have a clue how to do what you need to do in any other way, your screwed.(I can't detect if your agreeing with the poster and being sarcastic or if you disagree with the poster and are being sarcastic, so keep that in mind.
= D )

What we have here is a clear case of technological reliance. The brain and body are very similar. In a way it's like taking steroids. You take the steroids and for a certain amount of time your physique improves, your strength improves and such and you can out-do the other guys who don't take steroids. However, when the day comes when you cannot take the steroids for whatever reason, you are left with little to work with because the steroids did all the work. When it comes to the mind, if you use something external to replace a function of the mind, you may improve while you have that external thing, but when you don't, your mind is so out of practice with that function that you have to start at square one again. It's not about getting rid of resources, it's about using them wisely and not exchanging them for your natural functions which you need and should want to have to survive.

The Protector



posted on Sep, 14 2010 @ 11:43 PM
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Originally posted by coder
In fact, a lot of the stuff my kids learn in school is useless at this point because when they need that information that can simply Google it.


Yes! YES! Oh how badly I agree with you! I recently went back to school and Im loosing my mind over this crap!
It's like the world moved to 21st century, but the schooling system stayd in the 19th...



posted on Sep, 15 2010 @ 07:10 AM
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reply to post by LordBucket
 


Why thank you very much LordBucket - you literally took the words right out of my mouth. I was going to comment on "progress" being a key factor to well, progress. The only side effect of google i.m.o. is forums where 90% of my search results end up being forum discussions which merely speculate and debate the topic I wish to research and I am required to troll through tons of drivel until someone is kind enough to provide any "reliable" link to some source information. Of course this aint the case with ATS




posted on Sep, 15 2010 @ 10:53 AM
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I have noticed the same thing with cell phones. I cannot remember phone numbers any more. I have to consult the contracts list to call my husband !




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