The one thing that really struck me about the article was
the point that technology may be changing the way the brain works. That thought
scares me because although I believe that the computer is an inanimate object, it
could have the ability to manipulate the way I think and act. I do agree with
the author, technology is changing the way we think to take advantage of the
well of knowledge that is the Internet. Because the internet holds so much
knowledge, which is so easy to find I think that people are starting to develop
mentally so that they do not have to remember all of the information that they
are exposed to. If a person forgets they can easily just go onto Google and
find the information again. People are developing a ‘lazy’ memory so to speak. This
is shown in experiments performed in schools.
“In one experiment at a
US university, half a class of students was allowed to use internet-connected
laptops during a lecture, while the other had to keep their computers shut.
Those who browsed the web performed much worse on a subsequent test of how well
they retained the lecture’s content. Earlier experiments revealed that as the
number of links in an online document goes up, reading comprehension falls, and
as more types of information are placed on a screen, we remember less of what
we see." (Telegraph)
By
trying to expand the amount of information that we have access to it seems that
we are less able to retain said information. Regardless of the reason it seems
that the Internet, while powerful, is more of a detriment to the mental
development of people. Even more frightening is how it affects those of younger
ages.
The
more I find out about the risks of computer technology the more I believe that
people should be more invested in doing things outside the reaches of
computers. This goes double for parents s I fear that technology such as the
internet and computers has a detrimental affect on the social growth of people,
especially children.
The Telegraph. Telegraph
Media Group, n.d. Web. 24 Sept. 2012.
<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/internet/7967894/How-the-Internet-is-making-us-stupid.html>.
I agree that the thought of the computer changing how the brain works is scary. I do not believe the the computer can do that, but if it could all people will not be affected by it. the people that abuse technology would be the people whose brains would be altered. I feel that an extreme amount of computers hours would have to be put in for the computer to start to change how the brain works.Everybody does not depend on technology so only a portion of people will be affected. That experiment you used states something that is obvious and doesn't really prove anything. Of course a person that has been searching the web during a lecture would not do as good as a person that was engaged in the lecture and taking notes. Those students chose to search the web so they would not retain the content of the lecture since their attention wasn't directed to it.
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