We now live in a world with the internet, where nearly the entire wealth of human knowledge can live at our fingertips or even in our pockets. Such an amazing feat, of course, doesn't happen without impacting our lives, and scientists have begun to note that the internet has not only served to fulfill our brains' curiosities, but also rewired them. So what exactly is the internet doing to our brains? Read on to find out .
1. IQ IS INCREASING
In the age of MTV and video games, experts worried that new and flashy technologies would fry our poor brains into oblivion. But the exact opposite happened: we're getting smarter. Are we smarter because of technology, or in spite of it? No one's got the answer but it is worth mulling over.
2. WE'VE BECOME POWER BROWSERS
Online browsing has created a new form of “reading” which is rather “power browsing”. Instead of left to right, up to down reading, we scan through titles and bullet points that stand out. Comprehension and attention are certainly at risk here.
3. CREATIVE THINKING MAY SUFFER
Some experts believe that memorisation is critical to creativity. William Klemm, a neuroscience professor at Texas A&M University insists that "creativity comes from a mind that knows and remembers a lot." Although creativity seems to have grown with the use of technology, it's certainly being done in new and different ways.
4. WE'RE BETTER AT DETERMINING RELEVANCE
With so much information, it's only natural that some of it is junk. After all, just about anyone can put information out there and promote the heck out of it. It's up to us to determine what's relevant, and with so much practice, our brains are getting better at this.
5. DIFFICULT QUESTIONS MAKE US THINK ABOUT COMPUTERS
When faced with a difficult question, people immediately think of a computer, not an encyclopaedia. It's a brand new impulse. For many, this means we don't have to trek to the library, or, with the ubiquity of smartphones, even go much farther than our own pockets.
6. WE'RE BETTER AT FINDING INFORMATION
Although we can't remember it all, we're getting better at finding information. It seems the brainpower previously used to retain facts is now used to remember how to look them up. Professor Betsy Sparrow says we're adapting to new technology and becoming highly skilled in remembering where to find things.
7. OUR CONCENTRATION IS SUFFERING
Many find themselves struggling with deep reading these days. It’s not hard to figure why. Our time online is spent scanning headlines and surfing, never spending much time on any one thing. So when it comes to reading for more than a few minutes, your mind begins to wander.
8. WE'RE BECOMING PHYSICALLY ADDICTED TO TECHNOLOGY
Even after unplugging, many internet users crave the stimulation received from gadgets. The culprit is dopamine, which is delivered as a response to the stimulation. The wife of a heavy technology user says her husband is "crotchety until he gets his fix." After logging off, your brain wants to get back for more, making it difficult to concentrate on other tasks .
9. THE MORE YOU USE THE INTERNET, THE MORE IT LIGHTS UP YOUR BRAIN
In 2007, UCLA professor Gary Small asked experienced surfers and newbie internet users to Google various preselected topics. He monitored brain activity, noting that experienced surfers showed much more activity, especially in areas devoted to problem solving. He conducted a second test six days later, having the newbies spend an hour each day searching online in the interim, and found the novice surfers' brains looked more like that of intermediate internet users. "Five hours on the internet and the naive subjects had already rewired their brains," noted Small, suggesting that over time, internet use changes neural pathways.
10. OUR BRAINS CONSTANTLY SEEK OUT INCOMING INFORMATION
Tests at Stanford indicate that heavy internet users often tend to overlook older and valuable information, instead choosing to seek out new information. Instead of focusing on important tasks, or putting information to good use, we're distracted by incoming email.
11. WE DON'T BOTHER TO REMEMBER
Science Magazine asked two groups of students to type pieces of trivia. The bunch that was told their data would be saved were less likely to remember than the ones who expected it to be erased. This indicates lower recall rates when one expects access to the information in the future.
12. CHILDREN LEARN DIFFERENTLY
Kids don’t need to remember names and dates from history lessons. With online libraries, rote learning is no longer a necessary part of education. Educators have realised that information is coming at us through a fire hose and memorising wastes valuable brain power that could be used to keep up with more important information that can't be Googled.
13. WE HARDLY GIVE TASKS FULL ATTENTION
Have you ever updated your Facebook while texting? If so, you've experienced the phenomenon of continuous partial attention. It remains to be seen if this is a distraction or an adaptation of the brain to the constant flow of stimuli.
14. THE INTERNET IS OUR EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE
We don't have to remember phone numbers or addresses anymore. Instead, we can just hop on our email to look it up. The Science Magazine reports that the “internet has become a primary form of external or transactive memory” and our brains have become reliant on its availability.
15. ONLINE THINKING PERSISTS EVEN OFFLINE
When you're online, you're frequently attacked by bursts of information. This is highly stimulating and even overwhelming. Too much, and you can become extremely distracted and unfocused. Even after you log off (if you ever do), your brain remains rewired. A lack of focus & fractured thinking can persist, interrupting work, family, and offline time.
(TOICREST 21J0112)
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