Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Is your phone ruining your memory? A report on the rise of ‘digital amnesia’

theguardian.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 91 posts

Re: Is your phone ruining your memory? A report on the rise of ‘digital amnesia’

#11

Post by lordnacho »

Space-time tradeoff: I have an index deeper than I'd ever imagined when I started university, but everything is a search away and thus it takes time to find things and it won't be possible at all if I'm away from the internet. Cache is precious.

Of particular interest is languages. You really do need to have certain things to hand when you're talking to someone in a foreign language.

For most other things, it's perfectly fine to look it up.

This is a bit like complaining the kids aren't learning how to make a fire, or how a sliderule works. If you're conscious of the tradeoff you're making, it's ok.

Re: Is your phone ruining your memory? A report on the rise of ‘digital amnesia’

#12

Post by liotier »

reaperducer wrote: post #7

People used to easily remember dozens and dozens of phone numbers, because that's just what you did. Today, people Google phone numbers they use regularly. I've had interactions with people who have a hard time even remembering their own phone number.

Kids these days, they don't even remember their workstation's MAC address !

Re: Is your phone ruining your memory? A report on the rise of ‘digital amnesia’

#13

Post by newsclues »

I have had multiple head injuries that have hurt my memory.

I was a mess of notes and reminders before a smartphone with a calendar, searchable email and photos for quick image reminders have allowed me to be fairly normal.

I however use my phone as a tool, and work hard not to use it as a time sink.

Re: Is your phone ruining your memory? A report on the rise of ‘digital amnesia’

#15

Post by sacrosanct »

Nothing wrong with some externalism[0].

I have an ‘exobrain’, which houses countless notes and snippets of information I’ve gathered over many years. I’ve offloaded passwords to my password manager, use a piece of software called Standard Notes for note taking, and screenshot anything I find interesting for perusal at a later stage.

The trick is to revisit your notes, which means you make a small pact with yourself to execute on those notes and make them actionable.

[0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Externalism

Re: Is your phone ruining your memory? A report on the rise of ‘digital amnesia’

#17

Post by t_mann »

lordnacho wrote: post #11

Space-time tradeoff: I have an index deeper than I'd ever imagined when I started university, but everything is a search away and thus it takes time to find things and it won't be possible at all if I'm away from the internet. Cache is precious. Of particular interest is languages. You really do need to have certain things to hand when you're talking to someone in a foreign language. For most other things, it's perfe…

No, you're missing the point. Our brains don't work like von Neumann machines with efficient architecture. What you can and cannot remember is a - still poorly understood - function of many variables, including the various neurotransmitters and hormones that get released when you browse your phone in bed, when you get a reaction to your online posts, when you get a notification,...

We might be messing with our brains more than we think, that's the point of this article.

Re: Is your phone ruining your memory? A report on the rise of ‘digital amnesia’

#18

Post by jacquesm »

newsclues wrote: post #13

I have had multiple head injuries that have hurt my memory. I was a mess of notes and reminders before a smartphone with a calendar, searchable email and photos for quick image reminders have allowed me to be fairly normal. I however use my phone as a tool, and work hard not to use it as a time sink.

That's some very impressive self discipline, kudos!

Re: Is your phone ruining your memory? A report on the rise of ‘digital amnesia’

#19

Post by jacquesm »

reaperducer wrote: post #7

People used to easily remember dozens and dozens of phone numbers, because that's just what you did. Today, people Google phone numbers they use regularly. I've had interactions with people who have a hard time even remembering their own phone number.

I still remember lots of phone numbers, but they're all from the days before the contact list in my phone. Besides those the only new one I remember is my own.

Re: Is your phone ruining your memory? A report on the rise of ‘digital amnesia’

#20

Post by pixl97 »

reaperducer wrote: post #8
iasay wrote: post #5

I don't agree with this point. We have to remember a lot more stuff these days just to exist. We retain much more information and skill than we ever did in the 80s. I remember that. Not to say there aren't other issues but for me at least it augments my capabilities rather than reduces them in any way.

We have to remember a lot more stuff these days just to exist. We have to know more, but not necessarily remember more. You don't have to know how to take care of a horse, grow your own food, preserve different foods for the winter, how to get from a hundred places to a hundred other places, or any of the dozens of methods of mending your clothes, or how to clean various dirty things since we now have all-purpose cle…

I'm sure people back then would have loved a vast information repository on taking care of horses too, and would have farmed external storage of lots of that information off of their minds. And at the same time they were taking care of horses, they were not taking care of whatever vast information processes their job requires.

Oh, and their information likely went stale much more slowly than things we deal with these days.

Post reply on HN