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

theguardian.com

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

#61

Post by pessimizer »

ramraj07 wrote: post #10
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.

So? People just use that memory to remember something else. I don’t think technology has made anyone smarter or dumber. It just changes what you think and remember, often with minimal real effects on society (at least due to changes in how your brain is used).

You're basing this on the law of averages?

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

#62

Post by walleeee »

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…

> If you're conscious of the tradeoff you're making, it's ok

Phones and the apps on them too often train us to push this awareness into the subconscious or rationalize it away

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

#63

Post by jrib »

theshrike79 wrote: post #57
rr808 wrote: post #49

Memory is OK its the concentration. I just can't read a whole novel now, its too long. Sitting down and doing work is ridiculously hard to concentrate.

What helped me with reading was: 1) Read on a Kindle or any other e-ink reader. It's always just in the spot you left it in and it's light enough to carry around everywhere. I usually read while I eat and continue to the end of the chapter after I'm done eating. Try to open a book instead of Reddit/Instagram/Facebook/HN 2) Read something fun. You don't need to pick stuff that's super-deep or insightful or productive.…

One of my issues is grabbing the phone to kill time while waiting even for a small amount of time.

Ordered a bagel? Let me grab my phone for the 2 minutes it takes for them to call my number.

In an uber ride? Turn on the phone...

Waiting for a deploy? Let me scroll through reddit a bit.

I love the kindle, but reading a page at a time here and there isn't appealing to me, personally.

Instead, I've been trying to make a conscious effort to just be aware of my present physical space instead of grabbing for my phone during those little waits. I'm old enough to have grown up without a phone until after I graduated. I /know/ that I'll be perfectly fine without picking up my phone... but this habit of constant digital information ingestion is hard to break.

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

#64

Post by eikenberry »

rr808 wrote: post #49

Memory is OK its the concentration. I just can't read a whole novel now, its too long. Sitting down and doing work is ridiculously hard to concentrate.

Might want to get checked for ADHD. There are good treatments available.

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

#65

Post by cheesewhizemacs »

jrib wrote: post #63
theshrike79 wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What helped me with reading was: 1) Read on a Kindle or any other e-ink reader. It's always just in the spot you left it in and it's light enough to carry around everywhere. I usually read while I eat and continue to the end of the chapter after I'm done eating. Try to open a book instead of Reddit/Instagram/Facebook/HN 2) Read something fun. You don't need to pick stuff that's super-deep or insightful or productive.…

One of my issues is grabbing the phone to kill time while waiting even for a small amount of time. Ordered a bagel? Let me grab my phone for the 2 minutes it takes for them to call my number. In an uber ride? Turn on the phone... Waiting for a deploy? Let me scroll through reddit a bit. I love the kindle, but reading a page at a time here and there isn't appealing to me, personally. Instead, I've been trying to make…

I just installed an ereader on my phone so that I can open that instead of this website and it works about half the time

I put the book I'm reading right on my home screen. Open screen, press cover of book, opens to where I left off

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

#67

Post by LesZedCB »

ryanmcbride wrote: post #54
rr808 wrote: post #49

Memory is OK its the concentration. I just can't read a whole novel now, its too long. Sitting down and doing work is ridiculously hard to concentrate.

I had the same problem and I was able to solve it by timeboxing reading as if it was work, even though it's a hobby. I get comfy, but on some ambient music, and set my little desk timer to about 40 minutes. It's set to not beep when time runs out. I'll start reading, and for the first 20 minutes or so I'll still feel kind of antsy and keep looking at the clock, but 9/10 times I end up finally getting engrossed in wha…

great if you're capable of timeboxing otherwise.

not all of us are exactly that... mechanical.

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

#68

Post by rmbyrro »

rr808 wrote: post #49

Memory is OK its the concentration. I just can't read a whole novel now, its too long. Sitting down and doing work is ridiculously hard to concentrate.

I solved it by practicing a sport, exercising regularly.

Going outdoors for an extenuating exercise during an hour every other day.

Improved everything about my cognitive abilities in a big way.

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

#69

Post by lurker137 »

“There are studies showing that, for example, it is really hard to get dementia when you are a university professor, and the reason is not that these people are smarter – it’s that until old age, they are habitually engaged in tasks that are very mentally demanding.”

That’s an interesting point. I wonder if that applies to any knowledge work in general. As a developer I do feel that I engage my memory pretty often but I’m not sure it counts as a wholistic exercise including spatial memory, recalling events, reasoning, etc.

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

#70

Post by pro_zac »

cheesewhizemacs wrote: post #65
jrib wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of my issues is grabbing the phone to kill time while waiting even for a small amount of time. Ordered a bagel? Let me grab my phone for the 2 minutes it takes for them to call my number. In an uber ride? Turn on the phone... Waiting for a deploy? Let me scroll through reddit a bit. I love the kindle, but reading a page at a time here and there isn't appealing to me, personally. Instead, I've been trying to make…

I just installed an ereader on my phone so that I can open that instead of this website and it works about half the time I put the book I'm reading right on my home screen. Open screen, press cover of book, opens to where I left off

I put the Kindle app on my first page of apps and all the time sink apps deep inside a folder on the last page of apps. I even named the folder "No". It's still hard to stay away, but I am definitely reading more often.
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