Is your phone ruining your memory? A report on the rise of ‘digital amnesia’
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Re: Is your phone ruining your memory? A report on the rise of ‘digital amnesia’
#2> “Young children who use more tech had a thinner cortex, which is supposed to happen at an older age.” Cortical thinning is a normal part of growing up and then ageing, and in much later life can be associated with degenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, as well as migraines.
https://www.indiatoday.in/technology/features/story/bill-gat...
> Then, there are studies saying that overuse of the smartphone can lead to sleeplessness, depression, amnesia and other brain-related issues in children and teenagers.
Re: Is your phone ruining your memory? A report on the rise of ‘digital amnesia’
#3i dont use my phone except to make calls and texts and lookup maps.
i meditate when standing in lines or in waiting rooms.
"Our data indicate that regular practice of meditation is associated with increased thickness in a subset of cortical regions related to somatosensory, auditory, visual and interoceptive processing. Further, regular meditation practice may slow age-related thinning of the frontal cortex." [1]
Re: Is your phone ruining your memory? A report on the rise of ‘digital amnesia’
#4This isn't an idea I'd just dismiss out of hand, but I would note that it is exactly the same complaint people registered about the technology of writing.
Re: Is your phone ruining your memory? A report on the rise of ‘digital amnesia’
#5I 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.
Re: Is your phone ruining your memory? A report on the rise of ‘digital amnesia’
#6Is your GPS ruining your spatial orientation skills? Etc. Etc.
Most of these articles are pure clickbait designed to trick ageing people whose skills naturally degrade into an non-old-age related explanation for such degradation.
Re: Is your phone ruining your memory? A report on the rise of ‘digital amnesia’
#7People 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.
Re: Is your phone ruining your memory? A report on the rise of ‘digital amnesia’
#8I 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 cleaning methods.
People used to have to both know and remember way more than we do today. Today, we mostly just need to know how to search for things online.
Re: Is your phone ruining your memory? A report on the rise of ‘digital amnesia’
#9People 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.
We now have to remember lots of passwords. That’s pretty much the same memorization job.
Re: Is your phone ruining your memory? A report on the rise of ‘digital amnesia’
#10People 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).