The effects of the internet: Fast forward | Hacker News Reader

The effects of the internet: Fast forward

economist.com

24 pointsdavidw12 comments

"There is evidence, he says, that digital technology is already damaging the long-term memory consolidation that is the basis for true intelligence ... this is a radical upending of the 'literate mind' that has been the hallmark of civilisation for more than 1,000 years."

I don't know if the author addresses this in his book, but it is widely observed that pre-literate societies have much greater focus and training on memorization and long-term memory as a group than their literate counterparts. It is likely that technology does change they way we decide to remember things (compare the amount of phone numbers you had memorized in your pre-cellphone years to how many you memorize now) but I think as a species we are far too concerned with trivia and details to really not be able to make connections. I think there will always be people with an energy and enthusiasm for learning and that isn't going to be destroyed by using google more often.

Or maybe the author is correct and the internet is just paving the way for us evolving into Eloi. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eloi

The Eloi are the more unthinking group.

You're right, initially I was just intending to say we would change to be brutish, but I think this is a more interesting comparison. I like that the Eloi use the technology but don't understand it, to the point where it is deteriorating around them.

I don't buy it. Don't have much reasoning more then gut feeling but it just doesn't sit right. Also, claiming such a thing as the internet is making us stupid is a great way to sell books.

It would seem that the author made a conclusion and didn't have that hard of a time finding evidence to support it. Now that sort of thinking is rampant on the internet and a real problem.

It probably mean that anybody who can concentrate and focus on long stretch of time, while also processing information deeply will have an easier time earning a living relative to the scatterbrain unfocused internet mind.

I don't think computers are going to warp us in the long term because they are going to become more like the very best human teachers, assistants and entertainers who just happen to work very cheap and very consistently. And who sometimes have nervous breakdowns :-)

In other words, its the interfaces that are warping us and they are improving gradually. One day, even a half senile person will be able to pick up the phone and find answers to any concern with the greater speed and success than many of us now have with google. And the voice on the other end will carefully explain things to your grandma just as considerately as you might.

Image caption:

> Fried brains is a delicacy in France

WTF?

The Economist sets great store in their image captions.

Without solid evidence, this tired old claim holds about as much weight as when my parents told me that spending too much time infront of the TV or computer screen would make my eyes turn square.

I've noticed it in myself. I'm 22, started using the internet when I was 12. I've noticed in my lecture classes that my focus-level and memory retention is discernibly poorer than my peers'. I'm at least hoping that this can be rectified in some way. And, I know, I'm just offering another personal anecdote, but my intuition tells me very strongly that the internet has been the sole cause of this.

My memory retention level has been far higher than my peers and I probably use the internet more than anybody.

If I recall correctly, you're still in high school. Unless you're taking very high-level courses, I don't think you really get a chance to thoroughly vet your intellectual capability there.

When taking my summer-accelerated diff eq class, for example, it seemed that I was much worse at memorizing formulas than my peers were--and we studied together, so there was rather little difference in studying techniques and time of study.

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