Interesting article in the NYT.

Quote :

"Mr. Braver, a psychology professor at Washington University in St. Louis, was one of five neuroscientists on an unusual journey. They spent a week in late May in this remote area of southern Utah, rafting the San Juan River, camping on the soft banks and hiking the tributary canyons. It was a primitive trip with a sophisticated goal: to understand how heavy use of digital devices and other technology changes how we think and behave, and how a retreat into nature might reverse those effects."

Quote :

"Echoing other researchers, Mr. Strayer says that understanding how attention works could help in the treatment of a host of maladies, like attention deficit disorder, schizophrenia and depression. And he says that on a day-to-day basis, too much digital stimulation can “take people who would be functioning O.K. and put them in a range where they’re not psychologically healthy.”"

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/16/technology/16brain.html

What do you think? Does all our time digitally connected diminish our mental capabilities?

8/16/2010 12:44:39 PM

I don't think so, and more than 5 professors taking a walkabout would be needed to research such a conclusion.

I think it's very much like the autism thing. We're just getting better at defining and diagnosing mild behavioral disorders. Also there are more people.

50 years ago it was Rock n' Roll destroying our brains.

[Edited on August 16, 2010 at 12:49 PM. Reason : 30? WTF was I thinking?]

8/16/2010 12:49:01 PM

Wired has ran some good articles on this subject matter in the last few months. They had one a couple of months ago where they described how in the last ten years the average person makes half as many phone calls, talks for half the amount of time on the calls they do make, and is much more likely to ignore an incoming call. Their reasoning was that people become so involved with asynchronous communication like texting and email that we avoid something as simple as a phone call because it stresses us out.

They also had an article showing how people's brain activities change when they are researching on the internet. They read more while comprehending less compared to printed documents.

8/16/2010 12:56:44 PM

Quote :

"We're just getting better at defining and diagnosing mild behavioral disorders."

by "mild behavioral disorders," i assume you're referring to things like ADD and ADHD?

i think this stance is silly because it assumes that the plethora of ADD and ADHD diagnoses are actual valid...and anyone who believes that is more likely retarded

[Edited on August 16, 2010 at 1:32 PM. Reason : .]

8/16/2010 1:31:21 PM

Quote :

"They also had an article showing how people's brain activities change when they are researching on the internet. They read more while comprehending less compared to printed documents. "

That would explain so much about the average poster in The Soap Box.

8/16/2010 1:37:22 PM

I think that, if you look at the average TWW post, you will see that our time spent on digital mediums makes us dumber.

the Soap Box... I will need to visit this place.

8/16/2010 2:25:22 PM

i know that since wikipedia became popular, the second someone mentions something i don't know about, i look it up. i feel like i HAVE to know right then. i didn't feel that way before i had the internet in my pocket. i know a lot more about stuff in general, how things work/mechanisms, diseases, etc.

[Edited on August 16, 2010 at 2:35 PM. Reason : can't type]

8/16/2010 2:32:20 PM

Quote :

"I don't think so, and more than 5 professors taking a walkabout would be needed to research such a conclusion."

Didn't read... I don't have the attention span, but 5 professors? Sounds like they wanted to fund a nice campout with some grant money?

8/16/2010 3:01:40 PM

I think that digital connections create problems like sleep deprivation, insomnia, and decreased amounts of physical activity, which can very likely cause depression and many other things that are part of the "host of maladies."

I also think ready access to the Internet allows people to not care about remembering things, because any time they need a particular piece of information they can have it in 5 seconds. I have heard the argument that it makes us "smarter" because we can basically answer any question within a few minutes (or whatever the exact line of logic is on that; I forget). But personally I think it makes us ... not quite dumber, but less mentally prepared by default.

8/16/2010 3:23:13 PM

OK article, but what I really want to know is ...

how can I get into a field where my research requires me to take a week long rafting trip in Utah

8/16/2010 3:43:18 PM

^ hahaha I would like to know that as well.

Quote :

"the Soap Box... I will need to visit this place."

You might never make it back out

8/16/2010 3:51:00 PM

Quote :

"by "mild behavioral disorders," i assume you're referring to things like ADD and ADHD? i think this stance is silly because it assumes that the plethora of ADD and ADHD diagnoses are actual valid...and anyone who believes that is more likely retarded"

Maybe "better" was the wrong word. Replace it with "more prolific". I don't have the psychiatric expertise to prove or disprove the validity of the diagnosis of ADD and ADHD, but based on what we're seeing in terms of autism, it's not so much a case of actual incidence of cases increasing as our more prolific diagnosis of autism.

I think "ability to pay attention" is a psychological trait that varies from person to person and could potentially be physiologically impaired in people, like every other trait. I would be cautious to wave off the entire thing as "belief in this means you are retarded" due to perceived over-diagnosis.

8/16/2010 5:01:42 PM

I have been thinking TV and other digital stimulation were the cause of ADD/ADHD and other similar disabilities for a long time. As such, my kids don't really watch TV and only watch movies occasionally. We listen to a lot of music, and I want them to be as "outdoorsy" as I can possibly influence them to be (I wasn't raised this way so it can be tough at times). Hopefully this will help them in the long run...

8/16/2010 7:52:31 PM

Yeah, I just got back from the Soap Box....Please don't make me go back

8/16/2010 7:55:33 PM

Quote :

"I have been thinking TV and other digital stimulation were the cause of ADD/ADHD and other similar disabilities for a long time. As such, my kids don't really watch TV and only watch movies occasionally. We listen to a lot of music, and I want them to be as "outdoorsy" as I can possibly influence them to be (I wasn't raised this way so it can be tough at times). Hopefully this will help them in the long run..."

Well my kid watches tv (fuck the fucking wonderpets) and is starting to play video games. We can compare in 15 years.

In truth, she also swims and plays outside a lot so it probably wouldn't be a great comparison.

8/17/2010 1:04:53 PM

^^

8/17/2010 11:16:31 PM