Hatrack River Forum: The Web Shatters Focus, Rewires Brains

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Posted by The White Whale (Member # 6594) on :

Wired Article, June 2010

quote:
The depth of our intelligence hinges on our ability to transfer information from working memory, the scratch pad of consciousness, to long-term memory, the mind’s filing system. When facts and experiences enter our long-term memory, we are able to weave them into the complex ideas that give richness to our thought. But the passage from working memory to long-term memory also forms a bottleneck in our brain. Whereas long-term memory has an almost unlimited capacity, working memory can hold only a relatively small amount of information at a time. And that short-term storage is fragile: A break in our attention can sweep its contents from our mind.

. . .

The Internet is an interruption system. It seizes our attention only to scramble it. There’s the problem of hypertext and the many different kinds of media coming at us simultaneously.

I try to use Readability whenever I can. And I try to read articles all the way through without clicking on connected links. But I don't always succeed.

Posted by scholarette (Member # 11540) on :

That was fascinating. As it talked about e-mail, I thought oh, yeah, I wonder if I have any (and glanced at my little indicator and saw, yes, I did have new mail- I finished the article before checking it). When I did nano, I would turn off the internet connection and get so much more done.

Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :

Seemed like an interesting article. But I got distracted before I could finish it. What was it about?

Posted by The White Whale (Member # 6594) on :

tl;dr The internet makes us stupider.

[Wink]

Posted by scholarette (Member # 11540) on :

The readability app seems pretty neat. Thanks for that suggestion.

Posted by RivalOfTheRose (Member # 11535) on :

The internet was first populated by nerds, dorks, geeks, geniuses and other kinds of smart people. Now they are all dumb!

This is actually quite scary. I have spent a significant portion of my life in the wastelands of the internet. I feel shamed. This seems like I am neutering a large percentage of brain potential just by typing this damn sentence. Alas, woe is me.