M35

Are smart phones killing our brains?

September 16 2013

(this thread isn't about sex) - sorry :)I recently had an exceptionally and unnecessarily long train trip to well... essentially nowhere (long story). Within my solitary confinement induced by citypenisrail I did a lot of reading... oddly about the impacts of new technology (in particular smart phones) are having on the development of children and adolescents brains.When a new technology is introduced - skills which no longer serve a necessity are left behind. When pocket calculators were introduced - parents and teachers were alarmed at the drop in arithmetic skills through pen and paper. But... and this is a big but. The introduction of the pocket calculators allowed students to focus on developing analytical skills such as logic, interpretation and creative problem solving. If we go further back, gone are the days of morse code, hot type technology.Everyone is using a smart phone these days. And as of 2013, smart phones are outselling regular phones on an international scale. The impact this is having - is quite interesting.There is no longer a necessity for developing memorization skills. This is a big claim but really - in a few clicks we can open google and find out almost anything we need to know within a few seconds. Why would we need to memorize the periodic table, the chronological list of Australian Prime Ministers or the dates of defining battles during WWII.To the parents out there, this might sound a bit frightening. But is having a store of readily available information - truly that impeding on someones development? And is it really making things too easy? Or is it leaving opportunity to develop different skills - that perhaps are more individual and innovative.It allows students and children to focus their development in other area's. And similar to the calculator - development can become more focused more complex idea's and creative problem solving. As well as a higher value on personal development such as motivation, self-control and tolerance.SoDo you think it's a bad thing that skill of memorizing facts is becoming obsolete? Or do you agree that part of developing as a society includes rejecting obsolete skills as an essential step to develop skills which are far more conceptual?

Comments

RHP User

11 years ago

I had well over 50 phone numbers stuck in my brain, now only 1. Mine. I don't think this is a bad thing. It leaves room for other uses........Now where do I leave my sunglasses??

reply

like
Mischeviouslad

11 years ago

Can't reply... .... too busy updating my Facebook status about what I'm having for lunch, sending a tweet and writing in my pointless blog lol DG

reply

like
RHP User

11 years ago

"I like my new smart telephone, my computer works just fine, my calculator is perfect, but Lord, I miss my mind! " --Author UnknownFOXY

reply

like
RHP User

11 years ago

Quoting 'Funlover71' I had well over 50 phone numbers stuck in my brain, now only 1. Mine. I don't think this is a bad thing. It leaves room for other uses........Now where do I leave my sunglasses?? as Funlover nicely implies the brain is a 'use it or lose it ' deal. What happens when / if the internet goes dark ... instant stupidity just subtract electricity.

reply

like
madotara69

11 years ago

We had smart phones at school. Then we wouldn't have needed to go to school and wait for the surf report, from the kids on the bus that went past the beaches.If the surf was no good we would stay and terrorize the new co-ed girls school teachers. It was a win win situation. Some of us were self taught, heheAnd I can write.... hello and.....boobs on a calculator.Mado

reply

like
RHP User

11 years ago

You have to challenge your brain to learn new things, I know my new apple is driving me nuts.The world moves so fast if you cannot keep up you are fucked.I used to lecture the long term unemployed the most common thing they have in common is the lack of ability to adapt to change, any change.they will say back in the day there was nothing wrong with pen and paper and a brain, and we could count out change into a persons hand. So what you may have only had ten customers an hour at your till, now you have a hundred.In centrelink they changed the system so that its easy to learn, but the old staff know the underbelly of it and the logic behind it, they don't want that, they want you just to press the buttons and do as your told, as you have hundreds of people to see a day. No time to rationalise what you do.think of flying how much we all fly now, how you bank, buy food, book accommodation. I hate going to the bank now. I do all my own travel online. Its a whole new ever changing world, you have to keep your brain sharp to keep up.Now we learn stuff we actually need to learn, not a whole bunch of shit we learnt at school and never used. Google earth shows you more about culture, up to date events more than any old dusty set of books.the information is all there, just allows us to get to what we need. Bit like RHP , you don't even have to date to get your end away...how fucking cool is that!Kids still need to get outside, and play. So no computers or TV were ever in my kids rooms and that way the computer is a tool not a toy. Its not to be used in place of friendships or courtships. Its not to rule lives , no fuck off the lot of you as I am off to walk my dog on the beach and take my own adviceWe can all think, some more than others and technology does not change that capacity, its just a tool we use.

reply

like
RHP User

11 years ago

Your username makes me tired just typing it ;). Thank you for getting what I was saying but as TR says, they are only tools. Doesn't matter how good the tool is, if you use it badly, you'll end up with a shit result. Punch the wrong number into a calculator and you won't get the right answer. If you do the math's in your head, or on paper, you may get the wrong answer first up but generally you'll know that it's wrong because your brain is working in the background and at least has an estimate of the answer.

reply

like
madotara69

11 years ago

that our brain remembers every step we have taken, we just need to access the information stored, as evolution proceeds we are learning to do such searches.I have taken 46000000056800022235649210002.1243 steps and 3 skips. And a couple of dozen steps backwards.Mado

reply

like
RHP User

11 years ago

sad but true, that would make you approx 8 years old then OP.......

reply

like
RHP User

11 years ago

Yes, you can google anything at a moment's notice.. but anyone can post any old crap on the internet. Which just means that you can prove your idiocy much faster these days....

reply

like
RHP User

11 years ago

at 54 my phone is definitely enhancing my brain.

reply

like
RHP User

11 years ago

Did not read any more than the first 10 words of your post but certainly agree. most definitely yes. What was the question again?

reply

like
Playful2looking

11 years ago

i was been silly us baby boomers are such wankers. i blame it on the drugs.. no there is no excuse. We are wankers sorry. pass me that joint. as bob dylan said the times are a changing. Tech stuff as in smart phones are just something to use like my dad learnt to drive a car. He thought cars were silly but he did like them. He even learnt how to tune them. he Was a good driver to. adapt or become a dinosaur

reply

like
RHP User

11 years ago

Quoting 'Funlover71' Your username makes me tired just typing it ;). Thank you for getting what I was saying but as TR says, they are only tools. Doesn't matter how good the tool is, if you use it badly, you'll end up with a shit result. Punch the wrong number into a calculator and you won't get the right answer. If you do the math's in your head, or on paper, you may get the wrong answer first up but generally you'll know that it's wrong because your brain is working in the background and at least has an estimate of the answer. I absolutely agree ... we have to remember that we enjoyed both situations and can use the 'background check' you describe - what worries me is that this is not the case for the current generation and they are wholly and solely reliant on the external information store. It is conceivable while unlikely that it could disappear in an instant but more worryingly is that this external pool of information can be manipulated. Without the inbuilt background check we have effectively arrived in Orwell's distopia - history and knowledge become more subjective and revisionist than they already are.OP is a smart kid, having recognized the problem it ceases to be as dangerous ... not all are like that unfortunately.

reply

like
yankmychain56

11 years ago

KILLED our brains.The terminator isnt some indestructible bulldozer built like arnold, it is the little device we hold in our hand.that dumbs us down every day.Aside from radio waves eating away our brains (we are bombarded by it daily, hit your car remote from 30 feet away and it will unlock your car....AFTER it goes through someones head).Worse than a bullet, it just kills you slower.Auto-correct so we dont have to know how to spellcalculators so we dont have to do any math. Today, kids can use a calculator during a math test, and it is NOT cheating.If I would have been able to do that when I was a kid, I would have needed another desk for a cash register sized machine.I dont know ANY of the phone numbers on my phone, I just call the name.But I still remember my phone number where I grew up......I admit that I am a geek when it comes to electronic gizmos, but I can see that we NEED to exercise our brain a little.before the 'rise of the machines' reduces us to drooling idiots.some of us already are.I read a short story once called 'The Marching Morons', a Futuristic sci-fi (the future was the 1980s), where people allowed machines to think for them, and reduced us to jabbering idiots staggering along on the streets.How many people today get injured or killed by yapping or texting on their phone, and walk out in front of a garbage truck or a train.How can you not hear a TRAIN??????

reply

like
Coops27M

11 years ago

The dumbing down is a problem only if the users allow it to be. Otherwise having access to the knowledge of the world at your fingertips is a blessing not a curse. I personally love having the ability to instantly learn more about anything i become interested in. The more we learn the more we understand and the more we understand the more we can learn. It's a snowball effect only with modern technology the hill can be much bigger and steeper accelerating the process. It is up to the user to set the length and gradient. Like lady tuscan says it's up to us to exhibit the self control to keep them only as tools and not as a replacement for elements in our lives. Also spellchecker has only aided my spelling as i notice where i have been going wrong when spelling words that i don't use often or for extended periods of time and then slowly change the way i spell. Also using the dictionary function in the phone promotes spelling as you can write quicker by spelling full words properly on a phone rather than using omg lmfao fml text speak. I truly wish i had access to tablets and the internet as a child i would be a much smarter individual by now.- Posted from rhpmobile

reply

like
RHP User

11 years ago

so many different forms of intelligence....knowledge,application of knowledge,social and emotional....I know people that boast about their IQs but their social and emotional IQs appear to me to be zero....I know people that have heaps of social and emotional intelligence but they struggle to retain information...we are all different.Technology has changed the world forever,it is how we choose to engage with it that matters.I recently deleted my FB page,I have a smart phone that I only use for texting and phone calls,sometimesI turn it off even

reply

like
RHP User

11 years ago

so many different forms of intelligence....knowledge,application of knowledge,social and emotional....I know people that boast about their IQs but their social and emotional IQs appear to me to be zero....I know people that have heaps of social and emotional intelligence but they struggle to retain information...we are all different.Technology has changed the world forever,it is how we choose to engage with it that matters.I recently deleted my FB page,I have a smart phone that I only use for texting and phone calls,sometimesI turn it off even

reply

like
Coops27M

11 years ago

I discussed about that in indagine's post. Though i only diversed smart's into intelligence and wisdom keeping it simple. Because in reality the subject is so intricate and has so many variables you could write a book on it but your dead on :)- Posted from rhpmobile

reply

like
RHP User

11 years ago

Yeh I agree with you freya. Anyway my point is, when a new technology pops up - people normally restrict and fear the impact it can have on children's development. The calculator example I think is a great example. Does the world need human calculators or does the world need people who can interpret the numbers presented to them through analysis and problem solving. Same thing goes for smart phones. Is it really a bad thing or indication of intelligence if kids are unable to tell you who the first prime minister was without pulling out their phones - or is it significant now have an opportunity to concentrate on more abstract and problem solving thought processes.

reply

like
RHP User

11 years ago

If our kids phone battery dies they wouldn't be able to spell, do simple arithmetic, let alone be able to call mum for help about all the things they should really know?

reply

like
RHP User

11 years ago

Think I am brilliant because I can do calculations in my head and give the answer before they can finish putting the equation into a calculator. Where is the brilliance in this feat? There were no calculators when I was at school.

reply

like

Are smart phones killing our brains?

Comments

Tags

Boards

Forum help