What do you think?: November 2003 Archives

While chitchatting over a pint, it was suggested that the computer generation uses less brain power than the generation (or two) before us.

For the purposes of discussion, let us be mindful of the Urban Legend regarding the so called 10% Theory of brain use. Its bunk apparently. [wink]

Consider the notion that we might use less brain power than our predecessors for particular functions and perhaps more for other tasks. For example, its been suggested that the invention of calculators has removed the need for us to learn simple math and by extension complex mathematics. Indeed, this is probably true as illustrated by Fred below:

Fred B. writes at Yahoo Groups: "...[It's] easier to teach pushing the + sign than math fundamentals...[but] when the wrong key is pushed at the check out or the "computer is down" getting the correct change for a $7.35 purchase from a $20 bill becomes a remedial math course..."

To continue: with the computer and word processors comes spell-checkers, resume templates and letter drafting "bots" that do most of the work for you. I can't spell worth a lick and have little motivation to learn. So long as I get it close enough for the spell-checker to catch on, it'll take over and I can continue to pound away at the keyboard. I am probably making the same spelling mistakes 1000s of times and I am reinforcing the misspellings through repetition. I have become dependent on the computer to correct my errors, whereby I type: it underlines mistakes in red and I right-click my way onto the next phrase. I do this without thought or learning. It is a practiced method of symbiotic regurgitation of text.

Which brings me to the wonderful invention of Johann Gutenberg and the concept that the average person today is exposed to more information in a single day than a Renaissance man was in a lifetime. I don't know if that's an accurate depiction of the availability of information or if its also a myth. But it seems plausible enough for me to run with it. Gutenberg gave us movable type, the printing press and the spread of information on a mass-scale. Today's MovableType allows for the spread of information on a scale incomprehensible to the Renaissance man, I'm sure. The question is: with all the information that bombards us on a daily basis, do we actually process or comprehend it? How much of this web-posting have you actually read? Or did you skim?

While the title of this little slice of the WWW carries the egocentric banner of "everybody reads...", I think the title of my moblog is a more accurate depiction of today's brain use: everybody SEES.... I believe that we see more information than we process. We like pictures and sound-byte captions [g] that are easy to store in our mishmash GreyMatter. We rely on our computers to think for us; to remind us of when to meet a colleague for lunch or when to buy a gift for Mom's birthday. We see our computers as extensions of our own brains. The faster and more powerful they are, the more superior we feel about our intellectual prowess. But we don't really take advantage of the information gathering opportunities computers grant us. Instead, we use them to warehouse data. Information gets filed away in case we need it - forever lost among folders of free-ware applications and recipes for Monkey Brains or Duck Soup.

Adam explains that sometimes we don't even look at the information we gather. He confesses to using searches on IMDB to update his Netflix subscription list all rather mindlessly. I agree with this concept. We use the web to quickly gather a tidbit of information but don't even pause to assimilate it. We just store it and pass it on. This [weblog] is as guilty as any. I offer it as a perfect example of data pass-through. Look at all the links throughout this posting. Do they offer any information? How should I know!? I didn't bother to read them but I saw them.

So: if you can't do simple math, don't read, can't spell, use your computer as a data warehouse and post pass-through weblogs, can you truly say you're using more or less brain power than earlier generations? How many are still reading this?

Hell, I've already lost interest and am looking at the pretty pictures.