Health

Are We Being Re-Wired?

by mazevedo | November 12, 2008 at 03:09 pm

170 views | 16 Recommendations | 6 comments

According to research the use of technology today is rewiring our brains. Dosen't that sound scary. Well research has indicated that "digital natives" which are people who have been born in this new digital era ranging from 10-20 as of 2008 have been put under research and have been proved, that only certain parts of theirs brains are getting activity while other important parts are being left with very little activity. According to Dr. Akio Mori some kids can go as far as having their frontal lobes turned off. Leaving these hopeless kids who are still under the maturing process with several severe disabilities. Some scientists believe this new generation will face huge problems with learning, memory, feelings, and the control of their impulses.

The study is still yet seen as higly controversial and a couple scientists believe digital natives have an opportunity to be the smartest generation ever. It will be interesting to see more studies like this one in the future.

All of the things that technology was supposed to make us better at—communicating, understanding, doing many things at once—we’re doing worse. Even though Google will always be there to provide us with answers in a pinch, Merzenich says, “I still have to believe that the invention, the creativity, these fabulous human assets, are absolutely dependent upon having rich resources and content in our very own brains.” The alternative would be to argue that we don’t need to be intelligent anymore because we’ve got machines. “Is that what we want?” he asks. “Is our goal to create a brainless society?”

So the question is out there, are we being Re-Wired? How does the dependency on technology affect our lives today?

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Cafegurl

at 15:27 on November 12th, 2008

If we are being rewired, then i think that technology can still be there but we must find a way to learn how to do things on our own, without the help of technology. I think then people will stop thinking that everything and everyone is in the palm of their hand, just with the click of a button and will start learning that sometimes you have to do things for yourself. Then we'll have the best of both worlds.

Fairbanks

at 15:56 on November 12th, 2008

we must find a way to learn how to do things on our own,

. . . No doubt some are overdoing the internet chat and games. But, sports is big, and music (performance not appreciation), and public speaking activities are available, and to really exercise the forebrain there are City Council meetings, not to mention the job for those who still have such. Books are still available for those who like to follow longer thoughts.

Terri Potratz

at 15:34 on November 12th, 2008

Very very scary - sure there is more information out there and the opportunity to learn is infinite, but now we're being conditioned to send and receive messages in 140 characters or less - it's hard to form a complete, coherent thought amidst a barrage of neverending information. What was I saying again?

Fairbanks

at 16:02 on November 12th, 2008

You're right, but this is a good thing. We have to think more efficiently and more thoroughly so we can frame our messages succinctly. A wordy message might indicate a flow of consciousness style rather than a competent and complete thought.

Terri Potratz

at 15:44 on November 12th, 2008

Also, there is a vaguely related story here, about how Google search trending and internet usage habits are shaping our lives and behaviour.

mazevedo

at 17:44 on November 12th, 2008

Pretty scary I find as well. Weird to think about how we would react and be also in a world without the gadgets we have today such as the internet, computers, handhelds and so on. Would we be able to be as efficient as we are today?