Did you know there’s now evidence that our brains are being physically changed by the Internet? Not because of exposure to radiation from computers, but because of the radically different way we take in information on the Net. I recently learned about this, and I’m a bit freaked out about it.
Before the era of the search engine, when we looked up information primarily in printed books, our brains functioned in such a way that we could concentrate deeply on a topic, sometimes for a considerable length of time.
Now, if you want to know something, you Google it and in about two seconds you have hundreds of sites to choose from. Click on a site, scan it, surf away, scan the next, link to a newspaper article, scan it, click on a video that shows you how. All while responding to tweets and noting the pop-up that says you have three emails.
This rapid-fire stream of information blips requires a different kind of processing by our brains. And according to the research, our brains are physically changing to adapt to this need. Also according to research, the more you get your information this way, the less able you are to concentrate, the more distracted and distractable you are and the more you have problems with short-term memory.
One of my favourite bloggers is Zoom of Knitnut.net. Politically savvy, creative and influential, hers is one of my “go to” sites for what’s new and important in Ottawa. Her post of August 23 first alerted me to this issue. Titled, “I Still Love the Internet Even if It’s Making Me Stupid,” Zoom laments the loss of her short-term memory (she can’t remember from the bottom of the screen to the top what she wanted to Google) and the ability to concentrate (“what sinks in sinks in, if I miss something it doesn’t matter.”) She attributes this to what she cheerfully describes as her “heavy-duty, addicted” use of the Internet.
Because Zoom always provides excellent background references, she links to an in-depth article by Nicholas Carr in Atlantic Monthly magazine. I read the article and got worried. I read the comments on the article and got scared. Some people said, “This is too long” and said they stopped reading. Some responded with inane comments that had nothing to do with the article. From what I could figure out from the hints given by the commentors, they were all made by people 20-30 years old. The ones who may also be “heavy-duty, addicted” Internet users.
I, on the other hand, love in-depth research. I revere deep thinking. Time to contemplate keeps me grounded. Flashing blips agitate me; I have to close my eyes to TV shows that bombard my eyes with pulsing images. Even too many icons on my desktop bother me. Fifteen tabs open on Firefox, like Zoom does regularly? I can’t do it. I even turn off email notifications when I’m writing.
So I worry about the 20-30 year olds. This age group wants their information fast, in blips, or they’ll surf away. I’m already at 500 words here – is anybody still with me?
I can write short paragraphs, bullet points, one topic per post. I can master the art of the 300 word essay. But I would also like to include the occasional lengthy post, or a big fat paragraph, even if it looks like a giant cement block on the page. I might like to provide links to long articles that I think give some additional insight.
We still have the ability to think deeply. Let’s use it… before we lose it.