Friday, September 2, 2011

Internet Use Affects Memory, Study Finds (Yawn)

Image Source: masternewmedia.org
From NYTimes.com
"The widespread use of search engines and online databases has affected the way people remember information, researchers are reporting."
Some would likely interpret this with alarm -- "Internet use impairs memory!" But is it really cause for concern? Does use of tools make us rely on the use of tools? Almost certainly! (How many of us could live an independent hunter-gatherer lifestyle?) But so what? The march of technological progress moves us away from low level menial tasks to higher level work. If we didn't have calculators, ability to do mental arithmetic would be much more important. But since we do have them, mathematicians can focus on much more interesting problems!

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