More on the making-ourselves-stupid debate
In a recent blog post Mr. Lehrer notes that the evidence critics use to attack the Web could be used to argue that we shouldn’t even walk down a city street as the cognitive load is far too great for our brains to handle. He notes that a in 2008, a group of scientists from the University of Michigan engaged in a study that showed walking led the brain to see a “dramatic decreases in working memory, self-control, visual attention and positive affect.” Mr Lehrer writes:
When people walk down the street, they are forced to exert cognitive control and top-down attention, and all that mental effort takes a temporary toll on their brain.
Based on this data, it would be easy to conclude that we should avoid the metropolis, that the city street is a hazardous place.
The Defense of Computers, the Internet and Our Brains - Bits Blog - NYTimes.com
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