Advances in technology have revealed that our brains are far more altered by experience or training than was thought possible. The memory-storing hippocampus region of the brain in London taxi drivers is bigger, and the auditory areas of musicians more developed, than average. Even learning to juggle can result in a certain amount of rewiring of the brain.
So the Lord Chief Justice’s suggestion that a lifetime spent on the internet will alter the way we think and process information is well founded. But whether these changes will enhance or degrade our powers of imagination, recall and decision-making has divided scientists.
Baroness Greenfield, director of the Royal Institution, was among the first to warn that today’s children may grow up with short attention spans and no imagination. Others suggest that the abandonment of books means people will lose the ability to follow a plot from start to finish. However, as yet little or no evidence has emerged to support these fears.
Short-term studies have, if anything, shown internet use to have a positive impact on our mental powers.
In my opinion the internet enhances our imagination. I have young children who use the internet at school and at home. The net has been used to study for a school project which has later led to my children seeking out books and asking more questions about the subject. My children are bright for their ages (far more than I was) and have a wonderful imagination. I cannot see the internet as anything other than a positive thing used in the right way.
“…today’s children may grow up with short attention spans and no imagination.”
Pretty sure they used the same arguement for television…and probably radio, but I wasn’t around for that lively debate
i don.t think its the actual internet i think its the confusion over emails – they can easily be interpretted the wrong way,
I am addicted to the internet. And I am learning a piece of software at the moment and I think its affecting my logical thinking for the better. In real life situations I am able to put into order what I need to do far more quickly than before.
Surely it all depends on what we use the internet for.
Books won’t be abandoned but how we odtain this media might. It’s easyer to take a laptop on holiday than a pile of books. Books online can also be interactive we decide which way a polt will go how charactors develop.
The Internet’s a tough one, isn’t it? Shortened attention span and lack of imagination are all things that ware spoted by those in charge when the television first became readily accessable, while reading was greatly encouraged.
Surely it would depend on the content? Youtube is the new equivalent to TV while Wikipedia and (quite literally) the millions of eBooks available online are the paperbacks of the younger generation, especially with the Kindle and Amazon’s plans to distribute a Kindle app so you can read your books right there from the comfort of your own desk.
I wouldn’t say the Internet would have adverse effects on our minds.
I reakon Greenfield is talking utter bollocks. I grew up with computers, the internet and video games and I am generally considered to be very imaginative and creative. It’s all about BALANCE, I spent as much time exploring the outdoors as I did exploring the internet, as much time playing football with mates as was spent reading as a kid. I am also an avid reader and spend hours playing guitar or writing. I do not think you can make silly statements like that.
Not sure about anyone else but ive found prolonged use of the internet just gives me wrist ache and a numb bum.
Oh on a side note i do find it hard to keep my attention focused on books these days – i get halfway through each paragraph and find ive drifted off thinking about other things and have turned 3 pages. Kind of trance-reading. And i can remember everything on the pages too. Weird huh. Maybe ive broken my brain… O_O
Well if our brains are that adaptable, they can always adapt back if necessary. The Baroness’s comments seem to be ignoring the fact that its today’s children who are creating the content and structure of the internet – acts which require both imagination and good attention spans. Seems like more misplaced nostalgia to me and nostalgia shows more about a persons current concerns than anything to do with the past if you ask me.
I will admit that my first instinct when encountering something I’m unfamiliar with is to “Google it,” (regardless of where I am,) but at least I still read.
It’s widely considered that the director of the Royal Institution is abusing her position with her evidence-less assertions on this subject.
i have already seemed to be a victim of this. When i was younger i had trouble keeping up with books and i failed to use my imagination but i still got relatively good marks and it was when i was introduced to the computer and playing Snake whenever i could. also playing games on sites. Also, the Vista future that allows you to search for a certain word…well i lost my iPod the other day and i was thinking why not search for iPod or one of my songs, i truly felt like an idiot.
We have to also remember how it affects our body and our mind health though – there’s more to life that sitting on your fat arse imagining what the world’s like – says the person who’s sat on her arse at the computer the whole week doing Derren’s ARG game.
I agree it makes you addicted to technology and real people in your life get ignored. It has more minuses than plus but then can’t ignore it totally as you have to keep up with the pace of others around you. It’s a complex web
sites like this drive me to read more books and think differently. is this the definition of losing the plot?
Whatever studies might come up with, it’s in the end up to every person him/herself. They theirselves will normally know best. We choose to see to the internet for specific personal reasons. Normally only to our benefit, why would we otherwise see in our spare time to the internet?? We’re not that dumb.
Ofcourse it will affect the brain .. every interaction with anything will do that. Relationships do that even way more, without a huge benefit at times even .. The fact that we need to work every day (most of us) will not always be to our benefit either, it affects the brain. Etcetera etcetera etcetera.
They could stop studying this.
The blog doesn’t confirm whether the differences against an average brain were proven to be as a result of environmental happenings, or were (perhaps) a precursor to the chosen activity of the owner?
For example, if someone has an enlarged hippocampus and fins retaining the knowledge easy, why wouldn’t they become a taxi driver? Similarly, those that were had a smaller are of the brain in use and were less able to retain information from memory would almost certainly fail before they had a chance to further improve it.
Happy to be shown otherwise, but as ever, I remain a sceptic!
You cant classify the internet as one thing. Some websites help, some hinder. That should be obvious.
@ JayKay:
Haha, really?
Oooo…. is it any good? Or do you lose your soul for discussing it
I think my brain’s be rewired a lot recently, maybe not correctly though, unfortunately
Still should come in use for something…
Mixing paint in a can perhaps.
:O
Pax, amor et concordia.
x
the internet is great for gaining awareness, but the key is actually going out and applying the stuff.
The internet is so massive, and so many people use it completely different ways – I feel like it must have some kind of altering effect on the brain, but whether that effect is detrimental or beneficial will depend entirely on the person and how they use the net.
The internet has fors & againsts. As someone who grew up without technology to hand, I had to learn things for myself. There was no other way. There was no internet for me in the 70′s. I had to do most of my learning from books, I couldn’t go on the net to have help with homework. I had to do it myself.
But now as an adult, I’ve realised what a totally indispensable thing the internet has become for me. Not just for knowledge & shopping etc, but also for the fun side of things, like social networking. Even tweeting our lovely Derren on Twitter. The net has shrunk the world around us.
LC x
@ Mr Woolf – I don’t know where to start, but you can take a look on http://dbchat.forumotion.co.uk
@ Mr Woolf – I don’t know where to start, but you can take a look on http://dbchat.forumotion.co.uk
Sorry… forgot to say great post – can’t wait to read your next one!
Interestingly, the hippocampus is also important for spatial awareness – particularly important for taxi drivers, don’t you think?! And, controversially, men have bigger ones than women! [Insert sexist comment about women drivers and parking cars here]
)
@ JayKay:
Oh right thanks
I dunno if I should sign up to it yet really though… currently got enough distractions taking me away from the stuff I really should be doing. If I make some progress over next few days will definitely check that all out.
Thanks again
Pax, amor et concordia.
x
@nikki – hippocampi store many maps of the body and it’s environment. It’s referred to as a type of memory — where specific grid cells “light up” corresponding to stimuli from specific locations. It doesn’t mean taxi drivers find it easy to *learn* maps, it just means they’ve already learnt about an (spatial) environment. This specificity of neural plasticity and growth is exactly why the Baroness is talking crap.
@Jo – hope this helps u through day (& traffic!)
We all born w same spatial awareness [Elizabeth Spelke - favourite experimenter]. Data showin sex difference based on results influenced by parents, educators, workplaces responding 2 girls/boys different.
2 raise adult decision-makers in *any* environmnt – incl. those w internet – we know parental nurturance: play/learn, diet, healthcare r required 2 ensure ongoing equality [Jeffrey Young]. Unfortunately public cries “PC”/”waste of money” when told these well-evidenced (unlike those in article) concepts.
Educate parents & fund their time 2 attend 2 these child needs b4 we fund brain images