I will admit that this may not pertain to everyone, but I was born in a time before technology was seen as a necessity. I remember when I was younger that I would have to remember important phone numbers, and when I had to write a paper I had to learn how to correctly spell a word. And if you didn’t know how to spell it, then you had to use a dictionary to make sure that you did spell the word. But now with advancements that we have in technology today, we never have to worry about how to spell certain word or remember a person’s birthday.
According to a survey that was performed by Kapersky Labs, out of the 6000 people that were included in the study, 49 percent could not remember their parents phone number, 57 percent could not remember the number to their workplace. What is worse is that about 71 percent of the surveyed group were parents that could not remember their children’s phone numbers from memory. (SOTT.net ,How modern technology can negatively impact human memory skills) With the acceptance of smart technology, it can be said that we have pushed off memorizing certain things and having our cellphones and computers to details.
Another study that performed by the the Daniel Wegner, Betsy Sparrow, and Jenny Lui found out that while time spent trying to find correct information may be shortened because of the use of internet explorer’s, however when subjects were asked to recall certain facts about the information, those that used internet explorer’s/browsers were not able to recall as much information those that didn’t use browsers (Harvard Magazine, How the Web Affects our Memory). Wegner first based his hypothesis off of his original view of transitive memory, where we look at another form or medium to store information. Usually transitive memory occurs with groups of people, like when a child asks a mother when a certain person’s birthday is, or when you ask a classmate when a paper is due. However, since the addition of smart technology and the expanded capabilities of the internet, we are now more reliant on these digital forms of memory, and ultimately affecting our own memory retention capabilities. Hopefully this study shows us how important it is to naturally memorize important details, as well as not to become so dependent on technology.
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I 100% agree with your post that memory is not what it used to be. Even though technology is decreasing our memory, it is also flooding us with information. I have heard that technology has made us addicted to acquiring more and more information, now not all the information is important (ex. social media). Humans are now always being hit with more and more information. Not only could this have an effect on our memory, but also our focus because we are constantly switching our attention to different things. I found this article that offers some interesting points on how technology is making us smarter.
Technology now a days is a double edged sword which is why i appreciate classrooms that are technology free. I do in some way believe technology is dumbing us down. I learned in my childhood development class that children who spend an hour on a tv know 6 words less than those who do not. That is a significant amount for a child who is still developing their language skills. Technology has allowed us to put our minds to sleep while we do something else. It has become so robotic that its almost as easy to go online and search something up as it is to get up in the morning and brush your teeth. Thoughtless. This was regardless a very interesting blog topic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guGzLUpLpE8