Don't Know...Don't Care

I have come to the conclusion that we now all think differently because of technology. We depend too much on it and we don’t acknowledge how clueless we would be without it.

The need for memorizing is virtually gone with the handheld computers we carry around in our pockets. I’m also becoming almost a millennial in that…..if I can’t remember how to do something….I retreat to You Tube for a tutorial. I often revisit the same videos over and over again.

So here’s the question is: Is the Internet helping or hurting our ability to think and reason? I believe a new study on brain function answers the question with some sobering conclusions. Our attention span has been dramatically reduced. Our memory is going, going and pretty much gone. And our social cognition has been radically altered. The researchers hope all of these changes will lead to freeing up our brains….like we free up ram on a hard drive. I’m not sure.

I know this much.  I find myself sometimes staring at my phone at a restaurant too often. I can’t remember the last time I used a pencil and a piece of paper to add or subtract because of the built-in calculator in my phone. Books? Nope. A dictionary? I just put the word into Google. It spells it right and gives me the meaning. I don’t even write texts any more. I hit the microphone setting on my phone and dictate.

It’s turning our minds to mush. And don’t get me started on social media. I read insults that would never be delivered personally to someone’s face. It all inspires conceit.…which reminds me of the story about the man who asked the difference between ignorance and arrogance?

His answer was instructive.

He said: “I don’t know…and I don’t care.”