Are We Becoming Dumber or Smarter?

Computers have the power to connect us with people across the globe. They have the power to span networks, to create conference calls with partners in Beijing, to bring send business reports to India, to find your long-lost cousin Bill, to show you how to take a derivative, to help you get a college education, to present you with any information you are looking for, and even some you are not looking for. In this day and age, this may sound all well and good, but in this, the Computer Age—the Information Age—are we really benefiting? Is this constant flow and easily accessible information making this generation smarter or dumber?

In the vast array of information that computers and networks offer us, how much of this information is credible, useful and applicable to our lives and how much of it is simply meant to entertain us? Because computers and the internet are easily accessible by anyone who one: owns a computer, two: has internet access, and three: has even a remote idea of how to get on the internet, basically anyone can create, edit, and produce media and text that is visible and available around the world. This leads to the creation of a huge pool of mediocre and subpar information and media created by amateurs and laypersons. While providing us with a pool of easily accessible information, the information also provides us with a much larger pool of distractions and interruptions in our cognitive processes, leading to more shallow thinking. At least that’s what author of “The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains”, Nicholas Carr asserts.

According to Carr, studies have shown that people who “read text studded with links, the studies show, comprehend less than those who read traditional linear text”, who “watch busy multimedia presentations remember less than those who take in information in a more sedate and focused manner”, who “are continually distracted by emails, alerts and other messages understand less than those who are able to concentrate”, and who “juggle many tasks are less creative and less productive than those who do one thing at a time”. Such results show a correlation between the amount and way technology is utilized and the degree of concentration and cognition.

In these studies, the correlation seems to be the effect of technology on our focus and attention. In order for thoughts, memories, and actions to be made, a degree of attention and concentration is required. Without such focus, connections and associations will not bring the new information into memory. It seems that being online and connected to all types of information and networking sites adds to the distractions and interruptions of this process.

While some studies showed that some tasks could actually increase and enhance certain skills, such as visual literacy, they also showed that this was at the cost of more complex cognitive thought, such as reflection, critical thinking, and imagination. This he says makes us “shallower”. Even in the case of multitaskers, supposedly those who are able to comprehend and handle multiple tasks, show a lowering of cognitive abilities; Carr asserts this is because their attention levels are lower and thus they are easily distracted from their tasks.

        The worst part of Carr’s assertions is that such negative consequences do not simply go away by turning off the power. In fact, our brain develops around the tools we use, such as computers, and changes the way our brain functions and the way we think, even when the tools are not being used. Thus in an age of constantly flowing information, our brains have adapted to switching its concentration from one subject to the next, affecting our ability to focus, reflect, and contemplate on one subject for long. 

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