Internet causes "Popcorn Brain"

We've talked about this kind of thing here plenty, but more evidence that the Internet can be bad for us. This isn't the first time I've read about parents being inattentive because they would rather check their Blackberries than help their children take a bath or do their homework.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/06/23/tech.popcorn.brain.ep/index.html?hpt=hp_c2

 

Yeah, I came across this, too. Only problem I have is that the quiz rings a big "so what?" to me.

Am I addicted to the Internet? Maybe? Is it a bad thing? Not sure. We live life differently now. A lot of my work dictates use of computers and the Internet. If the Net was to disappear would I be severely affected? I don't think so. Maybe at first, but I'd adapt. Or else.

When Gutenberg developed movable type, did reading become an addiction? When Ford developed the assembly line, did it lead to repetitive stress injuries? Maybe I'm being a little facetious, but the inventions I mentioned radically changed how we live and work. So did computers and Internet technology. Maybe what is being discussed as a possible addiction is actually just the next evolution of how we work and live.

 

The Wall Street Journal actually had an interesting op-ed takedown the other day of Obama's statement to the effect that there are "structural issues" with our economy because machines are doing work that people used to do (ATMs, etc.). I think that the comment was somewhat mischaracterized by the right. I don't think he's saying that we need to halt progress - on the contrary, it's the left that wants high-speed rail, etc., etc. That being said, you always have to be careful to walk the line between valid concerns about technology's effect on us, and falling into luddite-ism.

I do, however, think that there are some observable negative results that have come about because of the speed and mobility of the Internet. I get annoyed when people I'm with are constantly on their Smartphones, pecking away while I'm trying to have a conversation. And I think young people are, in general, more socially awkward in face-to-face pleasantries than they used to be. The response to these kind of comments is something along the lines of, "TV was going to destroy us, too! So was Gutenberg!" Well, I can't say there hasn't been a tradeoff as far as television, to use one example, goes. We're a lot fatter than we were before it. Families don't talk as much. Kids don't go outside as much. And on and on. We've somewhat adjusted - for the most part, we're careful not to let the TV babysit our children day and night. But the point is that we do have to eventually be careful of how technology begins to control us, and not for the better. And we may be reaching that point with the Internet.

 

Evil ... Thy name is Orville Redenbacher!! to the white courtesy phone.

 

Two cents: believe the Obama observations referred to above were little more than an observation about how certain irrepressible technological developments have lopped off more than a few jobs. Don't believe Obama was looking to willfully put such developments aside.

 

I agree. I thought that the WSJ article mischaracterized what he said just to seize on a starting point for the column he wanted to write: That new jobs do in fact replace the old ones, and they always have.

 

That said, the comments were clumsy, and were probably not a masterstroke.

 

It's not just the internet. Modern society is overloaded with sensory stimuli which results in shorter attenoh look a chicken!

 

Well done, sir.