6/12/2020 Is the internet killing our brains?

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Is the internet killing our brains?
The web gives us access to endless information. What impact
does this have on our memory, and our attention spans?

Dean Burnett
@garwboy
Sat 8 Oct 2016 07.30 BST

844 136

T
hroughout history, people have always worried about new technologies. The
fear that the human brain cannot cope with the onslaught of information
made possible by the latest development was first voiced in response to the
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printing press, back in the sixteenth century. Swap “printing press” for
“internet” and you have the exact same concerns today, regularly voiced in the
mainstream media, and usually focused on children.

But is there any legitimacy to these claims? Or are they just needless scaremongering?
There are several things to bear in mind when considering how our brains deal with the
internet.

The human brain First, don’t forget that “the internet” is a very vague term,
is always dealing given that it contains so many things across so many
with a constant formats. You could, for instance, develop a gambling
stream of rich addiction via online casinos or poker sites. This is an
information that’s example of someone’s brain being negatively affected via
what the real world the internet, but it would be difficult to argue that the
is internet is the main culprit, any more than a gambling
addiction obtained via a real world casino can be blamed on
“buildings”; it’s just the context in which the problem
occurred. However, the internet does give us a far more direct, constant and wide
ranging access to information than pretty much anything else in human history. So
how could, or does, this affect us and our brains?

Information overload
It’s important to remember that the human brain is always dealing with a constant
stream of rich information; that’s what the real world is, as far as our senses are
concerned. Whether staring at a video being played on a small screen or watching
people playing in a park, the brain and visual system still has to do the same amount of
work as both provide detailed sensory information.

It’s too detailed, if anything. The brain doesn’t actually process every single thing our
senses present to it; for all its power and complexity, it just doesn’t have the capacity

for that. So it filters things out and extrapolates what’s important based on
experiences, calculation and a sort of “best guess” system. The point is, the brain is
already well adapted to prevent damaging information overload, so it’s unlikely that
the internet would be able to cause such a thing.

Is Google destroying my memory?

Another concern is that the constant access to information stored
online is atrophying or disrupting our memories. Why bother to
remember anything when you can just Google it, right?
Do our brains have
extraordinary
untapped powers? Memory doesn’t quite work that way. The things we experience
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untapped powers? y q y
Is the internet killing our brains? | Students | The Guardian
g p
that end up as memories do so via unconscious processes. Things
Read more
that have emotional resonance or significance in other ways tend
to be more easily remembered than abstract information or
intangible facts. These things have always required more effort to remember in the
long term, needing to be rehearsed repeatedly in order to be encoded as memories.
Undeniably, the internet often renders this process unnecessary. But whether this is
harmful for the development of the brain is another question.

Doing something often and becoming good at it is reflected in the brain’s structure. For
example, the motor cortex of an expert musician, proficient in fine hand movements,
differs from that of non-musicians. An argument could be made that constantly
committing things to memory rather than just looking them up as and when needed
would enhance the brain’s memory system. On the other hand, some evidence
suggests that a more stimulating, varied environment aides brain development – so
maybe the constant, interesting information found online is better for you than
rehearsing dry facts and figures.

But, counter to this, other evidence suggests that the detailed presentation of even
simple web pages provides too many features for the human brain’s small-capacity
short-term memory to handle, which could have knock-on effects for the memory
system. It’s a mixed picture overall.

What about my attention span?

Does the internet impact on our ability to focus on something, or does having 24/7
access to so many things prove too much of a distraction?

The human attention system is complicated, and so again, it’s an unclear picture. Our
two-layer, bottom-up and top-down attention system (meaning there’s a conscious
aspect that enables us to direct our attention, and an unconscious aspect that shifts
attention towards anything our senses pick up that might be significant) is already
something that can make focusing 100% on something quite a challenge. It’s for this
reason that a lot of people prefer to have music playing while they work: it occupies
part of the attention system that would otherwise look for distractions while we’re
trying to do something important.

The internet, however, provides a very quick and effective distraction. We can be
looking at something enjoyable within seconds, which is a problem, given that much
work in the modern world is done on the same device we use to access the internet. It
is such a concern that apps and companies have sprung up specifically to address this.

But it would be unfair to say that the internet is responsible for

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Is the internet killing our brains? | Students | The Guardian

distracting us from work. The brain’s attention system and

preference for novel experiences existed long before the internet
did, the internet is just something that makes these aspects
Does music really
help you particularly irksome.
concentrate?
Competing for likes
Read more
Social interactions with other people are a major factor in how we
develop, learn and grow at the neurological level. Humans are a
very social species. But now the internet has allowed social interactions and
relationships to occur between vast numbers of people over great distances, and for
them to occur all day, every day.

This means that everything we do can be shared with others at the press of a button,
but this has consequences. The positive feelings gained from social media approval are
said to work on the same neurological basis as drugs do; providing rewards via the
dopamine system. Thus, social network addiction is slowly becoming an issue. By
creating a situation where we’re constantly trying to impress and being judged by
others, perhaps the internet isn’t doing our brains much good after all.

But, as with most things, the actual problem comes down to other people, not the net.

Dean Burnett’s first book, The Idiot Brain, all about the weird and confusing properties of
the brain, is available now.

Topics
Students Guardian Students
Higher education / Neuroscience / Teaching / features

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User80986 8 Oct 2016 12:29 11

Rather than killing our brains, I think we can definitely talk about it furthering the dumbing
down process caused by a number of other factors too. If you don't believe it, just ask a
teenager when was the last time they read a book...

Report
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StarshipPooper      Alistair Binks 8 Oct 2016 13:16 16

Asking one teenager when they last read a book is not a good way to reach a
conclusion about whether there is a "dumbing down process", whatever is meant by
that in the first place.
Personally, and anecdotally, I'd say my attention span has been reduced since the
proliferation of the internet. But scientific studies are needed with larger data sets
than just myself. Or one teenager for that matter.

Report

BloodyTories      Alistair Binks 8 Oct 2016 13:38 4

Actually, the teen, or "young adult" fiction market is by far the most robust of the
publishing sectors.

And the majority of sales are in physical books, too.

Report

ityfyu      Alistair Binks 8 Oct 2016 13:45 4

I used to read far more books than I do today, and this is certainly down to the
internet. But I'm not sure that I actually spend less time reading, it's just that my
reading material is now of a more fragmented nature. Though my willingness to
commit to long form writing has certainly diminished.
Report

Show 3 more replies

FrenchEuropean 8 Oct 2016 12:29 3

The problem is not the internet per se (it's a great invention), it's one of its applications, the
web, and the latter's terrible hyperlink. The hyperlink is what eff you up. It's the culprit.
Report

disqusagain      FrenchEuropean 8 Oct 2016 13:10 2

Oh dear, you will be complaining about neural networks and pathways next!
Report

BarryPearson      FrenchEuropean 8 Oct 2016 13:42 3

.... and the latter's terrible hyperlink. The hyperlink is what eff you up. It's the
culprit.

The hyperlink is what makes the web such an effective tool.

I used the Internet decades before the web. I was always enthusiastic about
knowledge sharing which I believe is one of the important activities of the human
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knowledge sharing, which I believe is one of the important activities of the human
species. But it was limited in its richness, hence its value.

I actually started to use and share hyper-media before I knew about the web. Then I
learned about the web, and developed my first website in about 1994, and realised
that at last here was a medium that could be used to express and share knowledge
with sufficient richness.

I understand the problems with hyperlinks! The intrigue of what is available at the
touch of a button. As I type this, I already have other tabs open to look at when I've
finished with this one. But when I walk out of my office, because I don't carry a mobile
phone with me, I can get on with something else without risk of distraction.
Report

FrenchEuropean      disqusagain 8 Oct 2016 14:11 1

And what about neural networks and pathways, huh? They're just awful.

Report

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