One of the most amazing aspects of the modern life is undeniably an access to a great variety of tools which can be used for boosting our intelligence. Not only do we have abundance of information, but we also have impressive tools for storing this knowledge and navigating it. No wonder, there are many people believing the modern technology can actually extend our memory. Yet, there are also many people who see some negative effects on our intellectual abilities. This article will highlight some of the most important of them.
Apply the knowledge of the world on the go
The majority of people do not need any introduction of the positive effects of technology when it comes to the memory storage and access to information. It is obvious to many people that even without the Internet itself, people would have been a way more successful with digital storage of information than it was in the case when the we were limited to libraries and conventional archives. The mere possibility of carrying thousands of books on your electronic reader at a time is extremely impressive.
There is also no need in explaining how fast one can reach to almost any information one might possibly need. This speeds up lots of processes offering people a possibility to enjoy a lot of free time. Electronic navigation, schedules, system with rapid updating and many more amazing pieces of this world allow people to surf through the layers and networks of information without any difficulties.
The negative effect of technological progress
You have certainly heard an idea that modern people do not have to remember information any more, they just need to know where to search for it. On the one hand, there is a sense in such an approach since there is an immense amount of data which will give anyone hard time for memorisation while it will still not be particularly efficient. Yet, if people will keep on relying on outside sources of information, they will lose an ability of evaluating of information based on their own knowledge. They will simply lose any basic structure for information swimming in the ocean of data which is only partially true.
This is actually another problem of the information revolution. Anyone who has any experience of using Internet now knows that not all of the information available there. The problem is not even in the possibility of posting anything one wants even if it confuses people about particular things. It is also about the overwhelming amount of texts created specifically for the commercial purposes which usually lack any real sense and by any means can be trusted. Yet, if a person stops using one’s own memory storage for keeping knowledge, it will be rather difficult to evaluate information without which the infinite amount of data is actually useless.
You might have already come over a suggestion that the greatest threat of the technological progress is not in the possibility of machines gaining the cognitive capacities of human beings and using their intellect against people. What is the real threat is that people themselves will become like machines looking through a flow of information without a possibility to examine it properly unless someone will write an algorithm for them.
This is what is actually happening to many young people nowadays and can be seen in the educational system. On the one hand, students have a chance of deploying an immense amount of information for their educational process. On the other hand, a very small number of them are actually capable of making their own conclusions out of any information they are trying to use.
This is certainly a serious issue, however, it is not obvious what one should do to address it. Modern people will certainly not be effective or competitive on the market if they resign from deploying the new technologies, however, it is extremely important to practice one’s own cognitive abilities and use memory as much as possible.