We increasingly rely on social media to talk to friends, GPS to navigate and the web for information. But is that wise?
Google is making you stupid, your iPhone’s making you fickle and your social networks are making you anti-social. If the newspaper headlines are to be believed, our brains are under attack. Modern technology is pummeling each of us into a cognitive wreck, and if we aren’t careful we’ll be beaten into a stupor.
Of course, the real story isn’t as clear cut as all that. But stories persist because the sense that something is eroding our mental abilities feels right. We struggle to remember our own phone number, when only a few years ago we could recall dozens. Online readers prefer short, simple stories to long, nuanced pieces (although we’re sure BBC Earth Magazine readers are the exception), and we all know someone who breaks out in a sweat when separated from their smartphone.
So what’s really happening? The first thing to consider is that this kind of ‘neuro-anxiety’ about the tools we use is nothing new. In 370 BC, Plato warned that the Greeks’ “trust in writing” would “discourage the use of their own memory”. Sound familiar?
The reality is that our brains do change when we use a smartphone or computer – but they also change when we use a pen, a screwdriver, or any other tool for that matter. They change when we mow the lawn, play golf or cook dinner. Our experiences continually shape the way the brain works. So the question isn’t really ‘is tech rewiring our brains?’ but ‘how are our brains adapting to living in today’s screen-first, always-online, networked world?’
Scientifically speaking, we’re a long way from definitive answers, but we looked at the latest research and talked to leading experts in their fields to discover how they think our collective brains are being affected…
Attention
Esta historia es de la edición January 2017 de BBC Earth.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición January 2017 de BBC Earth.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
World's First Malaria Vaccine
The World Health Organization’s director-general hails ‘historic moment’ as mass immunisation of African children begins
Is River Pollution Putting The Species In Jeopardy Again?
Ten years ago, it was jubilantly announced that o ers had returned to every county in England. But is river pollution putting the species in jeopardy again?
The Big Burnout
Long hours, low pay and a lack of appreciation — among other things — can make for a stressful workplace and lead to burnout. It’s something we should all be concerned about, because over half of the workforce reports feeling it
Putting Nature To Rights
More countries are enshrining the right to a clean environment into law. So if a company or government is impinging upon that right, you could take them to court
Mega Spaceship: Is It Possible For China To Build A Kilometre-Long Spacecraft?
Buoyed on by its successful Moon missions, China has launched a five-year study to investigate the possibility of building the biggest-ever spacecraft
Are We Getting Happier?
Enjoying more good days than bad? Feel like that bounce in your step’s getting bigger? HELEN RUSSELL looks into whether we’re all feeling more cheery…
“Unless the Japanese got the US off their backs in the Pacific, they believed they would face complete destruction”
Eighty years ago Japan’s surprise raid on Pearl Harbor forced the US offthe fence and into the Second World War. Ellie Cawthorne is making a new HistoryExtra podcast series about the attack, and she spoke to Christopher Harding about the long roots of Japan’s disastrous decision
Your Mysterious Brain
Science has mapped the surface of Mars and translated the code for life. By comparison, we know next to nothing about what’s between our ears. Over the next few pages, we ask leading scientists to answer some of the most important questions about our brains…
Why Do We Fall In Love?
Is it companionship, procreation or something more? DR ANNA MACHIN reveals what makes us so willing to become targets for Cupid’s arrow
Detecting the dead
Following personal tragedy, the creator of that most rational of literary figures, Sherlock Holmes, developed an obsession with spiritualism. Fiona Snailham and Anna Maria Barry explore the supernatural interests of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle