In an excellently written article earlier this year, Nicholas Carr argued that the internet was changing the way our brains work, effectively making us stupid. The facts as he sees it are that in years gone by he would be able to immerse himself in "long stretches of prose" when reading a lengthy article or book. These days, however, he rarely does this thanks to the internet. Finding a quote or fact is usually as easy as making a search on Google and clicking a few hyperlinks.It seems that the benefits of having the perfect memory recall of the internet at our fingertips at all times may be having the effect of making us unable to concentrate on or contemplate the information we have available. Rather than looking deeply into the information contained in a book or magazine and pondering it, we now simply collect scraps of information and opinion as we skim over the web. Nicholas Carr put it far more eloquently when he said "Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski."
This seems to be a common theme online as more people recognise that they are developing an acquired attention deficit disorder through using computers regularly. Regular computer users talk of jumping from their email to their news feeds then onto the web and so on without achieving any actual work. Trouble concentrating on long articles is becoming more difficult for many.
Sound a little redoubtable? Well all is not completely lost as the good old BBC comes to the rescue with the headline Internet use 'good for the brain'.
It seems that a study at University of California Los Angeles has found evidence that regular internet use may be beneficial to our grey matter, for older people at least. Professor Gary Small said "A simple, everyday task like searching the web appears to enhance brain circuitry in older adults".
Previous studies have shown that keeping the brain active later in life may help avoid reductions in brain performance including dementia. Doing crossword puzzles and similar activities have long been seen as beneficial in keeping the older mind healthy and now there is some evidence that internet use falls into the same category.
Taking these two linked articles to their logical conclusion we are all presumably doomed to be disorganised and inattentive until much later in life than we have been previously. Unfortunately this bigmouthmedia reporter was unable to research further in order to find a proper conclusion due to an "essential" Icanhascheezburger.com update and some "important" emails.
Five tips to avoid distractions when you should be working:
- Make a point of only checking your email every, say, 30 minutes and stick to that.
- Switch off the alert box that pops up every time you receive mail when you need to complete a task.
- Take breaks away from your desk, allowing you time to relax and improving concentration when you return.
- Organise. Make sure you know what your goals are for the day and have a schedule for achieving them.
- When you have a task to complete, go offline until you've done it. That means email, messengers, RSS, browser, the lot!
