Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: Ripsnort on February 05, 2001, 08:33:00 AM
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GROWING numbers of people in their twenties and
thirties are suffering from severe memory loss
because of increasing reliance on computer
technology, according to new research.
Sufferers complain they are unable to recall names,
written words or appointments, and in some cases
have had to give up their jobs.
Doctors are blaming computer technology, electronic
organisers and automatic car navigation systems.
They claim these gadgets lead to diminished use of
the brain to work out problems and inflict "information
overload" that makes it difficult to distinguish
between important and unimportant facts.
A preliminary study of 150 people aged 20 to 35 has
shown that more than one in 10 are suffering from
severe problems with their memory. Researchers
from Hokkaido University's school of medicine in
Japan said the memory dysfunction among the young
required further investigation.
"They're losing the ability to remember new things, to
pull out old data or to distinguish between important
and unimportant information. It's a type of brain
dysfunction," said Toshiyuki Sawaguchi, the
university's professor of neurobiology. "Young people
today are becoming stupid."
One high-flying 28-year-old salesman treated by Dr
Sawaguchi was forced to give up his job when he
found himself forgetting where he was going, who he
was supposed to be seeing or, when he finally got
there, what he was selling.
Although no formal studies have been undertaken in
Britain, experts are increasingly recognising the
problem. Professor Pam Briggs of Northumbria
University, who recently chaired a British
Psychological Society symposium on the effects of
technology, said: "I think increased use of the internet
and computer technology is starting to have an effect.
Everyday memory might be at threat if you are using
the computer as a kind of external memory."
Dr Takashi Tsukiyama, who runs a private clinic in
Tokyo, said he had seen an increase in severe
memory problems. "In the past two years, more
people in their twenties and thirties have presented
themselves with memory impairment," he said.
One sales assistant aged 28 said she suddenly
found herself unable to recall written words and was
dismissed from her job. "Ageing affects the brain's
hardware, but errors may occur in the brain's
'software' that have nothing to do with age but are
related to someone's lifestyle, such as not using your
brain enough," said Tsukiyama.
Dr David Cantor, director of the Psychological
Services Institute in Atlanta, Georgia, who has
treated patients for memory and attention problems
for more than 20 years, said: "Many experts believe
information overload is making it difficult for some
people to absorb new information, as they have
reached a limit of what they can store in their brains.
These people forget things because they were too
distracted to absorb them in the first place."
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thus wireless networking and palm pilots ...
and to think my generation blamed it on wacky weed (http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/Smileys/default/smile.gif)
Eagler
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The same syndrome was noticed when movable type was introduced. People just didn't retain the ability to remember what they had before due to it being widely printed and therefore lookupable (is that a word?). Bards therefore died out in a few generations.
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OhNooo
smile awhile
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am,am, geez, I forgot what I wanted to post?!?!?!?
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Originally posted by 1776:
am,am, geez, I forgot what I wanted to post?!?!?!?
oh god forget too (http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/Smileys/default/biggrin.gif)
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I remember that post to the BBS are signed "AKDejaVu" and inter-office e-mail is signed "AKD<backspace><backspace><backspace> Dave".
AKDejaVu
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ROTFLOL, Deja! I actually sent out a group memo signed 'Ripsnort'...got alot of grief over that one! (Especially when I had to explain how I recieved the handle)
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The only problem I see with today's tech is that I have a hard time writing with pen and paper. Just now writing the checks for my bills I had to stop, search through my brain on how to write!!! LOL!
What was this thread about again?
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and all this time i just thought it was from tons and tons o' weed.....
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What was the subject of this thread?????? (http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/Smileys/default/confused.gif)
Mav
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Originally posted by MrBill:
The same syndrome was noticed when movable type was introduced. People just didn't retain the ability to remember what they had before due to it being widely printed and therefore lookupable (is that a word?). Bards therefore died out in a few generations.
Very good point. I've looked at a lot of different engineering data from the 1870's to the present. I've seen the change that occured as the computer was introduced. I've personally seen my math skills fall into the gutter because I don't use them. I have a pocket calculator. I've taken math into the 400 level but right now I couldn't do a differential equation to save my life! As the old saying gose if you don't use it you lose it. The show called The Day the Universe Changed hosted by James Burke talked about exactly what you said. They used all kinds of things to help them remember the whole Bible and Greek writings. Can you imagine remembering the whole Bible word for word! Sci-Fi novels have used this as a back drop. A civilization forgets how to operate there infrastructure. Think about it. Every formula know to man is in a computer some where. Once programed you don't need to do the math any more. The people that know how die. Then what do you have when the computer brakes down. That's an extrem example but maybe we are seeing it happen. I have another example. I worked for a telephone company for a year. Almost everyone in there was hired in the 70's and before. I was damn near the youngest person in there and I was 33 then. When all of those people retire they will lose a massive experiance base. Those people went from analog to digital. They built 75% of the local phone system where I live. And they aren't hiring new people. I was a temp.