Aliens, The Internet And The Usenet Cabal

Computers Are Destroying Brain Memory

from the damn-them dept

Mon, Feb 5th 2001 1:55am — Mike Masnick

First we find out that computers are destroying our ability to write and now there's evidence suggesting that they're hurting people's ability to remember stuff (link from GeekPress.com). Since people are so reliant on computers, their memory functions are atrophying, according to this Japanese study. This is amusing because it reminds me of my friend who bought a Palm Pilot soon after they were first released, and explained to me that it was so useful because it basically acted as an extension of his brain. I guess that people are beginning to get so comfortable with this that they're actually offloading brain functions to computers. Or, the study could just be messed up (I'd at least like to see a bit more about it).

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wonko, 5 Feb 2001 @ 1:29pm

Gun, with Occasional Music
There's a wonderful "science-fiction noir"-style book entitled Gun, with Occasional Music, written by Jonathan Lethem. In addition to many other quirky yet entirely plausible and somewhat worrying predictions of the near future, citizens of the future all carry around small electronic "memories", which are boxes with a voice interface that they rely upon to retain their memory for them. If you ask someone a question, they then consult their "memory" to see if they know the answer. The "memory" tells them, and they repeat it to you, ignoring the fact that you've already heard the "memory" speak, since they've become so used to this extension of their brains.
It's an excellent book, and I highly recommend it to anyone who's a fan of either science fiction or Chandler-esque detective novels.
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Mike (profile), 5 Feb 2001 @ 1:52pm

Re: Gun, with Occasional Music
I'll have to pick it up. I've read Lethem's "As She Crawled Across the Table" which is about some physicist who takes part in inventing a black hole which she later falls in love with. He writes quirky books. I have his "Motherless Brooklyn" sitting on my bookshelf now, and it's been recommended as well...
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