Actual Study Suggests Googling Activates Your Brain, Rather Than Making You Stupid
from the can-we-get-money-back-from-Nick-Carr? dept
Earlier this year, we were among many who debunked Nicholas Carr's somewhat ridiculous assertion that Google somehow made people stupid because it got them used to skimming information rather than sitting down with a big fat book (like the one Carr is trying to sell) and reading through it. Like so many Carr theses, it seems filled with some interesting factoids and connections -- but then jumps to a conclusion that isn't even remotely supported by the rest of the article. Yet, rather than defend or respond to criticisms, Carr has gotten into the habit of only posting the positive reviews of his article and book.It would be interesting to see, then, how he responded to some actual research that suggests using search engines helps keep the brain active and "exercises" the brain -- which would be rather the opposite of Carr's thesis. Not only that, but the MRI research showed that active internet users tended to have more activity in the region of the brain that controls decision-making and complex reasoning. While it's just one study -- and you can question how widely the results can be applied -- it's at least worth noting that it seems to contradict Carr's basic thesis.
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Filed Under: brain, intelligence, internet usage
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That study is stupid
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1+1=3
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Re: 1+1=3
As the 1337 HAX0RS say, pwnd.
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To google something efficiently you need to come up with a good search string, then filter the results mentally based on reliability and relevance etc etc...
Whether one method ends up making you "smarter" than the other is debatable, but I'd argue that on those grounds, using google requires more skill/thought than reading a book.
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My point being that search engines open up the ability to quickly harvest information. I don't care what form information comes in, you're still learning something. I'm fairly certain a lot of people, like myself, get more engaged when reading up on a subject on the web as opposed to static text in a book. The fact that many times you can hop around to different angles, read opinions, etc.
I don't see how it could ever make someone stupid.
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A book is only as good as it's author, as is the case for information found on the internet. Hopefully the brain is developed enough to decipher the valuable information from the crap.
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Do you remeber being trying to search for something?
Understanding that all media have different context for the same words means you need to organize words into contexts and learn words that are used only in specific context.
But then again I never went to college. So maybe I am just google using retard.
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I see value in both book-smarts and internet-smarts. If you are trying to find information on bleeding-edge technologies, you are more likely to find the information by browsing the index of a book (which is a simplified search through a chosen source.) If you are trying to find information about common knowledge or opinions; an internet search is warranted.
If current progress is any indication, all current and future publications will have been and will be converted into electronic format. This means that the days of browsing through an ink and paper book will not be necessary as an internet search would point you to the right publisher:author:title:chapter:page:line:word:letter.
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Yes, indexed searching requires less skimming than that offered by a full text mental scan, but consider the fact that indexed searching allows for more rapid information acquisition. That in turn allowing a person to do more actual reading on the subject of interest, and possible stimulating more actual information retention in the brain as well as the stimulation of searching.
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duplicate link
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I think both studies are wrong
Imagine the internet as a dictionary, or better yet, as an enciclopaedia and you are looking for "the history of cars". While searching the web, I think one needs to be more aware of the information because you can read a lot more information given by a search engine: Writing different words related to the history of cars, will give you different search results. Some non-related and non-repeated. And they're all as close as one click.
Do the same search in a book. Is more concise and by far, more limited (but by no means, unaccurated or unuseful).
So, as an exercise, searching the web looks more like a challenge for the brain. But certainly i don't believe it makes you smarter. Just makes more information avaliable, and as we all know, more information is not always for the best.
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to google eternally
in our lives and how we store it in a place that
google continues to "jog".
never again we will have the anxiety of not remembering
water cooler questions are solved instantaneously ô¿ô
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yea.
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uhm
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OWWWW
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WHT YU DOING IM BORED LIKE OWWW
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ILL ALWAYS LOVE YU NO MATTER WHT BAY I SWEAR AARON WE WENT THRU MADD SUFF I NO I BOP YA CUSZIN BUT YU TOOK ME BACK & KISS ME LIKE IT WAS THE 1ST ILOVE YU ALWAYSZ & 4EVER BAYY 4REAL
AARON & MELSY TIL WE DIE
ALL I NEED IN THIS LIFE OF SIN IS ME & AARON _XOXO
O2:23: 2000 AWW LOVE AT 1ST SIGHT
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GET IT
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IM A BOI THO. ALWAYS HOMO !!!
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I BELEAVE IT WAS AARON WHO WROTE ALL THIS
& CAN YU PLEASE TELL HIM TO STOP FARTTING CUS ITS STARTING TO SMELL
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idk
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loserrr.
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