No, Google Is Not Rewiring How We Remember

from the let-it-go dept

Tue, Jul 19th 2011 9:59pm — Mike Masnick

There are a bunch of reports out concerning a new study claiming that Google is rewiring how we remember. It sounds good, but it's not really what the study appears to be saying. Basically, the study is saying that we just don't work as hard at remembering stuff we know we can access again easily. But I don't see that as rewiring. I think that's always been true. It's the same thing as people not remembering their multiplication tables as carefully, because they know they have a calculator. If anything, it just seems like an efficient use of your brain. The report also notes that people have an easier time remembering where to find certain info than they do remembering the info itself. But, again, that's just our brains being efficient. So I don't see how that's rewiring anything. It's just a recognition that, thanks to the internet and other technologies, we can have near ubiquitous access to certain kinds of info, and we function better by remembering how to find it, rather than the info itself. In fact, we've discussed this before, about how people quite reasonably use things like Google as their backup brain and how that actually has some benefits.

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: brains, memory
Companies: google

46 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

Anonymous Coward, 19 Jul 2011 @ 10:11pm

�Why should I memorize something when I know where to find it?� - Albert Einstein

"I don't need to remember my own phone number, I can just look it up in the phone book." - Albert Einstein
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- abc gum, 20 Jul 2011 @ 4:50am
  
  Re:
  "The problem with quotes on the Internet is that it is hard to verify their authenticity"
  � Abraham Lincoln
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - The Groove Tiger (profile), 20 Jul 2011 @ 8:39am
    
    Re: Re:
    "LOL, ROFL, added U to my FB" -- Attila the Hun
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
BearGriz72 (profile), 19 Jul 2011 @ 10:17pm

Backup Brain?
I want a spare brain
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Ralphoo (profile), 20 Jul 2011 @ 8:00am
  
  Re: Backup Brain?
  My requirement is not so much for a spare as for an immediate swap-out.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - mirradric, 20 Jul 2011 @ 10:34pm
    
    Re: Re: Backup Brain?
    I'll rather have live migration support and a spare body so that I can change everything all at once.
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
BearGriz72 (profile), 19 Jul 2011 @ 10:17pm

Backup Brain?
I want a spare brain
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
BearGriz72 (profile), 19 Jul 2011 @ 10:20pm

Comment Held for Moderation...
"Thanks for your comment. It will be reviewed by our staff before it is posted."

What did I do this time? ;-)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Richard (profile), 20 Jul 2011 @ 1:16am
  
  Re: Comment Held for Moderation...
  Short comment containing a link
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
NAMELESS.ONE, 19 Jul 2011 @ 10:24pm

as i said
if i now link in my mind various technological uses then i can in fact "save memory and time" thus my actually capacity to learn and do more is increased.LIKE um here hackers learned this concept long ago....IF its already there and i can use it why commit somehting to memory , just use a link.

linking is infringing will be a good topic now won't it. WHAT ya gonna do rip my brains apart.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Greevar (profile), 19 Jul 2011 @ 11:15pm

I call bullshit.
This study is full of faulty methods and reasoning. We best retain information our brains deem most important. Where and how we find information is important, more so than the information itself. Trivia is called such because it's trivial (i.e. not important). The brain puts a low priority on that information. I bet you apples to doughnuts that if you tested how well they retain the memory of where that information came from or the method by which it was discovered, it would reveal that they would almost all remember.

If I asked you how many nations have a predominantly red flag, before the internet existed your first instinct would be to think "Do I know that?". Your next move would be to, guess what, search for reference (e.g. encyclopedias). When asked for information you don't have, your first instinct is always to seek out reference. You search the net, look it up in a book, ask someone, one of these things will get you your answer and it's more effective than memorizing all those bits of information yourself. This is not new or unique to the internet age.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Josh in CharlotteNC (profile), 20 Jul 2011 @ 6:49am
  
  Re: I call bullshit.
  Agree. As soon as I saw this on Ars, I said the same thing. Just another headline grabbing article about the evils of technology when the data doesn't support the conclusion.
  
  The report also notes that people have an easier time remembering where to find certain info than they do remembering the info itself.
  
  I remember going through school - mostly before the Internet. The way I studied then, and still remember things now is no different. Someone asks me a question, the first thing I think of is where the information is, whether its the page of a textbook or a webpage. I then visualize the page, and have the answer.
  
  Sure I'll use Google (or search my email archive, or open the webpage or document) to confirm I'm correct. And sure, I'll search Google for new information I don't already have.
  
  If the last 300 years of modern science hasn't rewired our prehistoric-evolved brains, then the last 15 years of the Internet sure as hell has not.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
The Mighty Buzzard (profile), 19 Jul 2011 @ 11:16pm

typo
people have an easier time remembering where
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 19 Jul 2011 @ 11:27pm
  
  Re: typo
  Looks fine to me?
  
  remember re�mem�ber (rĭ-měm'bər)
  v. re�mem�bered , re�mem�ber�ing , re�mem�bers
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - The Mighty Buzzard (profile), 19 Jul 2011 @ 11:34pm
    
    Re: Re: typo
    It was remember rather than remembering before.
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - Liam (profile), 20 Jul 2011 @ 1:03am
      
      Re: Re: Re: typo
      So you edited your post when it was fixed?
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
      - Chargone (profile), 20 Jul 2011 @ 1:48am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: typo
        or just posted the correction in the first place.
        
        given that there's no edit function.
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
        
        Liam (profile), 20 Jul 2011 @ 3:13am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: typo
        that does make a lot more sense.
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
The Mighty Buzzard (profile), 19 Jul 2011 @ 11:22pm

I long ago figured out that the difference between someone good with tech and a guru was that while both may know a lot about tech, the guru knows where to find the answers to things he doesn't know. I'd think this would apply equally well to any job where knowledge and quick access to it are valuable.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- GunSheep (profile), 20 Jul 2011 @ 8:35am
  
  Re:
  After locating a solution to a obscure tech problem at work the new tech asked me how I found it. So I showed him the Google query I used...with the comment that in this business you are only as good as your last Google query....
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 20 Jul 2011 @ 1:03am

Its just a semantical issue. Your brain works by rewiring itself. Thus, if it works differently, it wires itself differently. If it becomes better at remembering where information is stored than it is at remembering information itself, then it becomes wired differently than it was before. Don't get upset by the use of the word 'rewire'.

If you use google as your backup brain then your brain has been rewired to use a backup unit. Seriously, is this tricky somehow?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Chargone (profile), 20 Jul 2011 @ 1:49am
  
  Re:
  this is either brilliantly correct or absolute rubbish, depending on exactly what you're trying to do with it.
  
  which is annoying, because i want to hit insightful but also realise it can be read in such a way as to make that the opposite of what i want to do :S
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - The eejit (profile), 20 Jul 2011 @ 6:52am
    
    Re: Re:
    IT's perfectly insightful - Google cannot hack your brain into rewiring itself. That's your brain's job.
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Lazy, 20 Jul 2011 @ 1:06am

backup brain
So if people are using the net/Google to back up their brain, what happens when the references crash? When your library card is revoked?

It's also much easier to rifle through someone's external brain than it is their bio-brain (which involves some nasty saws and glinty sharp objects).

[Please, PLEASE don't anyone link to the Marathon Man dentist scene. Please. I beg you.]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Chargone (profile), 20 Jul 2011 @ 1:52am
  
  Re: backup brain
  true. which is why the re-he-he-he-heally important stuff is either memorised in the primary as well or never backed up in the first place, depending on what it is.
  
  i seem to remember a book or article or something about how humans were 'always already cyborgs'. (seriously, even just throwing a rock rather than punching something can count if you look at it from the right direction) this is just another example of that :D
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Greevar (profile), 20 Jul 2011 @ 7:37pm
  
  Re: backup brain
  Well, you're putting a hefty heuristic demand on your brain to remember all that extraneous information that could be spent on other more important tasks. There is nothing that is lost that can't be found again, if it's necessary.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
kyle clements (profile), 20 Jul 2011 @ 1:10am

disconnected from the source
I think I might be just young enough that remembering a source rather than a detail has always seemed normal to me.

I've had older people criticise my outsourcing of memory and calculation abilities to electronic devices. They often say, "What if you are cut off from the internet? Then what will you do? What if your phone is dead? These are basic skills that everyone should have-just in case you find myself without your fancy toys"

I respond by asking them if they know how to start a fire by rubbing sticks together, or if they can make a spear head by banging rocks, or if they know how to chase down and hunt animals using hand tools. "No? but these are skills everyone should have, just in case you find yourself without your fancy toys!"

Why do people only take issue with how brand new technology affects us?

to paraphrase a quote from Douglas Adams:
Everything invented before you were born is normal. Everything invented before you are 30 is new and exciting.
Everything invented after you are 30 is unnatural and scary.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Chargone (profile), 20 Jul 2011 @ 1:57am
  
  Re: disconnected from the source
  humm. likewise, i think.
  
  though actually remembering Some of that stuff is still worth it. i mean, i can't do anything but really basic addition in my head anymore, but give me a pencil and paper and i can do a lot more.
  
  anything other than long division that's complex enough to need a calculator i'd probably have to look up the equations for as well at this point, mind you.
  
  *ponders* wonder what the computer analog for that is? ... maybe that trick where part of the harddrive is used as temporary RAM or something?
  
  i've never, Ever been good at memorising stuff (so bad at spelling, and not that great at typing, until i started haning out in a chat room with 20-30 people where the text disappeared off the screen very quickly ... ended up learning to spell a lot better by memorising key patterns. turned it into muscle memory rather than memorised 'this is how you spell this word'. seems to work better.)
  
  ok... rambled badly. i had a point when i started, i'm sure.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- freak (profile), 20 Jul 2011 @ 5:38am
  
  Re: disconnected from the source
  "I respond by asking them if they know how to start a fire by rubbing sticks together, or if they can make a spear head by banging rocks, or if they know how to chase down and hunt animals using hand tools. "No? but these are skills everyone should have, just in case you find yourself without your fancy toys!""
  
  I have a lot more fun with this. I grew up in a very small community where my family were the only people under 60. That's no longer true, families are starting to move back there, but I digress.
  
  I know how to make a stone spear, and hunt animals, and how to make and fire my own bow, and a bunch of other crap.
  
  "Don't you know how to . . . just in case you lose your fancy tools?" "No? Okay, I'll teach you!"
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Greevar (profile), 20 Jul 2011 @ 7:41pm
  
  Re: disconnected from the source
  A good point. No matter how far you click your tongue at technology, you'll find yourself having to relearn how to do without if it suddenly becomes lost.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Lawrence D'Oliveiro, 20 Jul 2011 @ 1:29am

We Are All Doomed�Yet Again
"If men learn this, it will implant forgetfulness in their souls; they will cease to exercise memory because they rely on that which is written, calling things to remembrance no longer from within themselves, but by means of external marks. What you have discovered is a recipe not for memory, but for reminder. And it is no true wisdom that you offer your disciples, but only its semblance, for by telling them of many things without teaching them you will make them seem to know much, while for the most part they know nothing, and as men filled, not with wisdom, but with the conceit of wisdom, they will be a burden to their fellows."

� Plato, on the evils of being able to read and write, around 370BC
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Chargone (profile), 20 Jul 2011 @ 1:58am
  
  Re: We Are All Doomed�Yet Again
  ayup. always have been from the moment a dude decided pointy sticks were useful.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Eric Reasons (profile), 20 Jul 2011 @ 4:33am
  
  Re: We Are All Doomed�Yet Again
  Every time I see this particular technopanic (and sadly, I we see it a lot, don't we?) I invoke _Phaedrus_.
  
  It's wonderful reminder that people were overreacting to technology as far back as 2300 years ago.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 20 Jul 2011 @ 2:07am

Google search no longer has power over me.

I use DuckDuckGo.com

And before you start attacking, try it. Also read their informative privacy section.

Google is just a backup search engine for me now.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 20 Jul 2011 @ 5:54am
  
  Re:
  Google search no longer has power over me.
  
  You have declared yourself biased and unreasonable, nothing else you say can be trusted.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
indieThing (profile), 20 Jul 2011 @ 2:28am

Tech definitely has an effect
There is definitely something here. Before the days of mobile phones, I used to keep all my 'active' phone numbers in my head, I could recall 30-40 at the drop of a hat.

Now, since I've been using mobiles, I find it harder to remember bits of information like phone numbers.

The same goes for my programming skills, I used to keep algorithms, code snippets in my head, but now look them up on the internet when necessary.

Tech has definitely made me mentally lazy.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Eric Reasons (profile), 20 Jul 2011 @ 4:34am
  
  Re: Tech definitely has an effect
  Getting old? :-)
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
NIcedoggy, 20 Jul 2011 @ 3:24am

Well it does rewire the brain, we adapt to certain environments, but I wouldn't say that it is adapting for the worst, it is doing things differently, but it may be too soon to judge any of it.

The one thing I do know is that anything you don't use frequently your body will discard and not waste resources on it anymore, so if people don't remember everything maybe is because they don't need that knowledge but they still have to cache the location of that knowledge I don't see how that is going to become something bad since basically what you are doing is storing a different type of data not stopping the use of your brain or anything like that.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 20 Jul 2011 @ 6:54am

I had a long talk in the 90s with my highschool teachers about the fact that I had google in my pocket back then. Why in hell should I know route memorization of words when I can look up an odd word on the spot.

Today I had to deal with some cutco salesman lies, I could quickly pull a long list of well reasoned arguments as to why cutco was a crappy company in under a min. The only thing I needed to know before that was that cutco = scam.

Teach me where to find the information, don't teach me how to memorize it, I wont memorize anything I find is useless.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Ralphoo (profile), 20 Jul 2011 @ 8:03am

It is a rewiring, but a useful one
The brain gets "rewired" all the time. In this case, a technology change has a potentially major impact on how we work with information. But this happens all the time in our civilization. Ever heard of books? They can store a lot of information too, things we no longer need to memorize.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
BongoBern (profile), 20 Jul 2011 @ 8:51am

Remembering and looking up
It was always easier to ask "how do you spell..." instead of looking it up in the dictionary. I remembered if I had to look it up, not so much if I was told. I used to be a good speller until spell check came along, now not so much. In fact spell check often changes a word I don't want it to change and I DON'T notice! Now that's bag.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 20 Jul 2011 @ 8:56am

I agree. Some people (like myself) do heavy mathematical work. By using a calculator I can focus on bigger stuff instead of mere multiplication tables hindering my work. After all, the "we use only 10% of our brain" myth has been debunked. We have to allocate our memory with things that are relevant.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 20 Jul 2011 @ 9:00am

I remember reading a story here on Techdirt about a child prodigy who memorized four hundred digits of pi. It struck me as a very silly thing to do, since I could just type "!wa pi" into my address bar and hit the "more digits" button a few times to get the same result.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Gene Cavanaugh (profile), 20 Jul 2011 @ 11:24am

Google rewiring brains
Great article, good analysis.
I will argue that this is a very good thing. When I was younger, even through my 30's, I had so many things on my mind that I seldom had time to think of new things (same thing as the so-called "absent-minded professor", who has to clear his/her mind of trivia to deal with important issues; I wasn't good at doing that).
With Google et al, many of these things are now less intrusive, and I see it in a more productive mind, speaking for myself.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
bdhoro (profile), 22 Jul 2011 @ 3:54pm

Its called using tools
This is almost like that writing has rewired people's memories because now they can write stuff down and don't have to remember it every time, they can read it. WTF
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Ralphoo (profile), 23 Jul 2011 @ 7:51am

Using tools does rewire
I agree, bdhoro, and I agree that writing things down does "rewire" the brain in some sense. So does having an axe to chop wood instead of just breaking up dry sticks with your bare hands. Or fixing up a goat bladder to carry around some water instead of having to slurp it up from a lake or stream. In those respects, I would say our brains are rewired beyond recognition by comparison with our hunter-gatherer relatives, but that's just the way being human has worked out. We get rewired shockingly often, and more so every week.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]