Tech Memory

If I have a problem remembering a word or thing, my first instinct is to go to Google to find the correct spelling or the place. However, I soon thereafter forget because its simple to just search it again. If I had to physically get up, acquire a dictionary, and look for the word - maybe I would remember it better. Technology has been an incredible advance that has helped us communicate with people throughout the world and has allowed us to have access to tons of information with the touch of a fingertip, however, it is damaging our memory. We don't need to remember anything anymore and hence, we don't.

"We are becoming symbiotic with our computer tools, growing into interconnected systems that remember less by knowing information than by knowing where the information can be found" (Sparrow).  In her studies of memory and internet usage (Google) Betsy Sparrow in her article Google Effects on Memory: Cognitive Consequences of Having Information At our Fingertips concludes that the usage of internet search engines as our way of knowledge has diminished how much we remember because we rely heavily on being able to find it on our laptops. This is a problem because we need capable people in our workforce, we need people who are able to utilize the internet as a helping source and not as their main source of knowledge. 

Gary Small and Gigi Vorgan in their article Meet your iBrain argue that technology has enhanced us as human beings to perform more efficiently. You are able to organize your entire agenda with the touch of your fingertips. "A constant barrage of e-contacts is both stimulating - sharpening certain cognitive skills - and draining, studies show" (Small/Vorgan). Our brains are interacting with the said technological environment and in turn we're turning into mini robots. 

Having technology isn't bad. Its just always good to know and be reassured that human capacity won't be stolen away by a laptop. We want to be able to be knowledgeable and get our word around. There has to be a balance between both. Or we might become robots. Beep Beep Bop. This. Robot. Is. Done. 

References:

1. Small, Gary, and Gigi Vorgan. "Meet Your IBrain: How the Technologies That Have Become Part of Our Daily Lives Are Changing the Way We Think." Scientific American Mind n.d.: 43-49. Print.
2. Sparrow, B., J. Liu, and D. M. Wegner. "Google Effects on Memory: Cognitive Consequences of Having Information at Our Fingertips." Science 333.6043 (2011): 776-78. Print.
3. Irobot. Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Feb. 2014.