Use It or Lose It

There were many interesting ideas in the article, and some that I found especially thought provoking were in the section about neuroscience and human brain development. It has been found that our brains are not fully mature until at least the age of 25 years old. The mention of synaptic pruning and how our brains develop in response to the demands made of them got me thinking about how most people around the age of 20 have never known a world without internet access and mobile phones. It seems that the internet has changed the way we use our minds both positively and negatively. It is now easy to access things immediately, without having to ride a bike across town to get a book from a bookstore or a record from a record store. This immediate gratification may weaken our patience and anticipation of the future.

I recently read an article about a study in Psychological Science saying it was found that people remember fewer details about objects that are photographed compared to objects that are not. Everyone has a camera in their pocket or purse at all times nowadays. The mobile phone and applications like Instagram make remembering details a less used brain function. Similarly, the easy availability of search engines like Google to instantly find answers to questions makes it less necessary for us to remember information.

Another way developing brains are being wired by these technologies is less of our attention and focus is on the "real" world outside. The focus is on screens with pictures and videos of what's out there in the world. We have phone conversations while in public tuning out the people around us. It is possible to communicate by email and text without being able to speak articulately.

Believe it or not, there was a time when almost nobody owned a computer. It seems that people were more "present" to their lives and the people in them. After finishing high school, many would drive across the country emulating Jack Kerouac’s "On The Road", or spend some time travelling to other countries to learn about themselves before going to college.

Now you can do all that virtually without leaving your parents' place.



http://readwrite.com/2013/12/24/instagram-may-be-allowing-us-to-forget#awesm=~ot5KLwv64c18N5

http://news.yahoo.com/teen-brains-really-wired-seek-rewards-201420027.html