Does the internet/computers break your ability to think in certain ways?

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Pooky

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I have been having a lot of difficulty concentrating on things like memorising law reports, or reading university set works and taking in the information, I find I read the page and then if I try to recall anything I have read I simply cannot.

I spend a lot of my day tinkering on computers, playing some games and browsing the internet, could this affect my thought processes in this way?
 
I doubt it personally, I'm the same, but I've been like that since long before computers and internet were part of my life.
 
copacetic said:
I doubt it personally, I'm the same, but I've been like that since long before computers and internet were part of my life.
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Same here I have always been bad at remembering stuff I have read even before computers and the internet although I find I remember better when reading on the internet :D
 
Reading things like this forum, and much other internet stuff, is throw away text/data. Reading a lot of it creates a habit of reading without it sinking in. To read something in order to remember then needs what looks like a significant effort.
 
I definitely lose intelligence when intensively playing certain types of computer games. It takes days to weeks for my brain to return to normal.
 
I don't know, I find that I still remember threads that are relevant or interest me and I will often go back to them.

I don't believe that the internet has affected my memory negatively.
 
Maybe studying lawreports and cases isn't how we are suppose to study. Maybe how information is organised on the internet IS how we are suppose to be studying.
 
Picard said:
Maybe studying lawreports and cases isn't how we are suppose to study. Maybe how information is organised on the internet IS how we are suppose to be studying.
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Might be true but it won't help me get a degree!
 
Picard said:
Maybe studying lawreports and cases isn't how we are suppose to study. Maybe how information is organised on the internet IS how we are suppose to be studying.
Click to expand...

Information on the internet is organised? :wtf:
 
Yeah don't stress too much Pooky.

There are def changes, but its not so clear that this is necessarily a bad thing. i.e. It should be seen as "different" rather than "deteriorated".

Also, it should be seen in the context of rising general levels of intelligence.

@lawreports: Find a willing family member/victim and try to explain the gist of each case to them in clear concise terms. If you can't then you need to go back again and re-summarize or review it. Make sure though that you didn't look at it 30 mins before they explaining, then you're just testing short/medium term memory which isn't what you want.
 
Pooky, the internet provides information in a different context.

It sounds to me your attention suffers from 'dedicated' reading, or reading documents for a long period of time.

It may be environmental, ie you are being distracted by where/how you sit or the level or light etc in your study area. There are many factors that affect retention and recall and attention span, it could just be you are topically more interested in the stuff on the pc, so you concentrate better. It could even be anxiety levels.

If it is your study procedure a university counsellor may be able to help you.

Hope this helps :)
 
My computer is a tool, it does not think on my behalf.
The internet is an open-ended library and more - my broadband account is my library card and gives me access to the most comprehensive library in the history of mankind ever.

As a full time user since 1989, I do not find that pc's or the internet causes me to think less, in fact, for me personally the opposite is true.
I have gained valuable understanding of knowledge I have gained online and offline by reading and interacting on a wide choice of topics online.

My pc and the internet has made it possible for me to be the eternal student at a very very low cost.
The more knowledge I gain, the more I know how little I know and the the more my thirst for knowledge and understanding increases.

________________________
My pc and the internet augment me - it is my incredibly cheap hotline to data heaven !
Do not dare to separate me from my tech :love:
 
wrathex said:
My computer is a tool, it does not think on my behalf.
The internet is an open-ended library and more - my broadband account is my library card and gives me access to the most comprehensive library in the history of mankind ever.

As a full time user since 1989, I do not find that pc's or the internet causes me to think less, in fact, for me personally the opposite is true.
I have gained valuable understanding of knowledge I have gained online and offline by reading and interacting on a wide choice of topics online.

My pc and the internet has made it possible for me to be the eternal student at a very very low cost.
The more knowledge I gain, the more I know how little I know and the the more my thirst for knowledge and understanding increases.

________________________
My pc and the internet augment me - it is my incredibly cheap hotline to data heaven !
Do not dare to separate me from my tech :love:
Click to expand...

I think the type of learning one does in university is different from the type of learning one does while browsing the internet.

University teaches one to think in a different way in order to formulate one's own ideas articulately.
 
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