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Heidi Huber started her career with the sink or swim theory. Luckily she knows the freestyle which has taken her from the Chicago stage to behind the scenes in Los Angeles where she currently continues to tap as The Whole 9’s Chief of Everything Else.

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Is the internet rewiring our brains?

July 31, 2010
12 Comments (see all)

My son likes You Tube.  Ducklings swimming, babies laughing, Elmo, and Kevin the Bird from UP are among his favorites.  About seven seconds into the clip, if it’s not what he wants, he begins shaking his head, saying, “Nah…nope,” then looking at the thumbnails for something else.

I’ve started insisting he watch the entire clip because I feel it’s important his attention isn’t constantly firing off in ten different directions and I don’t want him to end up with Attention Deficit.

I find myself doing the same thing though while on the internet.  You can find so much so fast that if it’s not exactly what you’re looking for, the next search result may be.

Is the internet rewiring our brains?

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  1. bigpicture101

    I was thinking of this the other day, I believe it was about gaming, though. And I would have to say yes. I think of the gaming environment and remember how my kids used to always talk about multitasking. I suppose this has its uses, but in an educational environment I think it would have to create boredom. The brain gets used to functioning at a certain level and then you go to school and that level is greatly reduced. I don’t like the fact that so much of what is out there today feeds the instant gratification trend, either. It may help economically, but there tends to be a lot of bad side effects.

    Don’t forget to stop and smell the roses(or check the links or watch the whole video clip). You nevr know what you’ll miss.

  2. agodoy

    .seY

  3. dreaddaze

    long as we keep it all in balance we are good

    peace-in

  4. rosendo

    Rewiring it…yes~

    But in a good way.

    It cuts down on my expenses.I can’t imagine how much money it has saved me over the years. From google maps to online banking one could create a list in how it saves us from making unnecessary trips and assisting us keep our finances in order.

    Similar to how a subscription to a newspaper paid for itself simply because of the savings we received by clipping coupons, the internet offers us those options and so much more.

    The internet gives us the amazing potential to reach millions across the globe. Whether you are a budding entrepreneur or a struggling artist, the world wide web allows you to advertise and market products in a way no one though possible 20 years ago.

    The iphone and other mobile devices only enhance the experience and allows us the freedom to access our data from practically anywhere in the world~

    We can hold conferences from a Starbucks and receive PDFs while sitting in afternoon traffic.

    On the flip side, for some the technology can be complex and/or frustrating to navigate. I understand there are negative aspects involved in regards to identity theft and cyber bullying but for those who utilize it properly it will remain an important tool in how we communicate, research, bargain hunt, listen to music and learn.

    You cannot deny the privilege we all enjoy and the potential that yet awaits~

    ttfn~

  5. dangerousideas

    I don’t know about actually rewiring our brains, but it’s radically changing the way we communicate and the way we relate to each other and to the world. It’s breaking down the barriers that separate us, giving us swift access to information (and sometimes misinformation), providing up to the minute news, allowing us to immediately research almost anything (including each other) and opening up great new avenues for business, entertainment, political activism and meeting each other (whether it be to share similar interests or dating… LOL). It ’s interactive capacity allows us to much more easily be active participants, not just passive consumers. As a historical event, it’s a much bigger sociological game-changer than the invention of movies or television, more on par with the development of the printing press (“the Gutenberg Bible” as Marshall McLuhan called it).

    No doubt, many dangers for abuse and exploitation exist within the new technologies, it’s pretty much ‘the wild west’ right now. But on the whole I believe we are experiencing and living through the dawn of a new age. Not exactly the dippy pop sentiments of “the age of Aquarius”, but one filled with enormous real possibilities and real change.

  6. grool

    My answer is YES. The information and misinformation that spreads like wildfire across the net seems to have a causality of making people question more and more about their reality than in the past. As well, I feel that the internet provides a literal highway of sorts that can allow an individual to become more and more desensitized to both the wonders and horrors of the world if they so choose. Lastly, as a means of communication, it allows for quicker integration of personal and public events within the sphere of the mind that we wouldn’t otherwise have such quick access to. There really is no anonymity or privacy anymore which is causing the social norm of saying what you mean rather than meaning what you say into reality. All side effects of the .comsyndrome.

  7. jonathanc

    In my simplistic opinion, it makes the world smaller. Whether we use that for enlightenment or fall into the area of the superficial or disinformation falls to us.it is up to us to check and recheck what falls into the realm of what we choose to believe.

  8. wonderwall

    I was thinking about it the other day as well, instant gratification becomes the issue while the Internet maybe to some an indispensable tool it can be a crutch.

    I think about the amount of research I used to do out of a library and really searching for the answers myself, having to go out to find what I was looking for. While it saves time and energy are we using the time that we save wisely?

    We have become so used to typing anything into Google and trusting what comes up as fact, it is alarming to me, we rely on the Internet so much that I think it can be crippling if something were to go wrong and the we no longer had the Internet to rely on.

  9. dangerousideas

    @wonderwall- yeah, my DSL was down for 2 days and I was not only crippled, but went into serious withdrawal!

    On a more serious note (if that’s possible, 2 days! the horror…), anything that saves time and energy is A-OK in my book, believe me the saved time and energy will still get used doing more, or less, or something else.

    Research on the internet is great for some things (facts, figures, rates, opinions, names you can’t remember, pictures of places you’ve never been…), less so for others. When it comes to deep research and comprehensive investigation, the internet can get mighty thin. No PHD thesis (or even decent college term paper) will get written using only the internet for source material. There’s no substitute for reading all the books and serious publications on a subject, and most of those are not currently available on the net. I look forward to the day when they are though.

  10. eastsider

    In Chinese medicine, they believe that multitasking leads to Alzheimer’s. Just sayin’

  11. 14destiny

    Interesting topic and internet use certainly effects the brain. Here’s a link to a related story:
    http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/05/ff_nicholas_carr/all/1

    The internet can be an incredible time saver, help people and business work more efficiently, connect people with others it undoubtedly is not the holy grail of human interaction. For many people the internet comprises the majority of their social interactions….Digital natives — young people born into a world of laptops and cell phones, text messaging and twittering — spend an average of 8 1/2 hours each day exposed to digital technology. This exposure is rewiring their brain’s neural circuitry, heightening skills like multi-tasking, complex reasoning and decision-making. But there’s a down side: All that tech time diminishes “people” skills, including important emotional aptitudes like empathy.
    The topic has fascinated me, as my brain is in the re-wiring phase, having suffered a Traumatic Brain Injury 5 yrs ago. The brain is incredibly resilient and technology has helped me cognitively. for me personally I just need to limit my time spent online. for me if i am exposed to too much information, i’ll get a brain drain sorta feeling…or also referred to as “over-stimulation”.
    I guess we all just need to make sure we are doing things that stimulate our hearts as much as our brains. enjoy the day

  12. grool

    Interesting topics guys and gals. Indeed, I often wonder as well where the line is drawn on where the internet or lack thereof becomes either redeeming or crippling depending on the nature of its use. It is definitely a head scratcher. I personally know how dangerous feels. The last time my internet went down for more than a day I felt sort of out of touch not having that instant interaction and gratificaton that I would usually have with the communication and knowledge of the entire world consortium at my fingertips. As well, I have found not using the internet as frequently is a great way to remember that you can share your own personal knowledge with others and gain just as much, if not more, from the personal interactions you can make with those around you. I think the internet, like drinking, smoking, eating sweets, playing video games, watching TV, or just about anything in life should always be taken in moderation. Too much, and it becomes a detrimental crutch taking you further away from reality. Too little, and you lose out on some of the good effects and conveniences that it can provide.

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