View Full Version : Google is making us stupid
GratefulCitizen
05-30-2011, 19:43
Nicholas Carr is hitting the nail on the head.
Pulled internet and cable out of the house so that my kids wouldn't hard-wire these behaviors.
They can still use the 'net and watch videos, but there's a barrier between them and information overload.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.92e49cb93f1c7fc4348116d5ec926d7 9.2f1&show_article=1
An experiment at Stanford demonstrated how information overload also affects willpower.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703478704574612052322122442.html?m od=article-outset-box
<snip>
In one experiment, led by Baba Shiv at Stanford University, several dozen undergraduates were divided into two groups. One group was given a two-digit number to remember, while the second group was given a seven-digit number. Then they were told to walk down the hall, where they were presented with two different snack options: a slice of chocolate cake or a bowl of fruit salad.
Here's where the results get weird. The students with seven digits to remember were nearly twice as likely to choose the cake as students given two digits. The reason, according to Prof. Shiv, is that those extra numbers took up valuable space in the brain—they were a "cognitive load"—making it that much harder to resist a decadent dessert. In other words, willpower is so weak, and the prefrontal cortex is so overtaxed, that all it takes is five extra bits of information before the brain starts to give in to temptation.
Scimitar
05-30-2011, 22:56
Not dismissing that techology has its effects on us, but this experiament seems a little weak.
Not sure of the big connection between short-term memory and things like character and delayed gratification.
But then again I'm not a Phycologist.
S
I think it would have been just as feasible to say that storing 5 extra bits depleted energy such that it made better sense in a Darwinian fashion to immediately replenish with cake versus the harder to digest fruit salad.
frostfire
05-31-2011, 00:09
Naaa I was stupid before the internet
thank you for the 2am hysterical laugh :D
Contrasted with that message to Garcia thread about persistence and git-ir-done, google does provide instant-gratification-inducing shortcuts. I haven't touched the drug book for years I think.....it's been google and various, even creative keywords
nah, it's just another tool. When it comes to blaming, it's the user, not the tool. Now, if we're talking about tv....;) Speaking of which, I went to bestbuy today after many years and talking about instant sensory override. I'm convinced there're over 99999 products that promote couch potato lifestyle and feeling good about it. There must be some links between these latest and greatest gadgets and the influx of 300+ pounders at WAMC:eek:
The same thing could be said for calculators.
Use it as an extension of your intellect while you can. Prolly won't be available for a while when the US economic system collapses.
PedOncoDoc
05-31-2011, 04:09
Meh...I'm not impressed with this experiment in the slightest. Small enough numbers to allow for selection bias (maybe a majority of the fatties ended up in the 7-digit group), and the conclusion is total conjecture without any background/reference science to back it up. The idea the body craves simple sugars when doing more strenuous (mental or otherwise) activities is more plausible, as mentioned above.
A best, this is a small step up from craniometry IMHO.
Dozer523
05-31-2011, 04:54
Even if you asked me to remember my name I'd still take take the chocolate cake. Make it a choice between chocolate cake and sex . . . THAT might be interesting.
Buffalobob
05-31-2011, 05:16
But then again I'm not a Phycologist.
Perhaps that is the problem. We should get an algal expert to review the study and determine if photosynthetic activity is triggered by long numbers and linked to cake eating.
dadof18x'er
05-31-2011, 05:47
The same thing could be said for calculators.
Use it as an extension of your intellect while you can. Prolly won't be available for a while when the US economic system collapses.
I think it also works for an over dependence on GPS navigators. I use mine to find different job sites I go to and seems like they cause an addictive like dependence.
I can fully understand why the military teaches old school land nav.
Stupid is as stupid does.
- F. Gump
Richard :munchin
Stupid is as stupid does.
- F. Gump
Richard :munchin
That's actually incorrect. The quote is his mother's.
Google it.
:D
That's actually incorrect. The quote is his mother's.
Google it.
:D
I was citing the movie. ;)
Richard :munchin
I was citing the movie. ;)
Richard :munchin
According to Google, in the movie, the line is "Mama says, stupid is as stupid does", attributing the "movie" quote to someone other than "F. Gump".
:)
According to Google, in the movie, the line is "Mama says, stupid is as stupid does", attributing the "movie" quote to someone other than "F. Gump".
:)
[repeated line]
Forrest Gump: Stupid is as stupid does.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109830/quotes
And so it goes...
Richard :munchin
[repeated line]
Forrest Gump: Stupid is as stupid does.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109830/quotes
And so it goes...
Richard :munchin
Buzzzz. Wrong.
That's like attributing Samuel Clemens quotes to Hal Holbrook.
You've obviously never been on a shrimp boat...
Dozer523
05-31-2011, 07:37
That thought gives me a headache. How about chocolate during sex? I'll see what I can do but I have to run it past MRFL first.:D:p oh yeah and I meant to post "Make it a choice between decadent chocolate cake and decadent sex . . . THAT might be interesting.
I now return you to the on-going pissing contest.
That thought gives me a headache. How about chocolate during sex?
Delayed gratification skills are good to have...but I fail to see why getting answers to questions quickly is supposed to be a bad thing.
You've obviously never eaten an entire 17 dollar box of Whitman's Samplers all at once.:D
Buzzzz. Wrong.
That's like attributing Samuel Clemens quotes to Hal Holbrook.
The IMDB quotes are taken from the script; guess they've copied them wrong.
You've obviously never been on a shrimp boat...
Actually, I have - it had a Vietnamese crew of three and I have no idea how it ever could have passed a Coast Guard inspection.
Drill Sergeant: Gump! What's your sole purpose in this army?
Forrest Gump: To do whatever you tell me, drill sergeant!
Drill Sergeant: God damn it, Gump! You're a god damn genius! This is the most outstanding answer I have ever heard. You must have a goddamn I.Q. of 160. You are goddamn gifted, Private Gump. Listen up, people...
Forrest Gump: [narrates] Now for some reason I fit in the army like one of them round pegs. It's not really hard. You just make your bed real neat and remember to stand up straight and always answer every question with "Yes, drill sergeant."
Drill Sergeant: ...Is that clear?
Forrest Gump: Yes, drill sergeant!
Richard :munchin
The IMDB quotes are taken from the script; guess they've copied them wrong.
Actually, I have - it had a Vietnamese crew of three and I have no idea how it ever could have passed a Coast Guard inspection.
Drill Sergeant: Gump! What's your sole purpose in this army?
Forrest Gump: To do whatever you tell me, drill sergeant!
Drill Sergeant: God damn it, Gump! You're a god damn genius! This is the most outstanding answer I have ever heard. You must have a goddamn I.Q. of 160. You are goddamn gifted, Private Gump. Listen up, people...
Forrest Gump: [narrates] Now for some reason I fit in the army like one of them round pegs. It's not really hard. You just make your bed real neat and remember to stand up straight and always answer every question with "Yes, drill sergeant."
Drill Sergeant: ...Is that clear?
Forrest Gump: Yes, drill sergeant!
Richard :munchin
:D LMAO
Meh...I'm not impressed with this experiment in the slightest. Small enough numbers to allow for selection bias (maybe a majority of the fatties ended up in the 7-digit group), and the conclusion is total conjecture without any background/reference science to back it up. The idea the body craves simple sugars when doing more strenuous (mental or otherwise) activities is more plausible, as mentioned above.
A best, this is a small step up from craniometry IMHO.
Exactly. Beware junk science.
TOMAHAWK9521
06-01-2011, 12:54
You've obviously never eaten an entire 17 dollar box of Whitman's Samplers all at once.:D
Try a box of Godiva's Chocolates all at once. Of course, you'll spend 3-4 times the amount for the same size box.
TOMAHAWK9521
06-01-2011, 12:56
How about chocolate during sex? .
Now you're talking. I could go on with all kinds of scenarios. :D
Background on Mr. Carr is available here (http://www.nicholasgcarr.com/info.shtml).Nick is a member of the Encyclopedia Britannica's editorial board of advisors, is on the steering board of the World Economic Forum's cloud computing project, and writes the popular blog Rough Type. He has been a writer-in-residence at the University of California, Berkeley, and is a sought-after speaker for academic and corporate events. Earlier in his career, he was executive editor of the Harvard Business Review. He holds a B.A. from Dartmouth College and an M.A., in English and American Literature and Language, from Harvard University. Ah, the irony.
GratefulCitizen
06-01-2011, 20:47
Background on Mr. Carr is available here (http://www.nicholasgcarr.com/info.shtml).Ah, the irony.
The article referencing Carr was the main reason for the thread.
The "digit experiment" was ancillary.
The article referencing Carr didn't block nicely with copy and paste, so I just left the link.
The subordinate link had a snip quoted to save readers time.
Interesting what happens when there's just a hyperlink for one and a quoted section in lime green highlight for the other.
The irony, indeed. ;)
Gotta tip my hat to you, Sigaba.
You are thorough.
***********
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The experiment referenced in the second link is also referenced in How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer.
He goes into some of these things in greater detail.
Scimitar
06-02-2011, 08:10
Perhaps that is the problem. We should get an algal expert to review the study and determine if photosynthetic activity is triggered by long numbers and linked to cake eating.
Sure would help if I spelled Psychologist right
S
Black Knight
06-02-2011, 16:06
I believe an argument can be made that the invention of Google rivals Gutenbergs invention of the printing press.
AngelsSix
06-02-2011, 16:20
You've obviously never eaten an entire 17 dollar box of Whitman's Samplers all at once.:D
I have.....but not while having sex. Now that would be overload.......:D
I have.....but not while having sex. Now that would be overload.......:DCostanza goes for the cycle <<LINK (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHchl4AxsE0)>>.