CASE 5

How new technology is rewiring our brains?
Answer: Nowadays, new technology takes a big part in our lives. It helps us in so many ways but it do also have change our lives from the traditional one. There are lot of changes we encountered in the coming of new technology. New technologies have changed the way we interact with the world.


Source: http://www.techstartups.com/2010/06/07/how-gadgets-are-rewiring-our-brains-and-our-behavior/

By Staff Writer – Boonsri Dickinson (@boonspoon)

I think the New York Times article on “Attached to Technology and Paying a Price” is a bit overblown. Are we really that addicted to technology?

On average we consume 12 hours of media a day and we surf 40 websites daily.

I have to admit, when I got an iPhone I became more attached to technology — at times, I slept with it in my bed (and from what I hear is not all that uncommon).

The New York Times reports:

“The technology is rewiring our brains,” said Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute of Drug Abuse and one of the world’s leading brain scientists. She and other researchers compare the lure of digital stimulation less to that of drugs and alcohol than to food and sex, which are essential but counterproductive in excess.

So fine, I did get side tracked yesterday while I was surfing the Internet and was late to a brunch. Maybe technology is so habitual that we are unaware of how much we depend on it. I must admit when I didn’t have a smart phone or Internet for 2 weeks, time went by more slowly and I read paperback books.

Now if you are wondering if you spend an unhealthy amount of time on the Internet, you might want to take a self assessment. No doubt, access to the Internet widens the range of temptations — so much so, scientists are finding that people who have a gambling problem also have a “problematic Internet” behavior.

Technology is a utility and we depend on it, so of course, it is changing our habits and our brains.

The NY Times also reports that experts think that this media overload makes us “impulsive, forgetful, and even more narcissistic.” Oh, and I just thought that was just a part of living in New York.