Before You Grok, think Digital Dementia!
Are you able to give information from off the top of the head without reference to an external source? To test your memory strength and the amount of residual information you have, take the test to recall without reference to external sources, 5 telephone numbers or birth days of people in your circle. How well did you do?
The Digital Crutch: We are outsourcing our brains to digital devices.
Since the new habit of dependence on digital environment and devices to fetch nearly every information including personal details, the amount of information people commit to the memory seem to continually decline. As many people out-source information from digital storage, their need to hold information in the human memory declines. This is because a prolonged reliance on external memory has the capacity to undermine the human memory. When the human memory is underutilized over time, there is a tendency that it suffers from lack of residual knowledge which subsequently affect critical reaction and critical thinking.
The Cost: If we don’t exercise our human memory, we lose it.
While clinical dementia is a form of brain disorder, “digital dementia” is a term introduced by a German psychiatrist and neuroscientist to explain the condition in which the process of acquiring knowledge and understanding is dismantled due to over dependence and overuse of digital devices and technology as a surrogate memory. This results to reduced functionality of the human senses, thoughts and experiences of the victim. When the part of the brain responsible for building knowledge and understanding is less exercised and less stimulated, the power of the memory suffers from underuse and subsequently weakens over time.
The enormous advantages of using technological devices come with a risk. Individuals unconsciously undermine their mental prowess by a screen-dependent lifestyle that often appears to either express class and digital proficiency or explore the ease of access with digital contents.
The Social Implication: Reduced face-to-face contact lowers the energy for empathy
The Gen. Z digital cohort is the subject of many researches on digital dementia, results show that they are affected to a larger extent, however, it has been found that it can affect older groups if they are exposed to prolonged screen time with less adherence to digital detox routine.
According to the theory of minds, people have their ways of thinking, motives, emotions and beliefs which are unique to them and are different from one another, this allows us to predict and interpret behaviors in a social interaction. These differences inter-play in the processes of relating with others. Face-to-face contact inspires empathy and empathy requires that people have the cognitive energy to imagine or read other people’s feelings. But with social spaces being dominated by screen time, people lose the cognitive energy and skill for physical interaction. The “Virtualization of Social Space” phenomenon poses a risk of loosing the face-to-face contacts and the social competence skills of individuals to virtual space. Some research highlights terminology like “Digital Amnesia” as an image of Digital Dementia, but scientific observation shows that the more screen time there is in teenagers, the more apathy they develop. This is because excessive use of digital technology denies the user an opportunity for insight into the mind of other person to understand their thoughts. In some culture where maintaining eye contacts among people in a social structure are less practiced, there is possibly an increased lack of empathy as dependence on screen erodes the social competence and hinders the development of inter-personal communication; this can increase the feeling of isolation and lead to aggressive behaviors.
The Antidote: Digital detox and manual recall
The “Use it or lose it” principle of neuroplasticity is the core of this message, therefore before you Google or Grok it, take a minute to task your brain to recall it manually. Set aside 20 minutes per day to read text or solve puzzles that require concentration. When we outsource thinking, we start to loose the strength of our memories and weaken our pathways to internalize and recall information. As technologization continues to advance, make a conscious effort to stay smart.
Written By: Byke Freeborn; X/Twitter: @bykefreeborn