Maybe you’re wondering if technology is dumbing you down. The main thing to remember is that technology is a just tool like a shovel is just a tool. So use it for digging fertile ground (i.e. your human intelligence and unique creativity) rather than letting it suppress and bury you.
In this reflection, I’ll be sharing some of the latest scientific research that goes some way to answering the question: is technology dumbing you and the rest of humanity down?
This is something I’ve always suspected. You just need to head outside and see people walking around, sitting in cafes, or waiting at takeaways (among many places) glued to their screens and the external world shut out by their earbuds.
They remind me of humans being upgraded into cybermen in Doctor Who’s Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel where the Doctor learns that each Cyberman contains a inhibitor signal to prevent their human side from taking over.
Image on left from Dr Who sourced here and on right by Mircea Iancu from Pixabay
In this article:
- Reading from Paper vs Screens
- Sales Trends of Print Books vs eBooks
- Handwriting vs Typing/Speech-to-text Tools
- Board Games vs Computer Games
- Developing Writing Skills vs Using Large Language Models
- Human Intelligence vs Artificial Intelligence
- The Loss of Master Craftsman Skills
Firstly, welcome to my new readers. I hope you enjoy this Café Reflection. Generally I try to handwrite the first draft in a café, as this gives me some time out in a third space to sit and reflect, as well as experience and observe a small slice of life. I sometimes get inspiration from people watching. And while the idea for this post was already in the making, I was amused by seeing a few Cyberpeople around me.
I also encourage you to treat yourself to your favourite beverage when you read my reflections, as they are often long.
My intention is to inspire you to think critically about how to live your life, rather than let things like technology dumb you down.
This Café Reflection was sponsored by KM – thanks so much for the coffee and cake shout KM :-). As it was late in the day, I went back to Coffee Culture, Northlink, and had the baked caramello cheesecake, with a cappuccino. If you want to sponsor a Café Reflection by shouting me a coffee, you can do so here.
Reading from Paper vs Screens
At last week’s Switch on Your Brain Book Group, Ann shared with us an article from the Epoch Times about why reading from printed paper (hard copy) is better for your brain. You can read the article here.
Now, this is not new news to me. As a professional editor I always read off hard copy. And as an author mentor, I always encourage my clients to print off a hard proof and read from that.
There’s a lot of reasons why, so I won’t bore you with science. From my own experience, I know that when I read hard copy, my eye/brain connection is more focused on the detail. It is able to read slower, pick up mistakes such as typo, grammar and spelling errors, and comprehend the content more.
When I read off the screen, I tend to scan the text for key points, not comprehension. Especially as so much of our communications are done via screens now (emails, social media, online articles, and so on). We’re often in a hurry, and easily distracted by notifications, alerts, popups, etc. I actually feel a bit squirrely when reading off the screen, and I bet you do too.
Anyway, according to the Epoch Times article:
Neuroscience now shows that when we swap pages for pixels, it’s not just a convenient change of format—we are also altering how our brains process and retain information, with significant implications for readers of all ages.
—Eric Kube, Epoch Times Author, Neuroscience, Psychology and Public Health Researcher
When you break screens down into the pixel format, it makes sense. Remember seeing those old newspaper greyscale photos that were made up of whole lot of dots? Your eyes/brain had to work hard to blur them together to create an image. So subconsciously the same thing is happening when you look at the screen.
Furthermore, screens have a hypnotic effect. Just go onto Facebook (or some other social media platform) and start scrolling through your newsfeed. Before you know it, a huge chunk of time has passed that you’ll never get back and has been a very poor investment.
These cortical alternations from screen exposure start early and may lead to underdevelopment in brain regions that underlie higher-order processes such as attention, memory, and social skills.
—Tzipi Horowitz-Kraus, Associate Professor at the Technion Israel Institute of Technology and Kennedy Krieger Institute at Johns Hopkins University, about one of her studies of children to assess connectivity in brain regions involved in language processing and cognition.
The article also looks further at the impact of screens on behavioural changes and answering the question “is technology dumbing you (and others) down?”. It’s worth a read and gives you something to think about regarding attention span, memory retention, reading comprehension, and more.
Sales Trends of Print Books vs eBooks
Maybe you’re wondering if print books are dead. As a publisher of print books I’m pleased to report they are still popular. In fact, according to a 2021 survey by the Pew Research Center on book consumption and book formats, print is still a winner.
Survey says:
75% of adults in the United States read a book in some format over the last year
32% of Americans claim they only read print books
33% say they read both print books and e-books
9% say they only read e-books
23% of the respondents said that they don’t read books
Reference source https://www.tonerbuzz.com/blog/paper-books-vs-ebooks-statistics/
And as for sales, the print books still outsell ebooks and audiobooks. I can attest to that from my own sales.
My thoughts on this is that:
- reading a print book results in better comprehension and memory retention;
- whereas ebooks are scanned more (due to the impact of the screen on your eyes); and
- audio versions are usually listened to while we are doing other tasks.
This is another example that technology is dumbing you down.
Handwriting vs Typing/Speech-to-text Tools
Recent research indicates that writing by hand (especially in cursive) enhances your brain connectivity, learning and memory. Holding a pen in your hand, and using it to form characters and drawings on a physical piece of paper is a sensory experience. The brain / hand connection is intimate, as your thoughts are ejected from your mind-brain down through the “pipeline” of your arm, hand, and pen.
On the other hand, when using a keyboard you are simply button pushing, which any programmed automaton or technician can do.
Dictating requires you to self-edit as you go, which is not ideal for the creative process. So while you may be ejecting some good ideas, you unconsciously put pressure on yourself to have these ideas emerge fully formed.
Therefore, relying on technology tools, whether it’s a keyboard, computer and screen, or dictating to voice-to-text software on your mobile device switches your creativity off and ends up stifling it.
In my author mentoring program, I guide you into the Diamond Formation Zone (your subconscious mind) in the search for your rough writing diamonds. In the first module you actually send your inner editor on holiday and handwrite your first thoughts.
If you want to read more about the recent study looking at the benefits of handwriting over technological tools then a good summary is available at Psychiatrist.com and the actual study is at ScienceDirect. Links are:
Board Games vs Computer Games
Another article Ann shared with us from Epoch Times is actually an infographic, showing the impact of computer games on the brain. It definitely addresses the question: “Is technology dumbing you down?”
Most of it is not positive, apart from maybe enhanced visual-spatial processing, and improved hand-eye coordination and problem-solving skills. That’s at the cost of empathy, cognition, senses and so on. When you think about it, most computer games have a violent aspect to them, so they desensitise the players, increase addiction and compulsion. Not to mention a decrease in social skills and ability to communicate well with people in real life. So yes, technology is dumbing us down.
On the other hand, cast your mind back to childhood, and all the board games we played with our families. You learned so much, including how to win or lose with grace. Much more social and fun.
Part Two: Next Week
I’m aware of the irony that I’m writing this with technology, and you are reading this on a screen. I’ve also exceeded my screen time for today, so I’m going to break this article into two parts, with the second part to be released next week. This will cover the risks which outweigh the of using the technology shovel to suppress your creativity.
- Developing Writing Skills vs Using Large Language Models
- Human Intelligence vs Artificial Intelligence
- The Loss of Master Craftsman Skills
So tune in next week: same bat time, same bat channel for part two.
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Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. I hope you enjoyed it, along with the beverage and treat you consumed while reading it. If you want to “shout me a coffee” and suggest a topic for me to reflect and write on at a café you can do so here. Every dollar helps support me in my writing, publishing, and mentoring endeavours.
Avoid the Cyberpeople!
Deb x
