The article goes on to talk about how we live in a hyper-link economy. This is where we as humans aren't so willing to figure things out or answer things on our own, but are more concerned about using technology to find the answer for us. It also touches base on the fact that technology has completely changed education and how we learn, especially the effect on our children. The article ends with the fact that technology might actually be aiding us and making us smarter. If we are able to solve problems using technology, then why wouldn't we be able to use those solutions to create more solutions?
The reason I chose to use this article in my research is because it talks about both some of the pros and cons that technology has on us. It shows both sides to the story, so it's not just a one sided piece. It's also from a credible source. Psychology Today is a credible website and magazine and has some very intelligent and helpful articles available. I really related to this article because I agree with the beginning. I really feel that technology is making us stupider. We lean on it far to much and almost expect us to do things for us. I really like the points it brings up about it making us smarter, though. I think it's important that I explore all factors that technology has on us, both good and bad. This article definitely does this. I think it's going to be a very great piece to add to my bibliography for this paper.
The second article that I chose to use comes from Time Ideas. The article is titled How to Use Technology to Make You Smarter. This article takes a deeper look into things that we use technology for everyday and then tells us how it can make us smarter and how it's making us dumb. For example, the article talks about a study that was done that monitored workers during the day. They found out that workers that multi tasked and switched constantly between e-mails and their work had a lower IQ by 10 than the other workers. It compares this intelligence loss to losing a whole night of sleep or even twice as much as smoking marijuana. So, what can we do to fix it? We can use programs such as Freedom which shuts off access to the Internet for a certain period of time so that work can get done, the article suggests. The article goes through other forms of communication through technology, such as texting, auto-correct or search engines. It then talks about some of the disadvantages they have on us and what we can do to use these tools to make us smarter. It ends with the summary that technology makes us both smart and stupid.
This article is really helpful to me and gave me a lot of insight that I can use for my paper. It has a lot of facts and studies in it, so I can have some concrete evidence of what technology is doing to us. I like this article as well for the fact that it shows both sides, how technology can make us both stupid and smart. I also like how the author mentioned ways that we can use technology to make us even smarter. It was a very creative article but also very informational. I think that it will be a great article for me to use for my paper because of both of these factors.
Overall, I think that these are two great sources that I can use to begin my research on technology. They are both credible sources, from credible websites who also have magazines. They are both filled with useful information, including solid facts. They are both creative and well written. I think that this is a solid base for me to start building off of for my research. I am planning on finding as much information as possible using a variety of sources.
Citation:
Works Cited
Chamorro-Premuzic, Tomas. "Is Technology Making Us Stupid (And Smarter)?" Psychology Today. N.p., 7 May 2013. Web. 3 Nov. 2013. <http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/mr-personality/201305/is-technology-making-us-stupid-and-smarter>.
Murphy Paul, Annie. "How to Use Technology to Make You Smarter." Time Ideas. Time, 29 Nov. 2012. Web. 03 Nov. 2013. <http://ideas.time.com/2012/11/29/how-to-use-technology-to-make-you-smarter/>.
I agree that there are pros and cons to technology. I think it is great for instant access to pretty much anything that one could want in order to find an answer or to provide a little entertainment while waiting. I think it usually makes most jobs easier, whether that be in the workforce or even for school. Cons could be when it affects things, such as a business. I have been to stores several times where the machines, and all the technology is down. The cashiers are not able to figure out how much somebody owes because they are not able to do basic math which includes figuring out percentages for tax. It is a bit ridiculous when even the managers on duty aren't able to help. This to me indicates that technology is definitely making people more "stupid". Everyone relies on it to make their life and job easier, but when those times occur where technology is down, they don't know what to do. They are lost. Overall, I think technology is good. I think it has made it so workers can be more efficient at their jobs and in life in general, but sometimes having that extra time seems to mean more free time on the technology and less personal experience with others. I think there just needs to be a balance between the two and to remember that there is a time and a place to use the technology.
ReplyDeleteWhat fascinating research! I didn't realize that technology was making us smarter. I figured, like Chipoo, that it was making us dumber at things we learned in grade school like basic math. I include myself in that. I often have to double check my spelling and sometimes confuse their/there/they're and you're/your, which is pretty embarrassing for a composition instructor. :) Having read your summaries of these articles, I'm not wondering is this smartening us up and dumbing us down will have long term consequences. It seems that my spelling could get better if I were to turn off auto-correct, and retrain my brain. Would it be that simple? In terms of technology making us smarter, can we do more with those smarts than score high on an IQ test? Are we able to solve tougher problems now more quickly because we can multitask better? It would be interesting to find a study of the brain done comparing a brain that doesn't use too much technology to one that does. Like compare a teenager's brain to their parent's. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm happy that you found information saying that technology was making us smarter, at least in some aspects, because I was convinced when I first saw your topic that technology was definitely making us dumber! I still feel that the way that people rely so much on technology for communication with others is affecting their ability to have live face-to-face interactions with people. It has struck me as odd many times that live conversations are often focused around things that people saw on the internet or television. I think that it is interesting to think that it is easier for people to further their solution findings because initial solutions are so easily accessible, that's a point of view I hadn't previously considered as a way for technology to be helping us get smarter. Personally I think that it has affected my constructive problem solving skills a little bit because it is so easy to just "ask google" for the answers! I like Krebs' thought of seeing some comparisons of brains on technology and brains without technology to see if there are differences in development in different areas.
ReplyDeleteI’m enjoying that this topic is being discussed in your blog as I was just talking about it with some friends last week; you are giving me great information to go back to them with. I’m very impressed with the articles you have found so far in your research. I would have thought with a topic such as this, you would only find a ton of opinion surveys and just little comments here and there. Your first article seems like a great place to start from, especially as it discusses different generations. I think one of the most important things in looking at this topic is considering the difference in “then and now”; knowing if all this technology is really helping us be smarter. I mostly work with an elderly population in my job, so I’ve often considered how they did it all without the resources we have today. Even simple tasks like doing all of your banking online rather than going to an actual bank, are things that they would have never dreamed of until recently. I would be interested to see some research on the effects of technology in the elderly population as well as perhaps the very, very young. Are the elderly able to adapt to this knew assumed form of getting things done; what will future generations be like if technology continues to advance as it has? These are just some ideas on where to continue with your research, I look forward to seeing what you come up with and good luck on your topic.
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