Is technology making us less intelligent?

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by wodin

But ya gotta admit, it makes a good joke!

Yes, and to be honest, I think there are a lot of those kinds of people out there.......

Originally Posted by Sparrow

I thought they were true.

Finding out they're not has caused me significant mental trauma, my lawyer will be in touch.

Yes, I know. See above.

[desertgrandma]

In the past, we had to have a different kind of 'intelligence'.

"Street Smarts" if you will. More common sense, more knowledge of your surroundings, in order to survive.

Technology has surged forward at such a pace, and while most kids are whiz's at computers, games and phones, they are more insulated from outside environments.

Yes, they are technologically superior, but could they survive without all the electronic bells and whistles?

Its not necessarily a bad thing......just different.

[Krystian Galaj]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

Yes, they are technologically superior, but could they survive without all the electronic bells and whistles?

We adapt.

That depends on how quickly the situation would change. If the electronics were becoming unusable at the same speed at which they arrived (few decades), of course everyone would learn to survive.

[maidavale]

Originally Posted by Amalthia

I don't think technology is responsible for dumbing people down. And it also depends on which countries you're looking at too. I think Japan is out performing United States in math and science and Japan is hooked up to technology just as much if not more so than American students.

This is a poor comparison. Never mind that we do not fully understand the correlation between technology and educational attainment (or intelligence, hence why this thread exists), the causation here lies within the educational systems & societal expectations in the respective nations.

We've heard of enough reports revealing American students' relatively poor performance on maths & science. Not even counting for all the faults in American education system, the prevailing attitudes in societies of Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singpore, etc. are tremendously different from that of United States. I'm not sure what role technology has here, tbh.

Competition in those nations is brutal while resources are limited; Parents are over-zealous that their children go to reputable universities; Students go to private institutions after school, and they spend whole day engaging in rote learning; etc. Young folks do nothing but to study, and standards are much much higher (you hear of notions saying that 8th grade maths in Hong Kong is like 12th grade maths in California).

As someone else has mentioned, you don't see that kind of attitude in the U.S., save for self-driven students, alpha mums, and competitive resume-building crazed kids (a good example is kids on College Confidential Forums). From experience, it seems as educational tracks vary highly amongst individuals in the States, different from certain nations that might have strict, uniform national standards.

It does seem to change in higher education though, since one cannot discount prestigious universities and research institutions in the U.S.

Of course, you're correct about young people in Japan being hooked on technology. There are plenty of negative consequences as well... kids who are addicted to online RPG games, "Hikikomori" sub-culture, high amount of cyber-bullying, etc.


Well, sorry for going on tangent. As for the topic, I agree with Brian's opinion about ability to handle multi-tasking. With the awesome computing power we have nowadays, people seem to do so many things at once while failing to concentrate on & properly complete one single task. Like few others, I'd say the jury is still out on this one - no need to panic, but we must be careful as well. Only time will tell... for now, the multi-tasking notion sounds the best.

I've seen different effects from people around me, as some are able to handle technology & multi-tasking really well while others (myself included) suffer from its negative consequence, being overly-dependent on gadgets. Perhaps evolutionary/adaptation process will occur like someone mentioned, but at this moment, what's true for some certainly isn't for others.

Also, I'm more curious about literacy skills involved w/ technology - reading a book vs. reading online (not ebooks). I've read that in addition to maths & science tests mentioned above in the post, OECD will add a electronic reading section for the exam it conducts w/ 15-year-olds from around the world. Can't help but wonder about the future implications...