Naveen, in answer to your question : "Yes the technology has made us forget the phone numbers but don't we have to remember scores of passwords for various sites?"

NO ! There is the "key chain" which requires us to remember only one password, and saves the others for us :-)

I appreciate you trying to save the humanity :) :) :-)

but, there is an app for every possibility for making us lazier :) :) :-)

Internet is a Two-Sided Weapon! some tasks make peoples became lazy, but also if well used, the internet helps a lot and increase knowledge. It always about How to use it.

My answer is short: whenever we win something, we lose something else...

... And when we lose something - we gain something else...

Zeiri and Cyril, Gains are clear ... What are we losing then ? Are we losing any ability in our brain ? Brain is a muscle. You don't exercise something, you lose some ability ... The question is : WHAT ability are we losing ? or, if any ?

I have lost something once i started using internet; the pleasure of reading books. I feel like i don't find any time now for any usual activity or hobby, i lost a library corner in the house, i also lost communication "with real peoples" i just am always in the front of the pc working and searching. I believe that brain exercise still exist even when using the internet, because the ability of learning mental math or hand writing, reading and learning is still a part of our life time from the age of 4 may be 6 until the university. We only start using internet for research e by the age of 18 with low average then we go on. I don't think this way the internet can influence the brain growth but the use of it in a precise age is very important nowadays. The brain is a neuronal network , it required excitation to keep its activity, that can be done also by internet.

Using the calculator to do simple math operations didn't prevent us from having our brain active to judge the results to avoid some fatal error (bad entry or so). In the same sense, using the GPS and internet maps requires that the brain remains active in case of a big mistake (selecting the wrong destination for example). In both cases we might have become less capable of doing the manual calculations or remembering the way through to destination but the brain will be activated more. We bypass burdens of simple calculations to concentrate on more complex analysis or we make use of GPS/internet assistance to explore more. Thanks. @AlDmour.

No, it is very useful for student to increase the exposer of their subjects and to know the latest development quickly and will increase the thinking capability and imagination. Use of calculator is harmful but not the internet.

In my opinion, internet stays somewhere between books (where we should themselves imagine everything we read) and TV (where we give everything ready so we are totally manipulated). So, it is a very good (or even the best) compromise between these two extremes.

As for me, I do not read books, do not watch TV ... I just think... I just go to the park, walk or ride a bike and think .... imagine and think... and so on... I use the Internet just to see if what I've figured out exists somewhere:)

Tolga, you made me think about your "WHAT ability are we losing?"...

I think the only way to find it is to stay some time without the internet ... then everyone will find out what he/she has lost. The feeling is quite contradictory - on one hand you have the painful feeling that you're missing something, but on the other hand feel some relief and peace ...

@ Zeiri Asma - I must confess that I agree with you.

So - what are we loosing? I am afraid - a lot.

Primarily, I think the children and the young generation is loosing more and more some important properties: The ability to mentally relax from time to time.

Instead, they are using continuously some electronic equipment for speaking, listening, clicking, shifting, surfing, searching, writing, down- and uploading,...(in the bus, train, aeroplane, during walking (if any), even in the restaurant,...).

And what are the latest developments:

Internet during walking via sun glasses or wrist-watches. Beautyful !

Social networks? Really social? Ask doctors and neurologists.

Even young childs in the age of 5 by their own have TV sets, I-phones, mobiles and other electronic stuff.

And - as a consequence - they always are passively entertained, without feeling bored and, thus, without any need to be creative.

So - our community is loosing a lot.

OK, that`s it - I suppose, you know what I mean.

Quote Cyril: "I just go to the park, walk or ride a bike and think .... imagine and think... and so on..".

Yes - that`s exactly what I mean.

Lutz, I just want to elaborate - as I said above what we lose, I was referring to а "reasonable use of the internet" (not this kind of use that makes us idiots:)

Lutz, Cyril, Bhupendra, and Zeiri, what I am hearing from all of you is this (summarized):

*** In general, we are losing "human touch" or "human interactivity"

*** Even when you are reading a book, you are connecting to the author's brain, so, that's ALMOST a form of human touch ...

*** Since AI technology will never reach the level of human intelligence any time soon, it is extremely important for humans to interact with humans !

*** By spending so much time on the internet, we are learning how to communicate with UNINTELLIGENT mechanisms, like the Google search engine ... These mechanisms imitate human intelligence with the best available AI technology, which is close to ZERO ! compared to human intelligence !

*** The ability for a human to pull information out of his/her neural database is about 10000x better than Google, or any other search engine. When two humans communicate, this is even better.

*** However, when we communicate with a MACHINE, we are learning how to SIMPLIFY or DUMB DOWN or UNINTELLIGIFY our thinking - I made that word up :)

If this is making us lose our human communication skills, this is BAD NEWS !

The question is : IS IT MAKING US LOSE HUMAN COMMUNICATION SKILLS ?

Yes, of course.(for your last question on losing human communication skills) but the answer is certainly debatable for your original question (on losing our skills to exercise our brain).

I was certain in above as it is only from our generation point of view. However, real answer should come from the new generation who certainly believe that the internet/smart phones and other technologies improves their social life and keeps them online with their friends at school out of school times ...etc. In other words, studies should concentrate on them not us. When I was a kid, my Dad used to cheer up for a power cut (and no TV). He used to curse the TV as a blocker to family talk !. Thanks. @AlDmour.

Certainly, the Internet will save us from the duplication of efforts.

but in return, many of scientists will convert to ordinary people in the world without internet.

Research indicates that certain video games affect attention span. I imagine certain websites cause addiction.

Plato tells that when the God Thoth-Hermes presented the Pharaoh Thamus, with a new technique he called ‘writing’ the Pharaoh was at first full of wonder for it, but then he grew fearful.

‘If you teach my people to write pictures upon a tablet of stone they will no longer look upwards to the pictures inscribed in the stars by the twice twelve elders. They will not need to remember the sacrifices of the gods but will look down instead at twenty-four demons you call letters, which will no longer describe their divine messages, but only the contents of their own souls! They will not, therefore, write truth but only semblance, they will hear many things but learn nothing!’

Hermes explained, ‘The ability to read the words of the gods was a gift to man, but already by degrees, man forgets the speech of the stars. One day,’ he told him, ‘even priests will see nothing but their position and their movement in the heavens. Writing is needed only until men develop, from out of their own souls, the memory power that can read the starry script again.’

'But how long will that be, wise Hermes?’ the Pharaoh asked.

‘First man must come to worship the words of his own creation and build great temples to hold all the words that are written…finally he will construct great devices that will fashion words with great speed, and all men will marvel, and the devil will make man believe that he is a god, that there exists nothing higher than the words he creates.’

The Pharaoh was full of dismay for it. ‘What shall you do, wise Hermes? What will you give to man to help raise his eyes from words to the heavens again?’

‘What shall I give him?’ Hermes said smiling cagily, ‘Well...I shall give the threefold Wisdom of Hermes, to prepare him for the descent of the true Word, Osiris, come down to earth.'

'Osiris will come down to earth?' the Pharaoh gasped in dismay. 'What shall this mean for all the Pharoahs, great Hermes? Shall we who represent His word on earth, the kings and priests, not be needed?'

'When the Word of the kingdom of heaven descends, mighty Pharaoh, a man will become his own king. He will inscribe the pictures of heaven into his heart as if it were an Emerald Tablet. Then, full of the word of God, which is love, he will speak forth his own individual, living sacrifice. Thus will the content of his soul become selfless, for it will be one with the content of heaven. That is how he shall become a creator god by observing the Wisdom of Hermes which is threefold: light,love and life, which illustrates the meaning of 'as above, so is below and as below, so is above.'

The Pharaoh was confused, worried, elated, and amazed. Finally he looked to Hermes who is thrice great and said, 'So be it!'

Because I consider Ismat Aldmour´s answer as most relevant, I like to repeat the core of his contribution:

"I was certain in above as it is only from our generation point of view. However, real answer should come from the new generation who certainly believe that the internet/smart phones and other technologies improves their social life and keeps them online with their friends at school out of school times ...etc. In other words, studies should concentrate on them not us."

The single biggest disadvange with the internet is that it's making us laxy. We used to remember things, which we can now find in seconds with a search engine.

I agree! Computers will never reach the human brain level. I also can't stop asking myself why are we so dedicated to develop artifical intelligence, instead of to increase our capacities/abilities. But the problem is not to use devices to simplify our job; the problem is "disconnect" our brain while we are using those devices, such as cell phones, GPS's or PC's. We should not forget that they are tools, like a hammer or a screwdriver, which were created to improve our performance while we are performing any specific task... those tools work for us, not backwards!

Just an opinion...

If you wan to know a serious opinion about try to read Digital Demenz from Manfred Spitzer

One of the best things about internet is that we can communicate, give/take feedback too fast. For example, using ResearchGate, I can ask about some particular topic related to my research and get important feedback/suggestions from experienced people all over the world and think about those suggestions.

Using internet, I can easily get to know the most recent developments on a particular field of research and better think of further development instead of doing the same thing somebody else has already did.

There are many ways Internet helps us brainstorm, think better on new and good ideas.

David, saying "laxy" you mean "lazy", right?

I agree! Computers will never reach the human brain level= 100%,

the computers is used for their speed calculations but the computers are a stuped machines and exictut only the men instructions.

Dear Tolga,

Internet is a tool. For what it is used implicated on the aspects of learning, Internet provides a platform where reading, writing, interacting, hearing, visualization ...are together as learning skill and adds up knowledge hence not making us lose our skills to exercise our brain.

Internet is changing the way our brain is going to evolute in the future. Hunting, harvesting and fighting have made us the way we are now. Internet has arrived to change all this panorama. But it will only evolute us in the way the people who are at internet touch reproduce themselves more than people who are not under the internet influence. So please, improve human race. :-))

@Ramon, well explained! Nice observation! My wife told me something that touch the @Tolga's claim : "...making us lose the ability of our brain to perform other functions that we would otherwise be good at ? For example, remembering things. Even being responsible for remembering things ? " So, she told me that I am going to write in to-do-note (cell phone) kiss wife, wash hair, take a shower...,...! I was told that I'm gonna forget to think! Am I ?

To me internet interactions sharpen one's skills from expertise and experience of others, if one follow them earnestly as experiences shared by elderly with children make them wise in their life.

@Ljubomir and @Ramon, looking at your comments, I can't stop thinking:

if we had internet in Darwin's time, I wonder if he would revise his theory and add "part of the evolution is induced by the humans themselves" :)

We, humans, might be changing the natural scheme of evolution with the tools we invent :) :) :)

Dear Tolga,

"We, humans, might be changing the natural scheme of evolution with the tools we invent"

This would depend I guess on how you define the term "natural". It seems to me that building tools is a very natural ability of human beings. These tools progressively modify the environment, which in turn will naturally affect how humans will evolve. :)

I can't agree with some comments, e.g. that we lose something when we win or that machines/computers are stupid. Maybe someone's computer is stupid, mine isn't.

When we learn a second language we don't ''lose'' or give up the original or the first foreign one, we simply add value. Things might be messy in the beginning and at certain moments but over time there is a synergy effect: the whole is more than the parts. And there is always a process of interaction - much like in human relationships - meaning that we influence the internet and it has an effect on our brains.

Are we becoming worse at remembering? Perhaps. But that already happened with language and literacy - at first, humans did not write but the dominant use of oral language made them better at listening and memorizing. When we write, part of the things we must remember is being ''transferred'' to an automatic process, we become less concentrated. At the same time, with the internet (or writing) we are adopting other patterns of communication, attention span, visual intelligence, even intuition. Aside from that, brain organization is very individual - we learn and remember in a lot of different ways. Our brains constantly adapt and change.

Its true that Internet has transformed the whole pattern of thinking of human race. When we joined school, the first thing we were taught were tables , at least till 30! We memorized them, we're asked to reproduce them in school and a part of marking system was based on such lessons! I still remember those! Today, all these things have vanished from a child's schooling syllabus, reason - it is not required! There are tools like calculators, computers which will do all these, for us! So why waste time ? Yes, a part of our brains are now not being utilized for particular tasks! Sometimes I wonder if its right ??

But then, at the click of a mouse, the whole world of information and knowledge is at our disposal, who can deny that?

Hristina, Phew ! This was a heavy description :) I am still processing :)

Jaya, H.E., we all seem to be somehow agreeing.

Not just the internet, but, a lot of the tools that make certain things very efficient might be transforming our brain.

I am no cognitive expert, but, brain is like a muscle, made out of a gazillion neurons. Whatever part you exercise, improves. If you squat, your legs will get stronger, do bench press, chest gets stronger. Force yourself on tasks to MEMORIZE, neurons will record a lot of memorized data, force yourself to do critical thinking, those skills are going to improve.

What I don't know is, if this is a PERMANENT change ? In other words, let's say, after using the super high technology (which pretty much covers all of us) for decades, if they offered an engineer a job at a deserted island, and the only tool to use was a paper and pen, and a lot of COMPUTATIONS were needed. Would this engineer have the same exact speed in adapting to this scenario ... say, as compared to somebody that has been hand-calculating everything for 20 years ?

Dear Tolga Soyata, I agree with you but at some point I want to ad some thing more. I am giving two scenarios:

1. Children are more smart and intelligent by using internet for video games, encyclopedia, tutorials, free open source software, new products, business, market, global awareness, ....

2. Students when asked 20x10? then start searching his / her calculator.

@Afraq, agree. Students can not do anything without calculator. Many of them do not know to solve quadratic equation! Yes, strong impact of internet technologies is present, see @H.E. Lehtihet post!

@Tolga. Everything counts in large amounts (Depeche Mode). Everything that can affect us, really does. Even if we do not want. Darwing pointed to the correct position of the sound, but he did not explained correctly the nature of the sound. Please revise his theory under the light of "The selfish gene" http://www.arvindguptatoys.com/arvindgupta/selfishgene-dowkins.pdf ;-))

@ Tolga, agree on the point that the engineer without any tools today, will be at a loss! One who knows how to calculate manually will be better off! And as per the rule of evolution, what we don't use, is lost :(( so chances are that we may lose some of our then fantastic skills , good or bad ?? It's a relative term! As pointed out, today's children are computer savvy but zero at manual calculations :(( who or what is responsible, GOK ! They are fantastic in some skills , zero in others, I wonder whether its a nature's way of balancing things ??

Engineers should theoretically handle a lot of projects during their university studies, and I don't think they are all computer-processed. In other words, an engineer is an engineer (well, there are different types of engineering involving different types of skills, knowledge and difficulty getting their exams and doing their projects). I can't imagine a capable engineer who is not good at math, logic and spatial reasoning. In many respects, technology has made it even more difficult for engineers to graduate, not easier - they still have to learn what engineers from the near past had to, but now they have to learn some tech tools in addition to the established prerequisites. A computer or any sophisticated machine cannot build a bridge on its own, as far as I know.

Therefore, I think that even if a contemporary engineer finds himself on a deserted island or whatever, he may be slower in the beginning re-adapting to old-fashioned techniques but I am convinced he will quickly regain confidence and execute all calculations, in any way quicker than an island man would assimilate the modern computer and tech-based know-how.

Regarding neurology and neuroplasticity (the idea that our brain maps are being reprogrammed), I recommend reading Norman Doidge's The Brain That Changes Itself - http://www.normandoidge.com/normandoidge.com/MAIN.html

- it's very inspirational and thought-provoking. He has included an extensive list of bibliography leading to other prominent experts and theories.

@Hristina, I am going to buy Dr. Norman Doidge when I come back from vacation in a few weeks. It looks very good. I will let you know what I think. Somebody also recommend me the book from Dr. Susan Blackmore "Consciousness: An Introduction." I bought it. Dr. Blackmore's background is psychology, Dr. Doidge clearly has a more medical approach, since he is a psychiatrist. I am curious about both approaches, since the human brain is possibly the most exciting development in the nature ... and explaining it will take input from many disciplines. Hell, even computer science !!! or Electrical Engineering !!!

=======================

@Ramon, I will check into your Selfish Gene book ...

Depeche Mode fan huh ? You gotta be an 80's kid like me :) I drove my mother nuts listening to loud Depeche Mode in the living room back then :) until she gave up and bought me a Sony Walkman and headphones (with the casette tape) :)

=======================

@Jaya, let's analyze your sentence "what we don't use is lost" ... Hmmm. what we learn at age 10 is clearly 50x more ingrained into our brain then decades later. There is also the 10% MYTH, i.e., supposedly we use only 10% of our brain. This is a gross mis-interpretation of a publication by a neuroscientist in 1908, or sometime then. We definitely ARE using all of our brain ... If we learn something WRONG, it takes 10x more time to UNLEARN it, i.e., re-route those neurons to learn something else ...

So, today's kids, like Afaq and Jaya said, are starting to learn things in a totally different way, without having to do the HARD WORK OF HAND-CALCULATING things, or having to go to libraries etc . With the tools like INTERNET, which eliminates the need to go to libraries, etc . their neural network is programmed totally differently then an older person. Considering that, an older person vs. the kid today have the same brain capacity (i.e., the same number of neurons), this is just a matter of trading one skill vs. another. Though, it is possibly not clear, how this might be effecting a person for other things ?

Dear Tolga

You are really an excellent editor! I most of us will agree with my viewpoint.

To be an excellent editor that makes a summary report of all these comments requires a lot of memory skills and coordination task skills! As every behavioural act, brain will suffer or not depending on the diversity of the stimuli received and perceived.

Possibilities of human brain are huge and not fully known. Traditional tasks may be fulfilled quicker and more effective. Specialization of current tasks changes toward multimodal inputs. Technological support may increase further possibilities of human brains. But there are some threats concerning diviions of the humans into two species: "traditional humans" and "humans 2.0 with brain enhancement". Neuroethics may be critical.

Well, since I have been using the internet it seems that all of a sudden I have more work, less time, more information than I can absorb and also a lot of mis- and dis-information which I really don't need. So, I have to think more and work harder, filter the good from the bad, store the good for later retrieval, and be careful that I don't get sidetracked as there are many interesting distracters to be found. Eventually I end up with a mental low-pass, high-pass and band-pass filter when reading my mail and browsing the internet. The internet certainly has not made me stupid or lazy. By no means...I agree here with Hristina Petrova, who does'nt have a stupid computer; good thing she mentions this, as we often want to blame something else if we go off on a silly tangent. So, to cut this short, I use the internet as a tool, a pencil, a knife and sometimes as a swimming pool...it does not use me.

Internet is a big helper, but it does not substitute human brains. We are O.K.

Not the Internet but the massive frameworks.

I do not agree with prof. Geoffery West [and many others] about the absolute necessity to centralize human activities, habitats and even ideas incubators in massive centers, such "cities”. That humano-centrification works as overgrowth in our graph, with the consequence of sub-curtailment of differences, separation, diversification, peculiarities. And so on, up to a lowering of the protections and individual skills.

What we should have, at least, is a growth, but reversed [or rather swallowtail shaped]. "Districts” not centripetal, and distant from each other; applications and frameworks for~of myriads of niches, never exceeding the size of a critical threshold. And these "peculiar” niches should also be connected via Internet — because isolation remains a negative factor.

g

Tolga, Cyril´s answer is right: we win something, we lose something. But so is Dariusz. In my case the winnings far outweigh the losses. The internet entered my life at the midpoint of my academic career, i.e., in the mid-80s. At that point, my scholarly productivity suddenly jumped by a factor of three. My curriculum vitae literally dwarfs those of the professors who trained me for my Ph.D. Not only has the internet enabled me to accomplish a staggering amount of work, but has also made it possible to traverse scholarly time and space in a split-second without taking the time and trouble to travel to rare libraries all over the world. For instance, I have been able to consult the Church Fathers in the original Greek and Latin without the expense and bureaucracy of going to the Vatican Library. This possibility has enabled me to publish scholarly editions with matchless breadth in my field (I´ll let others gage my depth) at dizzying speed and with few erratas.

Hi Tolga Soyata,

You did a nice introduction about the skill on our brain and electronic computers. Concerning your question, my answer is: Internet can help us a lot, providing much information in a very fast way, in addition, this a very interesting and effective way to shear the information (one amazing initiative was the Wikipedia, one of my best sites). This is part of the good news. The bad news, in my opinion, is the internet is a very efficient way for loosing our concentration, and it gives to us a false impression that we need to be connected to e-mail (for example) every time. We need to learn the best way to deal with this new important resource, because internet comes to stay, it is a permanent reality. Depending to us to extract the best from the internet, but other things in the modern society, this come with possible troubles (dangerous). Maybe, a little discipline is relevant.

Dear Tolga,

You are right. Advancement in technology has made us lazy. We seldom spend energy on thinking or remembering. I have been typing on computers for over a decade now and I think I have actually stated loosing my ability to write. I realized this last week only when I was trying to copy a few paragraphs from a book and was actually finding it difficult to write. I don't know if any of you had such an experience.

But having said that, I truly believe Internet has a much brighter side to it. But for it, I won't be sitting in my study room and discussing the" ill-effects of internet" with the people around the world. Without using Internet I would never have known a Dr Togla Soyata from University of Rochester who is finding it difficult to remember his wife's phone number.

Best Regards,

Dear Tolga

I believe that within a short time, the computational power is equivalent to a human brain.

iPhone is considered by many an extension of our body. Our memory has become dependent on these gadgets and the internet, and who has used an iPhone-like day-to-day can not give up these facilities.

We are in fact dependent on our gadgets and computers and this means that every day that passes we strive less and less to store the information we receive.

Just think: how many phone numbers you know to head for 10 years? How many know today?

It's "machine revolution", but if one day something goes wrong, we will be completely vulnerable. An entire generation of humans in their ability to reason, fighting our own intelligence, now part of our creation

Dear Sir,

Dr.Tolga Soyata , Sir,

Sir, your Question is 100% true. Now -a- days , there is no STRESS / STRAIN on our mind since we have availability of easy and ready-made materials through INTERNET ! Thus , our brain becomes IDLE . Before the use of internet facility our brain status was IDOL . Now, every researcher's / teacher's mind is not IDYLL !

This is my short answer for your question.

Thanks and regards.

Dr.Govindappa Navalagi

My Dear Dr.Tolag,

Thanks for your interest question. And thanks for all the above comments.

I think internet making gain many skills with more exercises our brain. It open new and easy sources of information. Moreover, it helps you to find answers for your questions in mind and maybe developing your idea as well. Today, I can hardly live without it.

Best Regards

Walid

Well, I started to use my grey matter mainly after reaching out Internet sources :) Not that I was stupid before that , but I am extremely lazy in reading or buying, surfing through books. I can even call myself "bibliophobic" !!! If it weren't for internet, I would not be able to 'compact information" such as journal articles without buying the journals in hard copies, We would not be able to discuss anything here , there would be no Research gate to open our minds and exchanging ideas, and learning from each other for example.Internet, I think, made the genrations just "smarter" . When it comes to memory, I am not that sure. There must have been a research whether the generations IQ"s (if that could be a criteria !) are improving in IT age. And how is it related to computer technology.

Is internet making us lose our skills to exercise our brain ? I agree with most of previous answers, internet usage has a double faces, it helps us in one side and theft thing from us in another side like "human touch" and face to face communication. if we don't care about thing that stolen from us, I think we will reach to adopt the saying "use it or lose it".

Tolga, my friend, the human brain is an endless intellectual, creative gold mine. It has created the Internet, not the other way round! And our skills have honed this invention for sure. Technology serves, but it cannot replace us.

To some extent Yes, internet is making us to lose our skills to exercise our brain.

--- Instead of recalling any facts we prefer to search it on internet.

--- Instead of designing anything new bu utilizing our brain we prefer to search different design on internet.

--- Instead of remembering any dates of events and festivals, we prefer to search it on internet.

In short, Internet is making us to loose our skills to exercise our brain in many different ways according to me.

Regards,

Nitish

Dear Tolga

It is a very nice question.The answer to your question is sometimes yes and sometimes no. For example if I want to do a report about a scientific subject one might extract it directly from the internet he does not look at books.

Well, for me internet saves more time on one hand, on another have, it provides more data and easily accessible but it makes me more to think about much data available and to analyse and conclude. Thus, I shall use my brain more and more due to much data to read and think and conclude.

Thank's for your interesting qustion,your think is true but i have belive that both of human brain and technology is relevant to gether to get high prformance.therefore we should not problem with discussion.

Long ago, we asked 'would the calculator make us mentally lazy. '

But having internet privileges gives us the freedom to use our brains just for the vital info. Dear Tolga, your wife's number comes in that category.

Sent from mobile.

There's been commentary about the effects of technology on our minds for decades. There surely is an impact & whether it's positive or negative is up to us. Nicholas Carr wrote an interesting book a few years back title 'The Shallows' -- here is a provocative quote from that book:

"the single most mind-altering technology that has ever come into general use … when we go online, we enter an environment that promotes cursory reading, hurried and distracted thinking, and superficial learning … The Net’s cacophony of stimuli short-circuits both conscious and unconscious thought, preventing our minds from thinking either deeply or creatively."

He has a point. I've experienced the net this way too. But the opposite is just as true, as many RG researchers have said -- technology can be both distracting and incredibly engaging.

I think it's only a matter of time before we will have access to tools that are developed to help us think deeper. We are already developing many new mental skills interacting online. On balance, I'm staying on for the ride.

First of all nothing is perfect in the world, even human brains. Similarly emerging internet and IT have both negative and positive sides.

My opinion is:

After internet our brain don't has to do many tasks what it used to do. On the other hand we are learning many new new things. Basically we are not losing mental abilities but we are just shifting them. For example, in agriculture we forgot to use hand plough after introduction of mechanised plough, but that not really hinder our mental ability.

P.S.- Wife's number must be remembered for happy married life :)

Had it been so, you would not have been asking this question. Internet like all other inventions has given us the opportunity to use our brain more rationally.

Technology is opening new perspectives for our ever fertile brains.

Dear Tolga

To add to my previous comments, I don't think Internet is so much of a problem. It has given us a lot new avenues to think about. Yes the technology has made us forget the phone numbers but don't we have to remember scores of passwords for various sites?

Critical thinking, taking entry into different levels of abstractions at ease, envisaging changing patterns to fit different anomalies are definitely a few yardsticks by which the skills attained by brains can be appreciated. To have a steady growth, we need different volumes of horizontal inputs at different levels of development. There is no doubt about it that internet has contributed enormously in that direction.

In ancient times, those societies which could accumulate great agricultural surplus, they could also produce simultaneously great thinkers provided the mode of distribution was wider. However, those societies where most of the wealth was concentrated in few hands and majority of the population lead practically slave lives, there was hardly any intellectual contribution. A similar analogy can be applied to understand the present thread. Those societies and circles where internet is being used principally to promote accumulative instincts as a means to promote power positions, a bluntness is highly visible. On the other hand, those societies and circles where internet is used to promote openness,encourage curiosity, appreciate cooperation, value sympathy and above all liberate minds to get rid of fundamentalism of all kinds, collective brain functioning is bound to witness quantum jumps.

Not really. As Miranda suggested new tools make it quicker and easier not make us lazy because we are the ones giving the commands.

@Patrick....Yes thats what I meant...It does help improve your memory. After all remembering phone numbers is not the only exercise for your brain...Remembering passwords also help you do the same.

"On the other hand we are learning many new new things. Basically we are not losing mental abilities but we are just shifting them."

Who is "we" ?

I suppose, most of the contributors to this discussion belong to the "older" generation. And, thus, we were - more or less - educated without internet "help".

That means: We have learned to make use of our human brain and of our creativity to solve problems.

But what about the younger generation?

I am a memeber of a technical internet forum which offers the possibility of knowledge exchange between beginners/students and experienced engineers.

And it happens very often that I must read very basic questions from some guys who simply are too lazy for making up their minds or having a look into a textbook.

They do not rely anymore to their own capabilities.

It is much easier to ask somebody and to expect help. I have some doubts if this is really a good way for developing a deep understanding of technical questions as well as the ability for solving problems.

@LUTZ. These guys always existed. In old time they did not look for basic equations either, performing "qualitative research".

I would like to answer just in the title of this question "Is internet making us lose our skills to exercise our brain ?". My answer is YES. I think in internet people can find the information very fast and most of them don't try even one time to solve using "brain".

Ex. In many forums are so many questions from students about how to solve any homework.

Hello Ramadan,

again this will depend how you use the tool. There are always costs and benefits which vary across those that use them. For some the costs are higher, for others the benefits are higher. I would say: do not always generalize...

Quote R. Dervishi: " I think in internet people can find the information very fast and most of them don't try even one time to solve using "brain"."

Yes - but I am afraid that it is even worse - because they found "the information", but in many cases they do not see the necessity (or even are not able) to proof if this information is correct. They blindly rely on such mosaic pieces they have found.

And - as we know - you can find a lot of "garbish" in the internet.

@Lutz, thats exactly my worry, people often trust uncritically. Just read the RG disussions about wikipedia or Google results.

I totaly agree with Marcel and Qurratulann

Internet is no more than a devices wich make our daily work going faster. It depands also on how and for what we use internet. Internet can also developpe a new soft skills.

I think both view are correct....

indeed modern technology have made our life more comfortable and we are getting lazy ...the whole system is going more autonomous day by day but it is in our hand how we are using it ..suppose we want to do a long algerbric calculation who's stopping us.. if one have plenty of time one can go for it ...but as we have computer we usually don't calculate it manually because we have other important things to do ...no doubt we are highly dependent on the modern tech ..

for like you can say our calculation is speed no more like it is used before but where it is needed now except for passing undergrad exams ...yes our calculation is weak just coz of this computer but on the other side it gave me plenty of time,and information to think for other real problems...

".... but on the other side it gave me plenty of time,and information to think for other real problems..."

Everything true...however, again I am thinking of the "younger generation".

What are they doing with the additional time they have gained?

Every walk through the streets and every ride on a train gives you the answer:

They are surfing in (un)social networks and inform each other what they are doing at the very moment (and sending pictures). I know...it`s a bit exaggerated, however...

Exactly, Lutz! They do exactly this... Even my students do this during classes while I try to reveal to them the secrets of electronic circuits:) This is the situation...

Naveen, in answer to your question : "Yes the technology has made us forget the phone numbers but don't we have to remember scores of passwords for various sites?"

NO ! There is the "key chain" which requires us to remember only one password, and saves the others for us :-)

I appreciate you trying to save the humanity :) :) :-)

but, there is an app for every possibility for making us lazier :) :) :-)

A short password tip: just use pw "1234" or "password" like a lot of germans did it in the last time, and 16 Mio pw could be cracked. It´s really good for a lazy brain. ;-))

In my opinion internet is not making us lethargic, infact it has opened up so many dimensions of knowledge and information no matter where do you live and from where you belong. And remembering numerals or words in accessing accounts make us more vigilant comparatively.

Internet and associate digital communication media around us have a stronger power to influence us due to the emergence of digital consciousness. Digital consciousness leverages the power of condensation and compression of messages and cognitive information states. It is quasi-personal and quasi-social. It means the impact of digital consciousness is a full cycle effect that originates in the usage of digital interfaces, goes to human mind, society, comes back to the machine interfaces through people again.

Definitely, internet cannot retard us from our current cognitive skills on a massive scale and population, instead, it will impact those people who does not use its communicative powers on an optimal balance. It will be our responsibility to demarcate the virtual reality and the physical space and time effectively.

I have detailed on this in my article below:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259980824_Introduction_to_the_experiential_realms_of_digital_consciousness

Article Introduction to the experiential realms of digital consciousness

Sure the internet is making us lose our skills to exercise our brain. The remembering capacity of a person comes down with relying upon the internet. The critical thinking is also decreasing. The evaluating any aspect is also decreasing because people in case of any query directly look to find the solution of that problem on the internet instead of thinking and evaluating it in the brain

@Muhammad, I agree with your analysis.

I think the use of internet might have weakened the ‘manual numerical skills’ of some of us who were previously not inclined towards manually handling numbers but definitely it has enhanced our skills in appreciating and manipulating numbers through the use of various applications thus demystifying calculations.

I agree with the previous comments on mismanagement of time saved from use of internet by the younger ones; probably program developers should ensure that their products build the total-man (mental, physical, social and spiritual) such that every activity on the internet positively affects the user all-round.

Hanno,

Like you, I agree with the analysis carried out by Muhammad Bhatti.

I believe, however, that for clarity the case, the additional comment is needed here.

The situation which concerns the analysis of Muhammad (analysis, with which we agree), is a pathological situation. Unfortunately, the people (usually those of the younger generation, for which wine to some extent also falls on the elderly people - that is also on us), make wrong choices and wrong assessment of the usefulness of the Internet, voluntarily. From the Internet, the people selected what is light, easy and fun, intentionally abandoning his content, which is ambitious, creative and expanding the thought horizons.

I feel that we are 'over-thinking' this question and, indeed, heading for 'analysis paralysis' in this discussion. The many wonderful research tools available online help us to organise information like never before. To exploit what the Internet enables what we need are better research skills and less reliance on memory, which at best has never been a totally reliable source unless of course you are one of those rare people who has an Eidetic memory. Rather than becoming 'reliant on computers' and our often flawed memories alone, becoming more reliant on and effective with our skills to source, organise and analyse information is where we need to direct our own and our students' use of the Internet. Sadly, the digital literacy competencies for this are not well understood, rarely taught in our schools and when they are, they are taught briefly and by librarians rather than teachers.

@Tolga: Thanks for the question share :) The way technological advancements are affecting our cognitive faculties has been bothering me as well. Memory, attention, concentration, planning and even problem-solving are becoming more malleable and their development is being influenced by technology - whether hand-held or not. Evolutionarily speaking, yes we were better at certain faculties than others, since they had been hardwired into our systems. And i think we've retained them in today's world too. For instance, object localisation can apply to finding your smartphone too. Although the content and contexts in which these faculties are being used is changing, perhaps the underlying process is still the same?