Is the Internet Altering Our Minds?

Is the internet altering our minds ?

The internet resembles the modern world, an infinitely complex circuit of networks, seemingly finding some sort of order in the randomness and chaos. For centuries we have adapted to technological change but it is only now with the modern science of neuroplasticity we can see in detail how these new inventions are effecting our brains.

Millions of people right now are browsing the web and doing innumerable things from checking there bank balances to playing online games, a whole maelstrom of things are knocking on the computer screen for our attention. So how is all this really effecting our brains ? We know our brains are very malleable and whatever we do effects it and creates new neural pathways which aid us with the task at hand, this how we learn new things. So we would want to exercise our brains in a positive manner which increases our cognitive ability, not the reverse.

When we are using the internet there is so much at our disposal, a virtual universe is before us, which makes it very difficult to concentrate on one particular thing. We often have good intentions to finish that essay, write that important email or just research something new and interesting. But our good intentions are forever being challenged and compromised, we may just end up chatting on Facebook or shopping or any number of things. Unless you have an enormous amount of self control it is difficult not to succumb to this temptation, especially for young people and every time we yield to these temptations we are to some degree eroding our cognitive abilities to focus and concentrate. After all when we are faced with a book we can either read it or not read it, of course there is external distractions; like the door knocking, the point is there is no internal distraction within the book, it just asks for your attention.

Recently many prominent writers and thinkers have dealt with this subject and have become increasingly concerned that the internet is eroding our capacity for deep thought and concentration, and having detrimental effects on our cognition. One of these writers is Nicholas Carr, in 'Is Google making us stupid' Carr outlined his views and experiences: 'Over the past few years I've had an uncomfortable sense that someone, or something has been tinkering with my brain, remapping the neural circuitry, reprogramming the memory'. Carr's concerns are backed up by scientific research and evidence, the French cognitive scientist Dr Paschale Michelon gave further gravitas to Carr's claims: 'Research has shown that in fact the brain never stops changing through learning. Plasticity IS the capacity of the brain to change with learning. Changes associated with learning occur mostly at the level of connections between neurons. New connections can form and the internal structure of existing synapses can change'. This shows our brains are in a constant state of flux and how we spend our time greatly effects neural pathways, so consequently we can deduce that our cognition in concentration and attention could be affected by prolonged internet use.

Further evidence to support the claim the internet is negatively effecting our cognition is given in an experiment led by Dr Gary Small at UCLA. Under supervision twelve experienced web users and twelve web newcomers used Google while their brains were scanned. The results showed the area of the brain which deals with short-term memory and decision-making