What if one day the internet ceased to exist? In a society that is becoming increasingly dependent on the internet and affiliated technologies, such a scenario may seem like the end of the world. Imagine people without their smartphones, tablets, or computers. With a remarkable lack of face to face interaction and landline phones, communication would plummet to an all-time low. Millions of people would be out of jobs, and millions more would not know how to get to theirs. Many would lose access to their bank accounts and records, becoming instantly impoverished. Even the government would cease to function, sending our nation into a state of anarchy. And the worst of it all? People would be unable to function. The internet has degraded our
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If anything, we have gotten smarter. In his book, Everything Bad Is Good for You, Steven Johnson makes the claim that we are getting smarter, as evidenced by rising IQ scores, even as our culture seemingly gets dumber. It is reasonable to be skeptical of IQ scores. It has been disputed many times as to whether IQ scores are the best measure of one’s intelligence. However, Johnson provides more evidence than just the swelling test scores. He talks about how in 1981, “Hill Street Blues” was a new kind of television show at the time. “Hill Street Blues” performed incredibly poorly in its first year and was shut down several years later to make room for shows that were easier to follow. Now if you look at television shows today, Johnson argues that the mental demand placed on audiences trivializes the complexity of a show such as “Hill Street Blues.” For example, HBO’s Game of Thrones has a multitude of interweaving plot lines and named characters; this type of show has become commonplace. In an interview with NPR’s Steve Inskeep, Johnson even goes so far as to liken the complexity of today’s television shows and video games to playing a game of chess. “It’s a very predictive narrative system, chess. But we agree there’s something positive about the mental exercise you get from playing chess.” Johnson is showing us something very important. We are not losing our ability to focus. The distractions are not getting the better of us. They are training us. Instead of only focusing on one thing, we can focus on many. For example, in his article “Why I Can’t Stop Starting Books,” journalist Joe Queenan details how he manages to read 27 books simultaneously. He has no trouble remembering what is going on in each book. Today, following several complex storylines is not that much harder than following one. Reading multiple books is becoming increasingly
If anything, we have gotten smarter. In his book, Everything Bad Is Good for You, Steven Johnson makes the claim that we are getting smarter, as evidenced by rising IQ scores, even as our culture seemingly gets dumber. It is reasonable to be skeptical of IQ scores. It has been disputed many times as to whether IQ scores are the best measure of one’s intelligence. However, Johnson provides more evidence than just the swelling test scores. He talks about how in 1981, “Hill Street Blues” was a new kind of television show at the time. “Hill Street Blues” performed incredibly poorly in its first year and was shut down several years later to make room for shows that were easier to follow. Now if you look at television shows today, Johnson argues that the mental demand placed on audiences trivializes the complexity of a show such as “Hill Street Blues.” For example, HBO’s Game of Thrones has a multitude of interweaving plot lines and named characters; this type of show has become commonplace. In an interview with NPR’s Steve Inskeep, Johnson even goes so far as to liken the complexity of today’s television shows and video games to playing a game of chess. “It’s a very predictive narrative system, chess. But we agree there’s something positive about the mental exercise you get from playing chess.” Johnson is showing us something very important. We are not losing our ability to focus. The distractions are not getting the better of us. They are training us. Instead of only focusing on one thing, we can focus on many. For example, in his article “Why I Can’t Stop Starting Books,” journalist Joe Queenan details how he manages to read 27 books simultaneously. He has no trouble remembering what is going on in each book. Today, following several complex storylines is not that much harder than following one. Reading multiple books is becoming increasingly