Does the Internet dumb us?

On one of the Polish sites a post was published: “ Czy internet nas ogłupia? ” Which was then translated into Russian for the blog of this site on the portal Inosmi, well-known in Russia. And already with Inosmi, he scattered all over the Internet (it is enough to make a request for the author's details “Yan Pasechny” in any search engine to see RIA Novosti and other representatives of the RuNet in the list of copy-pastors of this article ). This post on Habré is devoted to trying to analyze the article by Yana Pasechna for compliance with the stated topic. This analysis, of course, turned out to be the same “scientific” as the article, but, as they say: “to Caesar — ​​Caesar's.”

The first thing that catches the eye is that the entire evidence base of the article is based on the “British scientists found out” system (that is, not a single reference to the “material” supporting document). The text contains “quotes” of some “scientists”, taken out of the context incomprehensibly. Also, the “expert” is Bill Keller (Bill Keller, if you believe the same article - editor-in-chief of the New York Times 2003-2011). The main base for the article is presented by the research of Professor Manfred (Manfred Spitzer), who asserts that “Mnemonic processes no longer occur in our brain, since we transfer them to electronic devices”. That is, in essence, the article with the same success could be called “Does it divert us to the diary?”.

Well, suppose we believe the author and all the “expert opinions” he cites. His article, even in the original, is called “Does the Internet dumb us?”. What, according to the author, is the stupidity: this is the aforementioned lack of brain activity, caused by the fact that users do not have to record birth dates and telephones. Those. sots.seti harmful (and in the same way as non-electronic diaries). Even in the article you can find the phrase: " Advanced digital technologies have a negative effect on orientation in space. London taxi drivers should have known by heart 25 thousand street names and thousands of squares, while learning they had increased the areas that are responsible for orientation. Now use satellite navigation system, as a result, it is becoming more difficult for them to find their own way or figure out the map . " Those. dull navigation systems, which also somehow belong to the Internet. Another stupid method "copy-paste" when creating abstracts, but he after all applies not only to work with the Internet, but to work with data on any digital source. Ie, again, it does not dull the Internet, but the development of technology. So what is next? But all the other “facts” considered in the article are not classified as “dullness”, but of mental disorders ( dependence and other obscurantism ). As a result, there is not a single fact in the article confirming that it is the network data exchange technologies that make us "dumber."

Of course, Yana can be understood, the idea of ​​blaming one's failures is not the absence of self-discipline, but some inanimate object - as old as the world. That is why articles like: "You and your children are the most wonderful - the evil Internet is to blame for everything," are so wildly popular. In pursuit of ratings, hundreds and thousands of similar articles are written, and in order to “save the world”, you need to write articles not about how a “green snake” (or, in our case, “digital”) swallowed up another worthless little soul, but about how important education, about how important self-discipline, about how important the ability to say "no" to their wishes.
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In other words, if the Internet is stupid, Yana Pasechni can be easily described as a vivid example of this phenomenon (he pulled disconnected thoughts from the Network, made a post from them, came up with a “loud” title, became a well-known “researcher” of the problem, on whose “scientific works” now new “researchers” will be referenced .