Smarter or Dumber?

• We need to start understanding how information technology affects us in our day-to-day life, but we have few studies to draw from. Some claim it is possible to learn some disciplines faster thanks to online resources. Others (e.g Obama) see information becoming a distraction rather than a tool of empowerment or emancipation. This is ironic coming from someone who used the phenomenon to get him where he is. One concern is the effect of rapidly switching between tasks (aka multitasking). Some think this prevents transfer from short-term to long term-memory. We know the brain is highly plastic and changes during use of any medium. Reading text with hypertext links can cause confusion and cognitive overload. Some data shows that gamers are better at absorbing and reacting to information.

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