GOOD NEWS: SMART PHONES ARE NOT MAKING US STUPIDER

A new study says that smart phones are NOT making us dumber. Researchers from the Universities of Cincinnati and Toronto have concluded that smart devices are actually helping to free our brains up to solve more complex problems and learn other things. They say that smartphones and digital technology are changing the ways in which we engage our biological cognitive abilities. Smartphones are generally taking care of all the time-consuming calculations people used to do with pen and paper. For example, smartphones know the way to your destination, something people would have had to ask directions or use a map for in the past. Study author Anthony Chemero admits modern technology still has its drawbacks, but “making us stupid is not one of them.” He says, “We’re not solving complex mathematical problems with pen and paper or memorizing phone numbers in 2021, and the result is that we are actually capable of accomplishing much more complex tasks.”
* He must mean “complex tasks” like figuring out streaming TV.
* Do you know how many gyrations the human brain has to go through just to watch a TV show these days? Figure out what show you want to watch, find the streaming service, download the streaming service, pay with your credit card, set up a password, verify the information, set up a profile, search for the show, find the episode… Boy, we used to be so stupid when we just turned a knob and there was the show.
* If these researchers don’t think smart phones are making us dumber, they haven’t been watching TikTok.
* I challenge this study. Ask any person raised with a cell phone to draw a rough map of their city, or the quickest way to the airport, or to point in the general direction of New Hampshire.