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Thread: Is your smartphone ruining your memory?...

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    Thumbs up Is your smartphone ruining your memory?...

    Is your smartphone ruining your memory?...

    ‘I can’t remember anything’ is a common complaint these days. But is it because we rely so heavily on our smartphones? And do the endless alerts and distractions stop us forming new memories?


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    Last week, I missed a real-life meeting because I hadn’t set a reminder on my smartphone, leaving someone I’d never met before alone in a café. But on the same day, I remembered the name of the actor who played Will Smith’s aunt in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in 1991 (Janet Hubert). Memory is weird, unpredictable and, neuroscientifically, not yet entirely understood. When memory lapses like mine happen (which they do, a lot), it feels both easy and logical to blame the technology we’ve so recently adopted. Does having more memory in our pockets mean there’s less in our heads? Am I losing my ability to remember things – from appointments to what I was about to do next – because I expect my phone to do it for me? Before smartphones, our heads would have held a cache of phone numbers and our memories would contain a cognitive map, built up over time, which would allow us to navigate – for smartphone users, that is no longer true.

    Our brains and our smartphones form a complex web of interactions: the smartphonification of life has been rising since the mid 2000s, but was accelerated by the pandemic, as was internet use in general. Prolonged periods of stress, isolation and exhaustion – common themes since March 2020 – are well known for their impact on memory. Of those surveyed by memory researcher in 2021, 80% felt that their memories were worse than before the pandemic. We are – still – shattered, not just by Covid-19, but also by the miserable national and global news cycle. Many of us self-soothe with distractions like social media. Meanwhile, endless scrolling can, at times, create its own distress, and phone notifications and self interrupting to check for them, also seem to affect what, how and if we remember.

    So what happens when we outsource part of our memory to an external device? Does it enable us to squeeze more and more out of life, because we aren’t as reliant on our fallible brains to cue things up for us? Are we so reliant on smartphones that they will ultimately change how our memories work (sometimes called digital amnesia)? Or do we just occasionally miss stuff when we don’t remember the reminders?


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    Any time you give a man something he doesn't earn, you cheapen him. Our kids earn what they get, and that includes respect. -- Woody Hayes​

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    carolina73's Avatar Senior Member
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    Electronics in general have made us less intelligent. Spelling, math, memory...
    We default to our battery operated brain.
    Let's go Brandon !!!

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    Remember what ?
    I'm yo.
    This my brother yo
    We yo yo

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    I have run into kids who can't read a wall clock and don't even try to get them to write properly with pen and paper. As for the memory thing I am not shocked at all.
    My Revenge will be Success! - Donald J Trump

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    One of the funniest shows I've ever watched was on for three seasons a while back, and it was a parody of 'Lost' called 'Wrecked'. At one point in the first episode, after everyone's cellphone batteries have run down, they find a satellite phone with a tiny bit of power left in it - but no one can remember any phone numbers to call for help. Later a group of survivors are in a huddle, going crazy because no one can remember who played Rose's fiancé in Titanic (Billy Zane) and they can't look it up on their phones.

    I have to confess about the only two numbers I can remember are my own and my wife's. My two youngest kids' numbers come and go, and the older ones - no chance.
    Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing.” - Robert E. Howard

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    Quote Originally Posted by Standing Wolf View Post
    One of the funniest shows I've ever watched was on for three seasons a while back, and it was a parody of 'Lost' called 'Wrecked'. At one point in the first episode, after everyone's cellphone batteries have run down, they find a satellite phone with a tiny bit of power left in it - but no one can remember any phone numbers to call for help. Later a group of survivors are in a huddle, going crazy because no one can remember who played Rose's fiancé in Titanic (Billy Zane) and they can't look it up on their phones.

    I have to confess about the only two numbers I can remember are my own and my wife's. My two youngest kids' numbers come and go, and the older ones - no chance.
    I remember maybe 3 phone numbers, plus mine from childhood. I could recite my Driver's license number from 35 years ago, but I'll be dammed if I know what it is today (different state).

    The dependency on our electronic gadgets is almost frightening. While I intend on dumping the 'smart phone' come retirement, I still do the majority of my reading on a kindle. I've caught myself tapping the edge of the page on a paperback book.....
    "I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments by those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." -- James Madison

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    Quote Originally Posted by Collateral Damage View Post
    I remember maybe 3 phone numbers, plus mine from childhood. I could recite my Driver's license number from 35 years ago, but I'll be dammed if I know what it is today (different state).

    The dependency on our electronic gadgets is almost frightening. While I intend on dumping the 'smart phone' come retirement, I still do the majority of my reading on a kindle. I've caught myself tapping the edge of the page on a paperback book.....
    I'm not sure whether or not memory, per se, is involved, but several times in recent years I have tried to unlock the front door of my house with my car remote.
    Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing.” - Robert E. Howard

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    Quote Originally Posted by Collateral Damage View Post
    I remember maybe 3 phone numbers, plus mine from childhood. I could recite my Driver's license number from 35 years ago, but I'll be dammed if I know what it is today (different state).

    The dependency on our electronic gadgets is almost frightening. While I intend on dumping the 'smart phone' come retirement, I still do the majority of my reading on a kindle. I've caught myself tapping the edge of the page on a paperback book.....
    I have a friend who has consistently lost cell phones over many years and can't recall most numbers. That is why I have an important phone numbers list in a file on the home computer should I do the same, and have come close on more than one occasion myself!
    My Revenge will be Success! - Donald J Trump

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    Quote Originally Posted by RMNIXON View Post
    I have a friend who has consistently lost cell phones over many years and can't recall most numbers. That is why I have an important phone numbers list in a file on the home computer should I do the same, and have come close on more than one occasion myself!
    I've only been carrying a cellphone since 2002, but I have never lost one. In my entire life (68 years and change) I have also never lost a wallet or a set of keys, but I know people who lose their cellphones, keys and other personal items on a regular basis.

    What were we talking about? Oh, yeah...memory.

    I have a hard time remembering in which decade I was stationed with a particular unit in the Navy, but I can recite (or after a couple of drinks, sing) all the words to the theme songs of t.v. shows I haven't watched since I was a small child.
    Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing.” - Robert E. Howard

    "Only a rank degenerate would drive 1,500 miles across Texas and not eat a chicken fried steak." - Larry McMurtry

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    Kind of like passwords, "I'll use this one, because I could never possibly forget it..." Until I forget it lol. Of course then there was the randomly generated temporary password I got quite a while ago (when, of course, I forgot one) that for some odd reason, I cannot un-forget...It's a keeper

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