Twitter Use… Rewires the Brain

February 27, 2009

I think the Daily Mail is one of the London newspapers able to mix serious news, football coverage, and zippy headlines with aplomb. The article “Social Web Sites Harm Children’s Brains: Chilling Warning to Parents from Top Neuroscientist” here reminded me that I am not the only addled goose waddling around the mine run off pond. The article said, “Baroness Greenfield, an Oxford University neuroscientist and director of the Royal Institution, believes repeated exposure could effectively ‘rewire’ the brain.” For me, the most interesting comment was:

My fear is that these technologies are infantilising the brain into the state of small children who are attracted by buzzing noises and bright lights, who have a small attention span and who live for the moment.

The Times (London) ran a story with the headline “Canadians Can Read Your Mind” here. This article reports an 80 percent hit rate for technology that works like your mom when you had something to hide.

Now juxtapose what the Baroness said with the Canadian mind reading “thingy” and what does the addled goose conclude? Search by thinking. No more keying queries. The Twitter rewiring and the Maple Leaf gizmo deliver what today’s users want. Information delivered like baby food for the brain.

Stephen Arnold, February 27, 2009

Written by Stephen E. Arnold · Filed Under News, Online (general), Search, Social, Technology

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Stephen E. Arnold monitors search, content processing, text mining and related topics from his high-tech nerve center in rural Kentucky. He tries to winnow the goose feathers from the giblets. He works with colleagues worldwide to make this Web log useful to those who want to go "beyond search". Contact him at sa [at] arnoldit.com. His Web site with additional information about search is arnoldit.com.