Using the net creates a "problem-solving deficit disorder"

[Winfield Hill]

10% of US net users 'addicted, needing therapy' ...
Other 90% too burned-out to respond.
... net use creates a "problem-solving deficit disorder"

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/12/01/net_addicts_therapy/

 

[Spehro Pefhany]

10% of US net users 'addicted, needing therapy' ...
Other 90% too burned-out to respond.
... net use creates a "problem-solving deficit disorder"

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/12/01/net_addicts_therapy/

Obviously we need web-based therapy sessions to counter this scourge.



Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany

 

[xray]

10% of US net users 'addicted, needing therapy' ...
Other 90% too burned-out to respond.
... net use creates a "problem-solving deficit disorder"

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/12/01/net_addicts_therapy/

I started reading it, but it was getting boring, so I skipped down to...
"Those techs raped your stupid mind good"

Pretty good. Thanks for pointing it out.

Now, where was I?

 

[PeteS]

10% of US net users 'addicted, needing therapy' ...
Other 90% too burned-out to respond.
... net use creates a "problem-solving deficit disorder"

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/12/01/net_addicts_therapy/

I don't think the net has created a "problem-solving deficit disorder"
- it has simply made it easier to find

Cheers

PeteS

'The total sum of intelligence on the planet is a constant. The
population, however, continues to increase'

 

[Paul Burridge]

10% of US net users 'addicted, needing therapy' ...
Other 90% too burned-out to respond.
... net use creates a "problem-solving deficit disorder"

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/12/01/net_addicts_therapy/

I Can't agree. It depends what kind of stuff you read on the 'net.
Just the same as reading tabloids versus reading the broadsheets. No
difference, IMV.

 

[Richard the Dreaded Libertarian]

10% of US net users 'addicted, needing therapy' ...
Other 90% too burned-out to respond.
... net use creates a "problem-solving deficit disorder"

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/12/01/net_addicts_therapy/

"It actually destroys brain cells or something, because if I've been
doing too much online reading, I lose the patience for following a
sustained or subtle argument, or reading a complex novel," wrote Body
and Soul blog's 'Jeanne D'arc'.

Post hoc, ergo propter hoc?

Thanks,
Rich

 

[Bob Monsen]

I Can't agree. It depends what kind of stuff you read on the 'net.
Just the same as reading tabloids versus reading the broadsheets. No
difference, IMV.

Network users are externalizing their data processing capabilities. They
no longer NEED to be able to compute a cube root or quote Darwin, because
they can find a web page that has the solution, and a long page of Darwin
quotes with a click of a button. Whatever capability you don't use
atrophies. Given the tools they customarily use, they'll solve problems
far faster than the non-net users...

It is like solving circuits in closed form vs using spice. I'm guessing
that 'spice addicts' are far less able to analyze and predict the effects
of circuit changes with pencil and paper than those who customarily do
this by hand.

No big surprise...

---
Regards,
Bob Monsen

Our minds are finite, and yet even in those circumstances of finitude, we
are surrounded by possibilities that are infinite, and the purpose of human
life is to grasp as much as we can out of that infinitude.
- Alfred North Whitehead

 

[Dirk Bruere at Neopax]

Network users are externalizing their data processing capabilities. They
no longer NEED to be able to compute a cube root or quote Darwin, because
they can find a web page that has the solution, and a long page of Darwin
quotes with a click of a button. Whatever capability you don't use
atrophies. Given the tools they customarily use, they'll solve problems
far faster than the non-net users...

It is like solving circuits in closed form vs using spice. I'm guessing
that 'spice addicts' are far less able to analyze and predict the effects
of circuit changes with pencil and paper than those who customarily do
this by hand.

No big surprise...

I bet most people can chip flint or make fire from two sticks as well as our
ancestors either.

--
Dirk

The Consensus:-
The political party for the new millenium
http://www.theconsensus.org

 

[John Larkin]

10% of US net users 'addicted, needing therapy' ...
Other 90% too burned-out to respond.
... net use creates a "problem-solving deficit disorder"

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/12/01/net_addicts_therapy/

But television is ten times worse.

John

 

[Spehro Pefhany]

Network users are externalizing their data processing capabilities. They
no longer NEED to be able to compute a cube root or quote Darwin, because
they can find a web page that has the solution, and a long page of Darwin
quotes with a click of a button. Whatever capability you don't use
atrophies. Given the tools they customarily use, they'll solve problems
far faster than the non-net users...

We're entering an age of situational expertise.

Need to drywall a rec room?
Need to fix the drive train of a garage door opener?
Need to diagnose a weird medical condition?

Anyone of normal intelligence with some basic search skills can now
accomplish any of these things, probably with similar end results to a
typical "pro" at zero cost for acquiring the knowledge. Once the job
has been finished, you can confidently forget the acquired knowledge,
reasonably confident in that the info will always (we hope) be out
there if you should ever need it again.



Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany

 

[Fred Bloggs]

We're entering an age of situational expertise.

Need to drywall a rec room?
Need to fix the drive train of a garage door opener?
Need to diagnose a weird medical condition?

Anyone of normal intelligence with some basic search skills can now
accomplish any of these things, probably with similar end results to a
typical "pro" at zero cost for acquiring the knowledge.

Maybe- but then you're left with possibly a couple hundred dollars of
specialized tools you will never use again

 

[Keith Williams]

Maybe- but then you're left with possibly a couple hundred dollars of
specialized tools you will never use again

Guilty as charged. However, "a couple of hundred dollars" is only
about four hours of a tradesman's work. I have many such tools
(e.g. wet saw) and have saved *thousands* of dollars on home
renovations and additions. Of course, I'm salaried so I have no
income outside 40x52. Things would be different if I worked hourly
with unlimited chargeable work.

OTOH, I'm not doing self-surgery either way. ;-)

 

[Spehro Pefhany]

Maybe- but then you're left with possibly a couple hundred dollars of
specialized tools you will never use again

You can buy cheap "one use" tools such as the $125-$150 hydraulic auto
body/frame repair toolkits (about $2/lb), or the $5 overhead valve
spring compressor tools. Or buy good stuff used and resell it on
eBay, probably for not much different than you paid. Or rent
professional stuff from one of the many rental places (including Home
Despot). Or get a pro to do it for you with his/her tools, that's
always an option if you want. Even then, you can use temporarily
acquired knowledge to make sure the pro knows what they are doing and
are doing a good job- so you're a better general contractor.


Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany