Wired has a nice article about the locus of memory moving from “wetware” to hardware. The fact that it simply is more convenient to digitally store, or altogether bypass low-level pieces of information (like telephone numbers).
Sure, I’m a veritable genius when I’m on the grid, but am I mentally crippled when I’m not? Does an overreliance on machine memory shut down other important ways of understanding the world?
How much has “googling” changed us? Are we more powerful because we are allowed to do what we are best at (pattern matchers) without memory limitations? Are we weaker because the misuse of memory itself has hampered our cognitive abilities? I think the lifestreaming generation will be as much a cognitive as it is a social experiment
Tags: lifestreaming, search, cognition, cognitive_ergonomics, netculture, cyborg
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