Recently,I was warning Bill Gates about slavish devotion to personal technology. Now academics are catching up with my penetrating insights. Gadget-driven "Infomania" makes us dumb. A study commisioned by Hewlett Packard reveals that text messaging, e-mail and the like can really make you stupid, not just distracted. The Scotsman reports:

Constant text messaging and e-mailing causes a reduction in mental capability equivalent to the loss of ten IQ points, according to research. Tapping away on a mobile phone or computer keypad or checking messages on a handheld gadget temporarily reduces the performance of the brain, according to the study into the effects of "infomania"....the modern culture of information could cause a permanent drop in intelligence.

...said Dr Glenn Wilson, a psychologist at the University of London who conducted the study of 1,000 adults..."..we found that mental performance, the capability of the brain, was also reduced. Workers cannot think as well when they are worrying about e-mail or voicemails. It effectively reduces their IQ.
The impairment only lasts for as long as the distraction."

But, the distraction is almost constant for many lost souls. I see them every day, in their little cocoons. They may eventually cause genetic mutations in the species.

Now, if you'll excuse, I'm going to the park with my son to play ball. You won't be able to reach me because I don't have a cell phone. Never have. But I'll be back online checking my blog and e-mails by sometime tomorrow.

(FYI, comment spammers, this is just a ruse to collect more names, faster, for my growing blacklist!)

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at April 22, 2005 12:32 PM

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