The Outsourced Brain

I've never read an article so sad, hilarious, and simultaneously true in my entire life! It is also why I didn't copy phone numbers into my new phone.

Well, with the exception of wife's - get real! And I never even use that, I always dial that number myself.

I'm not a neo-Luddite -- I like the convenience and wealth of information provided by technology. Yet I also intentionally avoid storing phone numbers and passwords in electronic devices (I store this information in the computer inside my skull, or on paper). I don't have GPS guidance, but I have a good sense of compass direction (if I can see the Sun), and my backtracking skills are superb so I have always been able to recover even when lost in a new city. I value many of the "external mind" devices, but I want to keep some basic skills and control. After all, if a strong electromagnetic pulse from space (or from an H-bomb) fries the electrical wiring that supports most of the internet, I don't want to end up helpless.

There is a point to be noting regarding technology and its effects , in our school days when calculators were not so common to be used in schools , we had no option but to do all that maths through our minds , fingures , but going to university changed all that with scientific programmable calculators compalssary tool , even basic math function two digit calculations were punched for results , i still depend on plastic calculator weather in computer or hand held for common calculations that other wise could have done by my natural in built brain.this also reminds me of my grandfather days , when there observations on natures system was way of life , like watching migratory birds ,air currents to predict rains , season changes , now there sons /daughters depend on satellite pictures for that. i too do not carry GPS , but do have a look at (low) scale map of perticular region /place and a pocket compass and refere landmarks popular to local folks , but i will have one in near future for better access and also need ,we do need gadgets ,they save time and efforts? and let our brains do the processing for other activities that still don`t have technology support

I completely agree! Also alongside your comment on emp, maps on paper don't need batteries.

By coincidence this very relevant Dilbert comic strip was in Sunday's paper:

http://www.dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/archive/dilbert-20071028.html

Yup..that guy sure knows how to hit the spot.

Use it or lose it.

Being able to navigate by sight and the clues that nature provides is a joy. Many people claim to have 'no sense of direction'. Most people just don't make the effort to look about them. 30 years after the event I could go back to the specific tree in a wood from which I cut a big limb to make a long bow.

(OK I got lost driving out of Buxton the other day...)

In todays society the signal to noise ratio is abysmal...an yet people deliberately strap ipods on!!!!???? Is it to avoid having to think?

Mankind risks living out the rest of its existence in cyberspace; Q.E.D.

The prosecution rests, M'lud.

Well the upside is a permanent audience for reality shows.

I am of the kicking and screaming variety. The other day I found myself buying the She and I new flash (thumb) drives. I lost mine a long time ago and only used it at school or if at a library. She has never had one.

So the salesman at the discount electronics store grabs a device off a wall options and says, "This is the best deal! It's a 4gig for $40 bucks!" He was very excited about this.

I said, "4gig.What would I do with that?"

SM (still excited) "Don't you ever go to your friends house and 'steal' all their music?"

CR3 "No"

SM <dumbfounded>

CR3 <dumbfounded>

SM "We have the 1gig for $24.99."

CR3 "Thank you"

I sometimes try to be a little techie-ish, but it is very unnatural and feels, well it feels weird. I'm more a saddle leather, pipe tobacco, natural oak finish, kinda guy.

cr3

I'm more a saddle leather, pipe tobacco, natural oak finish, kinda guy.

I thought it was a proven fact that memories improve with excercise too.

Now couple this question with the mind-meld of a brain-computer interface of nanobots as projected to be our future in ±50 years (I think more like 100 years). Come to think of it, a year on Mars is twice an Earth year, so maybe 50 is a better number.