We all know that technology can be both a blessing and a curse, but did you realize that our dependence on technology is actually changing the way our brains function?
According to Suren Ramasubbu for The Huffington Post: "Given that technology has not only become ubiquitous, but also essential for daily activities, does daily use affect the brain structure? Perhaps it does, like reading and writing does to the human brain, but such rewiring may not necessarily be bad, unless it leads to loss of skills essential for life. In fact, the learning of new skills to operate technology can indeed exercise the brain more, leading to less brain loss with age."
Some of the skills that we are slowly losing include sense of direction, hand-writing, mental arithmetic, and long-term memory. According to recent studies, the easy availability of information, like facts on a website, calculation on our smart phones, or GPS to provide us with directions, is causing these skills to disappear. While technology is making some skills obsolete, you can't help but wonder what the ramifications will be to our species.
To learn more, read “Losing Essential Skills to Technology” from The Huffington Post.