The other day, I was having a very interesting conversation with an acquaintance. I was explaining that because of our fast paced world and all the ways people can send us messages like; text messages, email, social network page, phone, etc. that everyone was so distracted they weren’t doing anything and productivity was dropping to zero. Worse still, this technology that has made our lives more efficient and supposedly more productive is now also challenging our memory. After all, how many phone numbers of your friends and family do you really remember?

Probably only a few, if any, some people have the challenge of remembering their own phone number, because they don’t memorize the numbers very well because they are all on speed dial. My acquaintance told me that all of this didn’t matter and that it was okay because it was freeing up our brain to remember other, more important things. Like what I was wondering? You mean remembering people’s names, birthdays, and other things like that? The reality is that people don’t remember those things either, no longer, not really.

So if people aren’t using all of this cognitive ability, what are they doing with all that extra brainpower? I would tell you that they are no longer using it, and you know that if you “don’t use it, you lose it.” Let me give you an example, something I read recently.

There was an interesting article in the August 2013 issue of “The Writer” titled; “Internet Brain – Suffering from Web Overload? You’re Not Alone”, and the article had an interesting subtitle; “According to researchers, the Internet is transforming the brain of writing”, by Hillary Casavant. The article goes on to tell the story of a writing career almost destroyed by wasteful conversations on the Internet and too much time spent on social media. If you are an author or writer, perhaps you can understand the seriousness of this problem?

Personally, I found the best time to write is in the middle of the night, when there are no emails, phone calls, or text messages breaking my concentration or whatever I’m doing at the time. This added cohesion in my schedule allows me to work without interruptions, which brings me back to my first point:

“If all these technological devices are going to make our lives more efficient and productive, how is it that they prevent us from doing things and impair our cognitive abilities?”

Maybe that’s why everyone seems to be brain dead, at least that’s my suspicion. What’s yours? Consider all of this and think about it.