Twitter: Comfortably Dumb

Dr. Tracy Alloway, from the University of Stirling in Scotland, claims that his research shows that using Twitter "diminishes intelligence." Specifically, she says that it weakens "working memory," which is the ability to remember information and to subsequently use it. Dr. Alloway also claims that working memory is far more important to success and happiness than one's IQ measurement.

''On Twitter you receive an endless stream of information, but it's also very succinct,'' said Dr. Alloway. ''You don't have to process that information. Your attention span is being reduced and you're not engaging your brain and improving nerve connections.''

Photo Credit: New Line CinemaWith the relentless strides made in technology over the last few generations, the flow and dissemination of information has increased exponentially. A distinction, however, needs to be made. A well-informed public does not necessarily indicate one that is better educated as the study by Dr. Alloway has found. Increasingly, the quality of information and its incessant assault on our senses render the general public less capable of knowledgeable decision making. This is epitomized by Twitter, but in reality, has manifested itself across various media as well.

Newspapers had been the primary source of news for almost two centuries, ever since the advent of affordable printing and distribution. While there are countless examples of sensationalism in print over the years, generally speaking, the daily newspaper provided the real estate to explore issues in-depth by educated and accredited journalists. Today, in a trend sparked by The USA Today and accelerated across the landscape due to the cost of newsprint, articles and essays are shortened with catchy pull quotes now the norm. Outside of The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and a few other stalwarts, reasoned analysis has become harder to find in this medium.

The situation is similar with magazines, particularly the newsweeklies. In the past, Time, Newsweek, and U.S. News and World Report provided perspective on the events from the previous seven days. It enabled both the authors of its articles and its readers to take a step back and look anew at issues with, perhaps, a diminished amount of emotion and more nuance. Now, in an age where the daily newspaper is considered outdated, the newsweekly has become merely a shadow of what it once was. The quality of coverage of the most important issues of today has dropped along with their circulation numbers.

Television news, never a bastion of reasoned analysis, nonetheless used to offer a more educated take on daily events. Anchorpersons and television reporters were actually considered journalists, a term many would now use accompanied by a wink or a smirk. There are exceptions such as "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" and "60 Minutes", but their audiences are increasingly older with the more recent generations hardly paying them any mind. One wonders if Edward R. Murrow would be telegenic enough in this day and age to secure any programming time.

News sources, if they can be described as such, on the World Wide Web continue down the road of the ever-shortening sound bite. The same media outlets referenced above now disseminate much of their news gathering through Twitter, providing a constant flow of information, usually condensed and hardly fact-checked. It is up to the general public to regard information gleaned from such sources with ever-increasing skepticism. Otherwise, public policy debates, such as the current one over health care, will be resolved, not based upon the most educated reasoning, but by arguments that are well-suited to 140 characters or less.

Comments

[Cash Advance]

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