How Your Brian is being CHANGED by The Internet

Imagine how different life would be if there were no internet. The idea of not having smartphones, maps, and search engines at our fingertips seems completely foreign to us now that everything is connected. However, how is our growing reliance on the online world affecting us? Our relationships and information sources are changing quickly, and there are even noticeable effects happening inside our brains as more and more devices are connected to the internet.

It should come as no surprise that access is growing globally; in 2016, an estimated 3.5 billion people used internet services globally. The most common language used online is English, followed by Chinese and Spanish. The top three countries are China (721 million users), India (290 million users), and the US (290 million users). The reliance on using the Internet is clearly changing across generations, primarily depending on those who had to adapt to the new technology or those who grew up with it being readily accessible.

Social media and messaging apps have become essential to how we live our lives and communicate with more than a billion people regularly using apps like WhatsApp and even more using platforms like Facebook and Twitter now that Millennials were born from the early 80s onward and grew up with the internet locked in at an average of one hundred and eighty five minutes per day. Gen X Internet users, who were born between the mid 1960s and early 1980s, logged an average of one hundred and ten minutes of daily mobile internet usage.

usage of Internet services is rising It makes sense that our behavior would also change as a result of the increased use of these platforms for communication. Text and phone calls are becoming less common, and the use of online shopping and services has significantly reduced the number of traditional high street stores. Because of all that is now available online, our towns and cities are beginning to appear very different from what they did a few decades ago. But how is this influencing our brains, given that we have access to such a wealth of information? The Internet's prevalence is decreasing. For example, research has shown that millennials are considerably more forgetful than prior generations; this is believed to be directly related to the ongoing distractions that come with connectedness.

The fundamental idea behind memory is that the more you think about and repeat a piece of information in your short-term memory, the more likely it is to be stored in your long-term memory. However, constant exposure to new information hinders this process and results in far less information being permanently stored. Additionally, the ease with which you can access information online reduces the likelihood that you will remember it.

Research has also indicated that we are losing cognitive control due to our constant reliance on our smartphones. While previous generations would have memorized directions on a map, for example, today's generation relies heavily on being able to access this GPS app on their fault. We are also growing more and more addicted to our smartphones, constantly checking them for updates and messages. This means that we are becoming more and more accustomed to becoming distracted and that our brains are becoming less used to switching into deeper modes of thinking. What can be done? Although technology is undoubtedly changing the way our brains function, it's not always a bad thing. Throughout history, inventions have always made it possible for us to focus less on one thing so that our time can be spent elsewhere. This means that not only is our ability to control our minds decreasing, but also our ability to decide what we're thinking about. The more you rely on your phone and an app to provide information to you, the less you are able to determine what's important to focus on. For example, the use of washing machines reduces the amount of time people spend cleaning clothes; these extra hours are then used for work or other activities. Similarly, the internet allows us to communicate and find information much more quickly, freeing up our mental energy for other tasks.

It's a good idea to be aware of how much time you spend on distractions each day, so my recommendation is to keep track of how much time you spend lying and unplug occasionally. Cutting less on screen time can assist to keep our minds more active and pliable.