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Kieran Bautista Professor Susan Lago English 1100-27 20 October 2013 Google Brain What would it look like if scientists tried to map out the mind of humans? If they took my mind for example, it would be very cluttered and dispersed because my brain thought about several things at that time. For instance, like the essay assignment, midterms, hunger, or the next episode of Once Upon A Time. Ever since the invention and expansion of digital devices, peoples brains have been very distracted, making it difficult to retain memory, and involving humans to multi-task. Allows them to become more incorporated with the digital world. I remember when I would complain to my father about my current dilemma, which in return, he would tell me about his good old days. He would talk about how he would walk for hours just to go to school, or how he would work for days just to buy rice for the family, or even how he would do his math homework without a calculator. Unlike the previous eras, this generation has been very dependent on technology that it started to rewire the brain to become more like a computer. I did not notice how inattentive I was while writing this essay. I observed that in the duration of my essay writing I was surrounded my multiple screens, from my laptop, to my cellphone, tablet, iPod, and my TV. There are a total of five screens that I constantly glance at when I get the chance. After being exposed with technology, I have been very distracted from my obligations, therefore instead of studying for midterms, writing papers, or even getting enough sleep, I would chose to watch television. Instead of helping people focus on their work,

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technology diverts peoples concentration. Carr mentions the internets paradox in The Shallows, which is the Net seizes our attention only to scatter it (169). Dissimilar with my fathers experience, peoples today have more things to think about, such as balancing multiple social networks, school work, outfits, the latest trends, new episodes, or who got eliminated in the Voice. These problems mostly occur as time progresses and while the world is becoming more technologically integrated. I remember when I was a middle school student in the Philippines, instead of upgrading my Friendster, I was outside, being active and focused more on my school work, because there was nothing else to do. I did not have gadgets like a cellphone, laptop and iPod that constantly needs my attention, and there were only three channels in my TV, therefore, it does not entice me. Today the world has presented humans with far more distractions than [their] ancestors ever had to contend with (Carr 170). However, the experiment did not only emphasize on human distractedness, but also the evolution of brains memory capacity. Pre-internet years, people had to memorize a lot of facts without the aid of quick and available information, especially college students. However, in todays generation, people tend to rely on the internet as their source of knowledge, Google becomes their second brain. In the Philippines, when reaching first grade we were required to memorize the multiplication table, the square roots until thirty, and learned how to use the abacus. When a student fails to answer the question, teachers, in some cases, tend to use violence as the punishment. Nevertheless, students were also not allowed to use calculator until they reached high school, however nowadays, I see second graders using calculators just figure out a simple multiplication question. It is because of the humans cognitive load, that when [it] exceeds [the] minds ability to store and process information [The brain becomes] unable to retain the information or draw connection with the information already stored in [the] long-term memory of humans (Carr 179). If humans become

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more deficit of having longstanding memory, people would have difficulties in developing an understanding of a subject or a concept (Carr 180). Instead of digging inside the brain wrinkles, people just tend to hover the subject thus not being able to understand the material deeply. I recognize that whenever I would drift away from the essay, it takes me a few minutes to re-read the essay, re-organize my thoughts, and gather information all over again. It is due to the fact that my brain is unable to perceive knowledge genuinely and efficiently as Id hope. Nonetheless due to technology, I became part of the massive multi-tasking community. After being exposed to the digital world for a very long time, computerized reasoning became natural to humans. Given [the] brains plasticity, [humans] know that [the] online habits continue to reverberate in the workings of [the] synapses when [people are] not online (Carr 203). After time people started to multitask, from walking while chewing gum, to texting while driving, the world became the survival of the busiest (Carr 204). Humans have adapted technology into their daily lives. Before, I thought that if I do everything at once, maybe I can finish early. I learned in the process that multitasking does not help me finish faster, but it does the exact opposite. Instead of taking three hours to write my rough draft, it took me the whole day because I tried to multitask. Rather than operating many things simultaneously, humans should start using the brain functions that help [people] speedily locate, categorize, and assess disparate bits of information in a variety of forms, that let [people] maintain [the] mental bearings while being bombarded by stimuli (Carr 204). The world evolve as a whole over the course of time. Generations have their own problems, ideas, and events that shaped their lives, thus the different reactions of human brains. For example, before the bombing of the twin towers, children could play in the streets or even be alone in the house, however, children today have to be inside, with a guardian. The same with

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humans today, they are surrounded with technology that over time they become more engrossed and dependent on it. It is also rewiring the brain to adapt to society, thus leading to many consequences, such as disruptive thinking, memory shortage, and multitasking. However there are ways to restore those brain functions, for example, like my father, the next time I have a math problem to do, I will try not to use a calculator and also if I am unfamiliar with a certain word, instead of going to Google, Ill use my dictionary first. How about you? What would you do to regain youre brains capabilities?

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Works Cited Carr, Nicholas G. "The Juggler's Brain." The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains. New York: W.W. Norton, 2010. 164-205. Print.