The Google Effect

Lisa Dusenbery bio ↓  ·  July 28th, 2011  ·  filed under Other

This might seem obvious to many, but apparently there is now research behind the idea that smart phones, computers and the Internet are weakening our memories.

According to this article, the phenomena is called the “Google effect” (which you can surely google for effect). And, while we’ve always had external methods of storing information—address books, encyclopedias, librarians, etc.—that allow us to not have to remember everything, now “we never have to remember anything.” Also, it follows that in the future all we will need to remember is the location and password of our computers.

Though, taking a global perspective, the “we” cited by the article is rather limited, so there will surely be countless individuals with their memories intact.

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Lisa Dusenbery is the assistant editor at The Rumpus. Besides writing, her interests include dancing, practicing winking, and the smell of basements. She is a recent convert to San Francisco, CA. More from this author →

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