It turns out that using e-mail, IM and other communication tools too much might lower your IQ. Research sponsored by Hewlett-Packard found that our addiction to checking our e-mail may cause a significant reduction in IQ.
“Me fail English, that’s unpossible!”
Well Ralph, it looks like the distractions of multi-tasking and communication technologies may harm one’s ability to focus–a feeling I expressed to some degree in blog posting number one. If these findings find more support (especially across generations), one must begin to wonder what technology is doing to us. Imagine an inverse relationship between productivity and IQ, or perhaps a world where a cut-paste-reply culture replaces hard-earned creativity. …How many times have I been distracted while composing this post; how many good ideas were lost?
Could there be a technological answer for a technologically-created problem?
[I’ve often thought that a “lock” application (meaning: only let me use MS Word for the next hour) wouldn’t be such a bad idea.] Perhaps better focus on my part could make for a less-rambling post…