Study: Most Americans suffer from ‘Digital Amnesia’

[Wilikon]

Sculpture moved after texters kept bumping into it

Sophie Ryder's sculpture The Kiss, is installed in the grounds of Salisbury Cathedral, England, as part of an exhibition. The sculpture later had to be moved because people were bumping into it.

Walking while texting can be dangerous — a fact that was recently reconfirmed in England.

A 20-foot-high sculpture of two clasped hands that formed an archway over a path on the grounds of the Salisbury Cathedral in Wiltshire had to be relocated because walkers kept bumping into it (despite the 6 feet, 4 inches of clearance beneath the center of it), the BBC reports.

In a Facebook post last week that showed "The Kiss" being moved by crane, artist Sophie Ryder wrote the galvanized steel wire sculpture was moved "because people were walking through texting and said they bumped their heads! Oh well!!"

A cathedral official didn't specify texting as the issue, but said "during the hours of darkness" there were some incidents. The sculpture was installed earlier this month as part of an exhibit on the cathedral lawn, reports the Telegraph; the show runs through July 3.


http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/02/22/sculpture-moved-after-texters-kept-bumping-into/80749014/

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[mrflibblehat]

It was funny at the beginning but now, the things that "texters" do are just stupid. Are people becoming blind idiots because of smartphones?

[Wilikon]

It was funny at the beginning but now, the things that "texters" do are just stupid. Are people becoming blind idiots because of smartphones?

Yes.

[Lauda]

It was funny at the beginning but now, the things that "texters" do are just stupid.

This is just one of the examples. IIRC there was a place (in China) where they even added a sidewalk for people who are using their smartphones while walking.

Are people becoming blind idiots because of smartphones?

Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, obssesion with likes and selfies. This should answer your questions. Seems like a decent way of controlling the masses.

Smart pohne will make you be more stupid. Well not so but let say to be more depended. So without your smart phone you can't immagine one hour of your life, not to say more..you have everything on your phone, gallery,memories,your agenda,messages,contacts,app what to wear, wel everything...so you can not live without apps

Even though this is the case with majority of the users, it does not necessarily happen. If you use the smartphone for proper reasons, and don't waste time on nonsense then you are fine. The cases of digital amnesia are just going to get worse.

[yugo23]

Next step of human evolution. A matter of time before human/machine hybrid breeding program starts.

Ahah!

Well is it a bad or a good thing? Hard to tell!
I'd say as long as you're able to be objective upon the data provided it's not important where it is or where it comes from!

[Wilikon]

Chick-Fil-A To Reward Customers For Putting Away Their Cell Phones…

Leave your mobile phone alone and you get free ice cream.

Chick-fil-A offers, in all of its 150 or so stores, the “Cell Phone Coop,” a box where dining families and friends can leave their phones and gadgets while they wolf down their chicken nuggets and waffle fries.

The coop was the brainchild of Chick-fil-A operator Brad Williams of Suwanee, Georgia, who wanted “a sense of community” and quality time for their customers.

“But as we all know, technology increasingly demands more of our time and be a big distraction, even while we’re eating. This got me thinking about what we could do to reduce this distraction during meals,” he says.

How does the coop work? Everyone at the table should turn their phone to silent and place them inside the box. Guests who successfully complete the challenge of keeping their cell phones untouched in the coop during their meal will receive a Chick-a-fil-A Icedream on the house.

Williams shared that the challenge has totally taken off, with those with an unsuccessful first attempt returning to stores to give it another try.


http://www.techtimes.com/articles/137825/20160302/chick-fil-a-to-reward-customers-who-put-down-their-cell-phones.htm

[yugo23]

It was funny at the beginning but now, the things that "texters" do are just stupid.

This is just one of the examples. IIRC there was a place (in China) where they even added a sidewalk for people who are using their smartphones while walking.

Are people becoming blind idiots because of smartphones?

Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, obssesion with likes and selfies. This should answer your questions. Seems like a decent way of controlling the masses.

Smart pohne will make you be more stupid. Well not so but let say to be more depended. So without your smart phone you can't immagine one hour of your life, not to say more..you have everything on your phone, gallery,memories,your agenda,messages,contacts,app what to wear, wel everything...so you can not live without apps

Even though this is the case with majority of the users, it does not necessarily happen. If you use the smartphone for proper reasons, and don't waste time on nonsense then you are fine. The cases of digital amnesia are just going to get worse.

One's could argue that this digital stupidity will lead to a new kind of natural evolution.

Those people becomming more and more stupid might maybe die before getting laid.
See the numerous deaths because of the dangerous selfies. The accident because of people not looking at the road while texting.
It all makes up a new kind of natural selection IMHO

[Wilikon]

It was funny at the beginning but now, the things that "texters" do are just stupid.

This is just one of the examples. IIRC there was a place (in China) where they even added a sidewalk for people who are using their smartphones while walking.

Are people becoming blind idiots because of smartphones?

Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, obssesion with likes and selfies. This should answer your questions. Seems like a decent way of controlling the masses.

Smart pohne will make you be more stupid. Well not so but let say to be more depended. So without your smart phone you can't immagine one hour of your life, not to say more..you have everything on your phone, gallery,memories,your agenda,messages,contacts,app what to wear, wel everything...so you can not live without apps

Even though this is the case with majority of the users, it does not necessarily happen. If you use the smartphone for proper reasons, and don't waste time on nonsense then you are fine. The cases of digital amnesia are just going to get worse.

One's could argue that this digital stupidity will lead to a new kind of natural evolution.

Those people becomming more and more stupid might maybe die before getting laid.
See the numerous deaths because of the dangerous selfies. The accident because of people not looking at the road while texting.
It all makes up a new kind of natural selection IMHO

Yep. Darwin Award 101

[Wilikon]

Man takes a selfie with gun, shoots himself in the face

CONCRETE, Wash. — A 43-year-old man has died after authorities say he accidentally shot himself in the face while taking selfies.

The Skagit Valley Herald reports the man and his girlfriend were photographing themselves with the weapon on Sunday at a residence when he shot himself.

Skagit County Sheriff’s Office Patrol Chief Chad Clark says the woman reported that she and the man had taken photos with the gun several times that day and that the man had loaded and unloaded bullets multiple times.

Clark says a bullet apparently remained in the gun the final time he fired.

The death is being investigated as accidental. The man’s name has not been released.


http://nypost.com/2016/03/03/man-takes-a-selfie-with-gun-shoots-himself-in-the-face/

[Bitguybillionaire]

I don't know if it is "wrecking our brain" however it is extremely distracting it from what is going on around it, and takes your mind off of what is going on.

[Vikingr]

Not only the States. Same to Europe and Asia.

[catch.me.if.you.can]

Im suffering from digital tsoutsounopaiksia. I dont know what to do. Its terrible. lol

[eon89]

Im suffering from digital tsoutsounopaiksia. I dont know what to do. Its terrible. lol

Aliens everywhere!

[Daniel91]

It's obvious that digital devices, such as smartphones, computers etc. makes us more stupid, not clever.
Before digital age, we had to remember and know all important info in our lives and also we spend more time with family, friends, played games together etc.
Now, we don't have much time or desire to spend time with family, don't remember anything and depend completely on our computers or smartphones.
It's scary how much people changed in just 10-15 years.

[Wilikon]

It's obvious that digital devices, such as smartphones, computers etc. makes us more stupid, not clever.
Before digital age, we had to remember and know all important info in our lives and also we spend more time with family, friends, played games together etc.
Now, we don't have much time or desire to spend time with family, don't remember anything and depend completely on our computers or smartphones.
It's scary how much people changed in just 10-15 years.

It is scary how malleable at will we are.

[Lauda]

It's obvious that digital devices, such as smartphones, computers etc. makes us more stupid, not clever.
Before digital age, we had to remember and know all important info in our lives and also we spend more time with family, friends, played games together etc.

Not necessarily. Essentially what those were intended for is to make our lives easier by helping us manage redundant information (e.g. schedules and such) among other things (reduce the number of tools needed, e.g. calculator, map, alarm clock in 1). This essentially freed time and brain power. How you use this time/energy depends on whether it made you more stupid or clever.

Now, we don't have much time or desire to spend time with family, don't remember anything and depend completely on our computers or smartphones.

No. This is not true. People have the time, they just don't want to spend it with their families. The reason for which this was common back in the day is because people had not much to do. Now you have the "whole human history" at your fingertips, i.e. the internet. It has so much content that you can spend a lot of lifetimes exploring and would just scratch the surface.

Not only the States. Same to Europe and Asia.

It was a study in America, so your post makes no sense.

[Wilikon]

NJ Bill Would Ban Texting While Walking, Punishable By $50 Fine…

Here is another reason to take a break from texting or talking on your smartphone while walking in New Jersey: a possible $50 fine.

A bill proposed this week by Assemblywoman Pamela R. Lampitt (D., Camden) would impose a fine of up to $50 and possibly 15 days in jail for pedestrians caught using their cellphones without hands-free devices while walking on public sidewalks and along roadways.

If the bill becomes law, “petextrians” – people who text while walking – would face the same penalties as jaywalkers in New Jersey.

“I see it every single day,” Lampitt said Friday. “Maybe they will think twice about it.”

A report released in 2015 by the Governors Highway Safety Association found an increase in pedestrian fatalities, and cited texting while walking as partly to blame.


http://www.philly.com/philly/news/new_jersey/20160326_Will_cellphone_use_while_walking_be_banned_in_N_J__.html#CykyrBd0CBoR8BqZ.99

[gentlemand]

I'm doing just fine but perhaps it's because i'm not welded to my phone. I'm sure humans will be fine.

[trollercoaster]

This is very true, I used to have an excellent memory and I have let it decline recently, in ancient greece they used to teach something called the method of loci, it's a very easy, fun and creative method of improving memory and it works quickly.

Remembering long strings of data becomes surprisingly simple.

You can google it if you like, I have a friend who runs workshops using it.

[Mike Christ]

There's definitely some truth to this, but not a lot; the only phone number I remember is my own, everyone else's is stored in my phone which alleviates me from the task of remembering them.  It's not that I forgot, I never learned these numbers to begin with, I didn't need to.  It's no different from writing these numbers in a notebook and referring to this notebook whenever I needed a given number; I don't need to memorize these numbers so it's better that I don't, it'd be wasted mental space otherwise, and wasted time spent in memorization.  To be fair however, this method I mentioned will likely lead to me remembering the numbers anyway, as I'd be punching them in every so often; the phone let's me skip this step as well.  I only remember my own phone number because I inevitably have to give it out; similarly to the point I mentioned about remembering numbers I have to punch in, I remember mine because I often have to give it out.

I don't remember what I did on Monday because there is no need to remember these things.  With or without digital devices, I wouldn't remember such minutiae.  I can tell you what probably happened:

1. I ate some food several times
2. I worked on my projects
3. I went to the bathroom several times
4. I drank some water, and probably a soda, several times
5. I used the Internet at some point in time, probably to watch YouTube

There's really nothing worth remembering as to what specifically happened on this day.  I know some people remember literally everything, but that's not everyone.  What benefit is it to me that I remember what happened on this day?  It's not because my phone stores this data--I don't consciously store any data on my phone about what I do each day--it's because it's not worth remembering.  There are a ton of things I remember about my past, both recent and distant, but just another day in the life is not among those things.  Maybe it's because my life isn't particularly interesting right now; perhaps if I spent the last week traveling, I'd remember my Monday more vividly.

They observe that people forget things, but don't observe whether people have always forgotten things which they don't need to remember.  When they associate it to digital amnesia, they completely miss the idea that people have always stored relevant info, ever since it became easy and permanent to do so.  Had people not done this, they probably would've forgotten what they wanted to remember anyway, or had to spend time and energy memorizing important info.  Where's the digital amnesia here?  There were no digital devices in the 1800's and yet people still stored information and forgot the information they stored--it's the whole reason they write it down, so they wouldn't lose it when they inevitably forget.  Digital amnesia doesn't exist: it does not adequately explain this timeless phenomena, at best it's a trendy term for it.  All that's been changed is the method as to which people record info.

It's obvious that digital devices, such as smartphones, computers etc. makes us more stupid, not clever.

Speak for yourself.  It's all about how you use them.  They're just like any other technology, just a tool.  You were stupid or clever before ever approaching the tool, and the stupid or clever things you do with the tool are an extension of the self; self-degradation is a habitual choice, and so is self-improvement.