Technology , are people getting smarter ?

[mickypheonix]

I found this humorous :lol:
http://www.geekosystem.com/html-std/
I like the star wars robot :lol::lol:

 

[jpishgar]

Remember Angelfire and Geocities? It practically was!

-JP

 

[mickypheonix]

Hi JP ,
yes it was

 

[musical marv]

Remember Angelfire and Geocities? It practically was!

-JP

I will voice my own opinion here people are getting more lazy with all these senseless gadgets out there regarding cell phones and really dumb Google glass eye wear.Our communication has decreased and also our thinking to.

 

[mickypheonix]

It certainly seems people are not getting any smarter as technology progresses

 

[amdfangirl]

Technology only facilites the transmission of information which can make people smarter ( or not, depdending on the information).

But technology is nothing if people don't engage with it and use it to learn. You're not going to be smarter by just sleeping under a book and hoping osmosis kicks in.

 

[Reynod]

People are getting dumber ... they no longer commit to memory important information useful in decision making anymore.

Other than a few professions mnemonics is no longer required as a methodology to commit large sets of organised data into one's brain.

 

[4Ryan6]

The desire to learn new technology makes you smarter, but using it makes us all lazy and spoiled.

It's sad that cashiers today cannot count out change on their own without the machine telling them how much change to give out!

What do they teach in school today?

 

[musical marv]

It certainly seems people are not getting any smarter as technology progresses

Very true indeed. Their thinking capacity diminishes now.

 

[amdfangirl]

Critical thinking capability. You don't have time to think about something before the next factoid comes into your brain.

 

[tonytony_chopper]

We do not get smarter, but we do improve life quality in a way and also living a more convenient way..

 

[musical marv]

It certainly seems people are not getting any smarter as technology progresses

Truer words were never said.

 

[USAFRet]

It seems to be a lack of self reliance, and not knowing how to figure stuff out.

Driving along, you get a flat.
1. "Aw crap, its raining and I have to change the tire"
2. "How do I change the tire?"
3. I'll ask a question in a forum: "Guys...my car is driving funny. I think I have a flat tire. Do I have a spare? And can you link me to a youtube on how to fix it?"

#3 seems to be very prevalent.

 

[mickypheonix]

@ USAFret , i totally agree

 

[j0ee]

Guided Missiles - Misguided Men
Smart Phones - Dumb People

People learned how to walk properly on the moon...but not how to walk properly on earth!

 

[mickypheonix]

Interesting observation j0ee

 

[4Ryan6]

Technology is a wonderful thing but physically deadly as well, look at child health in general compared to before technology was rampant.

When I was a child we played games, but not in the house exercising or thumbs on a game pad, we played, we ran, we walked, we jumped, we played games like kick the can, hop scotch, hide and seek, red rover, etc., etc., etc., meaning we were exercising physically from the time we got out the door.

We were exhausted at night from all the play and never had problems sleeping!

We were not mentally influenced by the games we played, we did not take knives and guns to school!

Today technology is being seriously abused and creating MENTAL couch potatoes, and all new health problems arising from lack of exercise.

The desire for technology also creates the handout syndrome, where even though all the information is out there on the net, our basic society is too lazy to seek it out, and study how to do what they want to accomplish, (like overclocking for example), they want someone to do it for them because they're too lazy to study and learn how themselves.

Why is cursive hand writing having to be re-initiated in school?

Who took it out, that was a part of our education, the same as learning how to count out change!

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/long-held-tradition-cursive-handwriting-slowly-dying-america/

 

[mickypheonix]

fascinating read 4Ryan6
It is a shame , calligraphy is an artform and gives handwriting quality and visual appeal aswell as meaning of the words
it seems not enough emphasis is put on quality rather on quantity

 

[amdfangirl]

I'd say it depends more on self discipline than anything else. I was given a "new age" schooling at the turn of the milienium. We had cutting edge Pentium 3s, computer and ICT training labs etc. I got trained in both traditional cursive and word processing (Office '97 with clippy and co.).

My generation was the first in Australia to given out laptops for mandatory use in high school. You'd expect me to be entirely digital, unable to write anything but I'm fine.

You'd think that a Gen Y teenager would only have thumbs for texting. Contrary to what you might believe my semi-cursive handwriting is still being used for lectures and essays. Here is what it looks like under real world circumstances:

Onenote/Wacom Stylus
cursive by amdfangirl, on Flickr

Clipboard on fieldwork
IMG_20140619_231426 by amdfangirl, on Flickr

I choose to handwrite everything because any university student will tell you that exams are still done with pen and paper. You want to pass that test? You'd better crank up the wpm.

It's not just that, the latest neurological research is pushing me toward demodernising the way I write my essays too. I just handed in my first handwritten essay in 10 years. Why? Because the hard way is actually the easy way.

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052748704631504575531932754922518

My contemporaries can type just as fast as the lecturer can talk and they end up producing a transcript of the entire lecture. That's stupid. I handwrite because I can't possibly note all that information. I have to summarise and process the information before writing it down. That's why when someone asks me what any lesson I've had in the past decade was about I can tell them because processing had to happen in the brain. I had to process the information and only picking out the delta.

Go into any university and you'll see three types of people: Traditionalists who use pen and paper because digital doesn't work well for them, digital diehards who can barely hold a pen but boast insane typing speeds and me the hybridist who uses the best aspects of both traditional and digital. Basically why I insisted on getting a laptop with a pen. Whatever I write can be converted into text if I want it to be. It's not like I can't handwrite - I can because I write on my computer screen. It's not like I can't type - I can or I can convert handwriting. Everything I write is digitally backed up on the HDD, backup drive and cloud.

That's the model that education systems should follow. Getting literally the best of both worlds rather than forcing something onto people who don't see the benefits of it. Who is going to type chemical forumale with superscripts and subscripts? How are you going to pass a written exam?

 

[amdfangirl]

I know most of my friends will tell me that handwriting doesn't matter - it does it helps you think about things in an unregimented way.

There's nothing stopping you from having text all over the place joining ideas and concepts together as long as it makes sense to you.

Writing an essay on a piece of paper is even better. I've proven to myself that I constently get better marks from essays that were orginally handwritten drafts.

I believe in this instant information access world that handwriting will be more important than ever. Analysis is always done best with non-conforming squiggles, comments written to the side and stuff like that.

 

[musical marv]

I know most of my friends will tell me that handwriting doesn't matter - it does it helps you think about things in an unregimented way.

There's nothing stopping you from having text all over the place joining ideas and concepts together as long as it makes sense to you.

Writing an essay on a piece of paper is even better. I've proven to myself that I constently get better marks from essays that were orginally handwritten drafts.

I believe in this instant information access world that handwriting will be more important than ever. Analysis is always done best with non-conforming squiggles, comments written to the side and stuff like that.

Human hand writing is always better than a dam computer writing for you and it is more personal.We have lost contact with other as human beings I see now in this 21st century which i hate.

 

[BoostSoftware]

It certainly seems people are not getting any smarter as technology progresses

Very true indeed. Their thinking capacity diminishes now.

I would agree...and also state that the fact that people thought USB was a country in Europe probably says a lot more about them lacking basic geographical knowledge than about them lacking tech knowledge. I'm frankly more concerned about the former rather than the latter!

 

[musical marv]

It certainly seems people are not getting any smarter as technology progresses

At last someone agrees with me.People are getting lazier and not thinking on their own.

 

[wanamingo]

http://edutechwiki.unige.ch/en/External_cognition

External Cognition or computational offloading is what they call it.

I think Ive mumbled about this before and I wish I could find the article talking about the tests performed... Basically they've done studies on what technology does to intelligence and they have found that it doesnt make people less smart just makes their problem solving skills... different.

Basically people that have grown up with technology are better able to navigate loads of information to find their solutions. So where people used to be rewarded with having that information stored locally (In your brain bags) now the reward comes from being able to parse and search information effectively and quickly.

 

[musical marv]

The desire to learn new technology makes you smarter, but using it makes us all lazy and spoiled.

It's sad that cashiers today cannot count out change on their own without the machine telling them how much change to give out!

What do they teach in school today?

Nothing actually which is sad. These students depend on these social networks for most of the answers which eventually get them nothing.To me this is a waste!Years ago we learned more and cherished our education and respected our teachers.Today the mind and thinking capacity has gone blank as computers and dumb cell phones are taking over.