| Don Plumley |
05-19-2006 01:28 PM |
Are we getting smarter or stupider?
I wrote this in the calculator thread, and it got me thinking:
Quote:
There was an article I read in Scientific American last month that talked about slide rules -- how airplanes and spacecraft were designed with them. The biggest issue (I've never used one) was order of magnitude. You didn't know if the answer was 250.0 25.00 2.500 .2500 etc. So users had to be good at rough approximation to validate their work. This meant they had to have an intuitive understanding of the underlying math, something which is masked by calculators and computers.
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I have a GPS for my car - don't need to memorize directions. I have a cell phone with all the important phone numbers in it - don't need to memorize phone numbers. I have a computer that spell checks what I write - barely need to remember how to spell. And I have Excel, with which I can model and solve almost any business problem - so I don't have to spend extra time walking through what-if scenarios. There are countless other examples of time-saving tools.
I'm not worried about being eaten by a Tiger, food stays fresh in the fridge so I'm not out foraging every day -- I'm really climbing up on Maslov's ladder. So I (along with the rest of humanity) must have all kinds of free brain cycles.
With all of these extra brain cycles idling, what other senses or skills is my brain developing? Shouldn't I one day evolve ESP or some other valuable function with all the underutilized neurons?
If we have all this unused brain activity, how do you rationalize the popularity of NASCAR, Reality TV, Britney Spears and Al Sharpton (the four horsemen of the apocalypse)?
Just Wondering... |
