toldailytopic: Has technology made our children less intelligent?

[Nathon Detroit]

The TheologyOnline.com TOPIC OF THE DAY for September 26th, 2011 08:43 AM

toldailytopic: Has technology made our children less intelligent?

Take the topic above and run with it! Slice it, dice it, give us your general thoughts about it. Everyday there will be a new TOL Topic of the Day.
If you want to make suggestions for the Topic of the Day send a Tweet to @toldailytopic or @theologyonline or send it to us via Facebook.

 

[TomO]

Less intelligent? No.

Less capable? Yes. lain:

 

[Lon]

No, not less intelligent. Perhaps, if we look at the industrial age and its effects, this might make sense: When kids were raised in the city, it would be accurate to say they lost farm education. A computer age does some things for kids that you and I had to do ourselves (like re-typing papers completely). We had to be better spellers because we'd have a lot of re-typing to do if we weren't. Similarly, mathematics in many cases, is taken care of with computers. So, I would suggest that our kids are saavy at different things than you and I. My kids can do a bit more on Facebook and with their cellphones that is easier for them than my own learning curve for those same things.

 

[kmoney]

Less intelligent? No.

Less capable? Yes. lain:

I would probably lean toward this.

But I've seen studies say that our memory is being hurt because we have such easy access to information. That goes for all of us, not just children. We know we are just a quick internet search away from finding information so our long-term memory is getting worse. I'm not sure if you can call that less intelligent, but I thought it was somewhat relevant.

It's kinda frightening. :noid:

 

[pqmomba8]

Depends on the parents.......

 

[Stripe]

Has technology made our children less intelligent?

No, just older. lain:

 

[Sheila B]

The TheologyOnline.com TOPIC OF THE DAY for September 26th, 2011 08:43 AM

toldailytopic: Has technology made our children less intelligent?

That would be difficult to measure. But what I think is measureable, is the decrease in ability to discern and be wise, because both parents so often work and grandparents are seldom within the same home anymore. Children are not graced by the older and wiser generation (but learn from one another. . . that is a disaster!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!).

Take the topic above and run with it! Slice it, dice it, give us your general thoughts about it. Everyday there will be a new TOL Topic of the Day.
If you want to make suggestions for the Topic of the Day send a Tweet to @toldailytopic or @theologyonline or send it to us via Facebook.

 

[Real Sorceror]

Its made them more dependent on technology, certainly.

Its more of a knowledge shift than a loss of knowledge. They are learning new things while being less capable in other areas.

 

[Tambora]

First, you gotta ask, what makes one 'intelligent'.

 

[Town Heretic]

Has technology made our children less intelligent?

No, but it's made intelligence less determinative than it once was... meanwhile, the copybook mindset has given way to the Library of Congress you can hold in your hand. That's fine if we replace the time we spent memorizing in learning other and more important skills. But so far I haven't seen evidence that we're up to that, which means we're inviting laziness and a generation of remarkably underinformed and easily influenced people, a death knell for the Republic if left unchecked. :sigh:

 

[Lighthouse]

No. But it has made them lazier; less willing to try. Although I don't think tech is the sole reason. A lot of people these days don't seem to think they're smart or capable enough. Some not willing to try new things because they think they would fail, and some aren't even willing to try the smallest tasks, such as math. They learned these things and then they refuse to rely on their memories of how to solve the equations. This includes addition and subtraction, and even figuring out percentages. They run to the calculator instead of thinking it through.

This is similar to what kmoney posted, but I don't think memory is getting worse, I think people are just refusing to rely on or trust their memories and other mental faculties.

And this doesn't apply just to kids. There are adults who do this. And in all age ranges. I asked a friend once which Greek word meant "God" out of a list of five Greek words. I first asked him, "What is the word 'the study of God'?" He knew it was "theology." He told me he wasn't smart enough to figure out which word was the Greek for "God." I then told him what all the words were in English, in order. He still didn't think he could figure it out.

 

[Sherman]

Not less intelligent--Less creative, less artistic and a whole lot more lazy. Technology has piped their minds full of junk. Kids are not as wise or respectful as their grandparents.

This is not to say the technology is bad. It can be used for good. This website is a example, but by and large, technology has been used as a conveyance for the junk that is overflowing the minds of youth. As the old saying goes: garbage in garbage out.

 

[jwp98]

I am 40 and would estimate up to 1/2 of my ongoing education came from the internet. My body of knowledge is large, but it is the swiss cheese of the self-taught. (I have an advanced degree too.) There are some bright spots, such as efficient databases and video games for problem solving and psychomotor skills. Also, textbooks are two years out of date at first printing. They could not keep up with the pace of accumulating knowledge even 30 years ago.

 

[The Barbarian]

I am 40 and would estimate up to 1/2 of my ongoing education came from the internet.

Amazing what you can find out there, isn't it? My field (biology) is changing at a breakneck rate, and without the internet, I'd be completely out of date.

My body of knowledge is large, but it is the swiss cheese of the self-taught. (I have an advanced degree too.) There are some bright spots, such as efficient databases and video games for problem solving and psychomotor skills. Also, textbooks are two years out of date at first printing.

My district isn't buying textbooks for science. A publisher's on-line source is the choice, and it's a good one. Constant updates and easy access.

 

[The Barbarian]

But I've seen studies say that our memory is being hurt because we have such easy access to information.

New technology is always perceived so, I think. Regarding books...

...for this discovery of yours will create forgetfulness in the learners’ souls, because they will not use their memories; they will trust to the external written characters and not remember of themselves.
Plato, recounting Socrate's words in Phaedrus

 

[chickenman]

In some areas, we've become less intelligent for sure. Math, for instance. 100 years ago, classically educated 5th graders could do strings of calculations in their heads that are incomprehensible to most adults today. Computers have taken over the processing work that brains were once required to do.

 

[jwp98]

Good to know, Barbarian. Come to think of it, college students have been running around with institution-issued laptops for quite a while now.

Regarding the OP, kids are bright as ever. Attention spans seem shortish, but so is mine. Less rote memorization will hopefully provide more time for critical thinking, creativity, and other pursuits. I worry more about moral troubles than cognitive ones. And how can teachers cover even half the material? Hats off to those who try.

 

[chickenman]

Good to know, Barbarian. Come to think of it, college students have been running around with institution-issued laptops for quite a while now.

Regarding the OP, kids are bright as ever. Attention spans seem shortish, but so is mine. Less rote memorization will hopefully provide more time for critical thinking, creativity, and other pursuits. I worry more about moral troubles than cognitive ones. And how can teachers cover even half the material? Hats off to those who try.

Rote memorization is very important in the early years of education (the grammar stage of learning). Building and organizing those mental libraries forms the foundation necessary for processing that information later on and for critical thinking. The greatest thinkers in history were classically educated, which meant years of rote memorization in the very early years of life.

 

[Ted L Glines]

The TheologyOnline.com TOPIC OF THE DAY for September 26th, 2011 08:43 AM

toldailytopic: Has technology made our children less intelligent?

No. Intelligence is very general mental capability that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly and learn from experience.

It is not merely book learning, a narrow academic skill, or test-taking smarts. Rather, it reflects a broader and deeper capability for comprehending our surroundings—"catching on," "making sense" of things, or "figuring out" what to do.

Technology neither decreases nor increases a person's intelligence. Look at it this way: Technology has given us more facts to learn. Intelligence is merely the ability to learn facts, put the facts together, and extrapolate new facts from the combinations. In truth, it is our intelligence which has increased technology.

 

[Ted L Glines]

In some areas, we've become less intelligent for sure. Math, for instance. 100 years ago, classically educated 5th graders could do strings of calculations in their heads that are incomprehensible to most adults today. Computers have taken over the processing work that brains were once required to do.

What you are referring to, chickenman, is specific basic learned facts, not intelligence. When I grew up, it was necessary to learn to calculate strings of figures in my head in order to do things like inventory. It is no longer necessary to do those mental calculations because of technology. Now our intelligence can work on building even better computers.