Ananya Kulkarni (Week 15) - External Memory
As technology continues to advance in today's world, more and more people are interested in its effects on memory. Many scientists and people tend to focus on the negative impacts of memory. For instance, technology can worsen your memory and ability to recall and store information. It just takes a few seconds to Google something and many people prefer this to the alternative of trying to figure out the answer using their memory. Throughout the past few years, one of the main concerns surrounding technology has been that an over-use of technology would make people too reliant on it and that it may harm our ability to remember things. Despite this, technology can be a pretty useful tool to effectively use external memory (memory that uses cues from the environment to aid the remembrance of ideas and sensations).
In an article I read recently by psychologytoday.com, the author mentions that humans have been using external memory for thousands of years. In the past, it may have been on a stone tablet or with the use of a quill pen, but in the present, objects such as a smartphone or sticky notes are more common. We make many decisions every day about whether or not to store information by trying to remember it or by setting reminders or jotting it down on our phones. For example, many things that are not our concern in the near future will usually have a digital reminder set while an action such as going for a walk in 10 minutes would not need to be written down. Making these decisions ultimately comes down to our judgment of our memory. The author mentions that key findings from studies show that people decide to use memory tools when they believe that they would otherwise forget. However, it is common for people to overestimate and underestimate their abilities, including their ability to remember things.
So what is one step people can take towards effectively using external memory? The answer is in a phrase called metacognition. Metacognition is our ability to think about our minds and mental abilities. Overall, the more we pay attention to our confidence levels about our memory, the more realistic we can be about the decisions we make regarding whether or not to use memory technologies.
Hi Ananya, I think we can all agree that technology has made our lives significantly easier, but as your blog talks about, there are some side effects to this dependency. Sure, it's easy to write our tasks down on a digital platform which could remind us of the task when we want it to, making doing so both easy and efficient, but also, this leads to a lack of brain exercise.
ReplyDeleteHi Ananya,
ReplyDeleteAs time goes on, people are getting increasingly addicted to their devices. However, I am wondering what the difference between jotting something down on paper and typing it out on a device is. What is the use, then, of having online to-do lists? I usually remember things better if I have them on my laptop. Is this causing people to lose memory or is the act of thinking that we have information readily available on our devices the true culprit?
Hi Ananya,
ReplyDeleteThe idea of external memory (and particularly, its detrimental effect) is never something I have really considered until now. But your post makes it clear to see that external memory technology needs to be used responsibly and intelligently. I thought that you brought up a great point about metacognition; it's important to make a conscious effort to gauge our own memory abilities before blindly relying on external memory technology that may actually be unnecessary.
Technology is, as of yet, unexplored territory. There is really not enough research done of the effects of technology on our attention spans, memories, and cognitive abilities as a whole, and this is disturbing considering that entire generations of children are being raised with tablets readily available. But as far as technology’s impact on external memory goes, I would say that it has been beneficial! It is so helpful to write down little reminders, though I agree that it is important to be metacognitive about it.
ReplyDeleteHi Ananya, technology has always been a double edged sword. It can both help and hurt us, in many ways. You brought up an excellent point about how technology can be useful, in expanding our memory with external cues. It is important to remember that technology is not all bad, however we cannot forget its dangers.
ReplyDeleteHi Ananya, I found your blog very informative of how the current technology affects our memory. As humans can only remember so much, they often find ways to “store” other parts of their memories into places where they can easily access them. Before technology was so widespread for example, many people may keep journals or diaries to note down specific events worth remembering. While these events may not be significant enough to be physically remembered, they are precious memories that the person can recall when flipping through the pages of the journal. Technology of course has provided humans with alternative, more efficient, ways to “store” their memories.
ReplyDeleteHey Ananya, I feel like with the evolution of technology we could even work it so that we could have a perfect memory however here comes the problem with technological innovations. This problem is the practicality and the issue of if it would actually be a good idea for this.
ReplyDeleteHi Ananya, I never realized how much I use external memory. As someone infatuated with computers, I think of a flash drive when I hear external memory. However, I believe some use external memory more than they need to. For example, I use external memory to remember wifi passwords and websites. But overall I was stunned by how much we use external memory.
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