I just heard a snippet on the radio about a popular video that asks ‘Would you give up the Internet for a Million Dollars?’ At first, sounds like a pretty easy question. “Yes of course, I would” But think again. That would mean, in addition to letting go of FB, Blogs, Twitter and all the unnecessary stuff, you’ll also be giving up email, google, smart phones, airline bookings etc. etc. Considering you won’t be able to use email anymore, you probably are worthless in the job market except if you are a waiter or a farmer. Heck, even farmers might be checking the weather on the internet these days, who knows. So effectively, you have no job, no social life but you’ll have a million dollars. Even if you invest the million dollars in some bank account or fund, you won’t be able to access online statements or get updates about Fund performance on the net. You’ll have to rely on the old method of paper statements and monthly fund reports that would reach you almost a month after the month end.
A million dollars do not sound that appealing anymore!
Take a look at the video, none of the people surveyed were ready to give up the internet for even around a billion dollars and in that sense, if we have the internet, aren’t we billionaires already? (The video though points out an interesting aspect about worth vs. price – People are paying pennies for the Internet which is actually worth a billion dollars to them. That is a discussion for another day).
But for now, let us billionaires continue to enjoy our billion bucks. And that brings us to another question. How much has our life changed as a result of the internet and technology?
Earlier we used to memorise everything from phone numbers to general knowledge such as the Tallest Tower, Highest Bridge etc. Now we just google it up. We no longer remember anything anymore; so is this reliance on the internet making our brains idle and useless?
You’d probably be nodding your heads in agreement!
The answer is NO.
Fresh research suggests that this reliance on the internet is changing the way our brain works. The brain is less likely to recall information if it knows it can be found
elsewhere. Instead our brains now create room for more power of analysis and have moved away from memory storage. Amazing piece of research this, I must say.
When we grew up as kids, our day would consist of a planned schedule of 5 hours school, 2 hours nap, 2 hours for studies, 2 hours for games outside, 2 hours extra activity (learning music / stitching) and 1 hour TV. Given this change in the way our brains work, and the fact that a school going child spends on an average 7.5 hours on various media including internet and TV everyday (a survey in US), it would be amazing to see how kids of today grow up. Their brains no longer need to remember a lot so that brain power would be put to some other use.
Come to think of it, there definitely would have been some change in the way our brains work given the fact that the speed of major discoveries is just getting faster by the day. The speed with which our life is changing, thanks to new inventions, is just mind boggling today. Compare this to generations living in the 1500s. They probably would live their entire life without witnessing a new thing. We however, live in the generation wherein things have been invented, become the rage and also become obsolete just within few years. Think Walkmans, Floppy disks etc. Thus Brands today grow very fast compared to the earlier years where say a Bajaj Chetak took decades to create brand loyalty towards it. Today a Nano or an Iphone is a favoured or unfavoured Brand within days of hitting the market. Similarly, the shelf life of a brand is also very short compared to earlier.
It is amazing how our intelligence is changing our lives almost every day, in ways more than we can imagine. Right from the way we do things to even how our brains are evolving. In the 2000 years though, there is one thing that hasn’t changed – the size of our brain; it still weighs the same 1.5 kgs.
hmmm I guess my brain is growing now and learning new things 🙂
good view up there lets see what good use the brain is put up to …
he he… your brain has put you first! 😀
That research needs to try me… I will take the million dollars and head for my home in the hills in manali right away… !!! I will spend the rest of my life in the hills farming my own produce and live there and never ever return !
And what if you want to show us pictures of your farm in Manali?
I seriously will not show you… ! if need be I willl click them and mail them by post !!! seriously !!!!
where is that 1 million dollar ?!!! someone please ! !!
Definitely, the Internet has become a very important aspect of our lives, and the connectivity is something that tends to grow on you. Studies have also suggested that people have been victims of depression having been weaned away from the Internet, which is again a matter of grave concern.
Hmmm, these days, almost anything can give people depression! Wonder what is wrong 😛
Nodding in agreement with everything you said! The brain is indeed not idle, it’s just not using up the energy to store information that is not required to be stored since we have Google for all that.
But you know… I don’t think I have a problem with giving up the internet for a billion USD. a BILLION btw.
Cos then I’d just travel all around the world. I still use my computer for writing (without hooking up to the net) and print books instead of writing blogs.
It would be difficult, going in the opposite direction from the rest of the world. But hey, with a billion bucks, I’m up for the challenge! 😀
he he, BILLION. I like how you clarify. As if I was giving away the Million 😛
Really nice read Rakesh. Now gimme the million.
Ah, so that means I can stop worrying about the fact that my brain refuses to store trivia these days…
LOL exactly wht I was thinking 😀
A very tough question….but I sooo want tht billion dollars 😀
“Instead our brains now create room for more power of analysis and have moved away from memory storage. Amazing piece of research this, I must say.”
Sounds good on paper but are we really doing it?????
Soooo how long is this break likely to last :-S????
AAaaahh!!! I’m tired… I’ve even stopped updating the movies on the right.
You saw Don2? How did it fare for you??
Nope. Did you see it?
That was a very interesting gyaan on the growing relevance of internet and the
functioning of our brain.
I’d pick internet anyday..no two ways! R will pick the billion dollars! So problem solved 😛 😛
BTW you’re tagged http://deepsspeakingup.wordpress.com/2012/01/05/of-trba-being-a-versatile-blogger-and-some-random-bits/ 😀
Hello! Husband wife jodi acting very smart 🙂 Ok collect the million dollars tomorrow!
And I don’t even remember what a Tag is 😦 See you some time!
you seem to have disappeared off the blog-world! Hope everything’s alright and 2012 is treating you well!
Just dropped in to say hi! 🙂
Cheers!
yeah me tooo….dropped in to say hi 🙂
[…] Rakesh – Dude… all work and no play ? you forgot you have a blog […]
Dude you gotta get back here… you have been tagged… !!!!
hey.. where are theeeeeeeeeeeee
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