Is the internet making us couch potatoes?

Has the overdependence on the Google search bar, the confidence that World Wide Web has all the answers and convenience of accessing information made us any smarter, or are we unintelligent and lazy?  

Nicholas Carr’s very popular article in 2008 asked a question – Is Google making us stupid? His major argument was that internet can have detrimental effects on our attention span and cognition.

On the contrary, University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) deduced on the basis of MRI scans that internet facilitates learning since burdening of the brain with information increases brain activity.

But if there is a problem, we still choose to go over the internet and access a number of ways to solve the Situation ‘A’ rather than scratching our brains and seeking multiple ways to solve the matter at hand.

A similar example is that of a cellphone. Before its advent, everybody remembered dozens of phone numbers but now we have the memory card to save these contacts. Some people today cannot even recall their phone numbers, or of their residences.

Further, questions are being raised on how internet is making people lonely and depressed. Over a decade ago when people were still warming up to the internet, it was seen as isolating people, since social networking hadn’t arrived on the scene.

Now that the web has matured, some reports about it are positive, some neutral and others cautious. It however is unlikely that in the era of Facebook, Orkut and Flickr, internet can make someone lonely.

While people continue to find ways to criticise the web, the potential benefits of it are huge. For example, online banking services. Regular bills, mortgage payments, school fees and checking your bank balance can be done with a click of a button.

Online learning and obtaining degrees makes education an ongoing process. Online shopping has also picked up pace. Of course, e-mail is the game changer as it is impossible to imagine a world without your virtual address.

Have these handy amenities made us lazy and paved the way for a more sedentary lifestyle? Several medical issues like poorer eyesight and spondylitis are definitely repercussions of the long hours spent in front of the computer.

People are constantly reading posts and uploading pictures, write-ups and blogs, which sometimes may be irrelevant taking you from one link to another in a matter of seconds. The age of surfing has definitely led to shorter attention spans.

Internet can make life easy but surely slows down physical activity. It encourages GenX to be over-reliant on technology for all their needs. From not getting lost while driving (satellite navigation) to not having to go to bookstores for books (Amazon, Kindle for e-books) and from online shopping to meeting friends over Facebook or BBM and online education, everything can be done with the help of technology.

Except maybe, eating and personal hygiene care. If this is the future, is it the way to go?

The writer is an entrepreneur and educationist  and can be reached at shroffmp@gmail.com.