"Digital Dementia" Threat Causes Concern Among Doctors

[Slash2x]

OH LORD!!!!! I AM SO SCARED!!!! THE KOREANS STILL USE IDEAS FROM THE 1800S!!!

Yeah about the whole left right brain thing.... My wife is a Psychologist and told me that was dis-proven YEARS ago... 30 seconds on Google gave me this.

http://www.positscience.com/brain-resources/brain-facts-myths/brain-mythology
http://rense.com/general2/rb.htm
http://www.kurzweilai.net/creative-right-brain-myth-debunked

So this whole study is a load of SHIT.

 

[Deacon Cole]

South Korea? These are the same guys that believe in fan death [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_death], right?

Goddammit. Get out of my brain.

 

[Phrozenflame500]

I wouldn't be surprised if there was a problem, and there the Korean doctors did actually find something, but

a) It really wasn't reported all that well, with the "left brain right brain" myth being perpetrated
b) Even still, I'd say since getting parents to monitor their kids is out of the question, we're probably just going to end up having to deal with it in some way.

 

[Vyress]

much like one of the commentators from facebook i'd love to know what causes this? surely it is not the idea that the device is electronic. Its probably the speed and easier reference that is the internet that is causing this. I often joke with my friends that "I wonder what that means, OH WAIT! I HAVE THE SUM OF ALL HUMAN KNOWLEDGE IN MY POCKET!" one of us normally shouts while pulling gout our phone to see what the answer is.

I like being able to do that and that often leads to deeper discussions but I guess that's not the case for everyone. i guess we better all start eating lots of fish, it supposedly improves your memory.

Honestly, it's not too farfetched. Think about it. How many apps do you have that make things more convenient for you in terms of remembering something? For instance, back in school I knew most of the birthdays of the people in my class by memory. These days I just look at the blue dots on the calendar of my smartphone to see whose birthday is on which date. You don't need to recall routes, buying lists or when you have to change lanes for public transportation and so on either: just need to look at google maps or at a note on your smartphone. Or you just look it up on the net as you said. If you have to remember less in your daily errands then it is not that unlikely that it'll affect your memorizing capabilities in a negative way.

Games like 'Memory' (or 'Pairs' or whatever they call it where you live ) are called educational games for a reason: cause they stimulate your brain. If something (e.g. a smartphone) takes away any stimulus for your brain, at the very least it won't help in its development.

 

[MrHide-Patten]

They do know all that right and left side of the brain stuff is bullshit right? One side pof your head does not control creativity more than the other.

 

[Akytalusia]

*shrug* that would explain some things, but what do. it's not as if unplugging is suddenly going to bring me back to life.

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

Ok...so what happens if you also indulge in multiple creative pursuits?

 

[Syzygy23]

I don't mean to bash South Korea, buuuuuut... This is the same country where the notion that desk fans consume oxygen due to heating up the air because of the friction on the blades is widely accepted as fact.

Why don't we have the UK, AUstralia, Germany, Canada, and US Peer-Review these findings, juuuuuuuuuuuuust to be sure?

 

[Soupy George]

I've tried googling "Balance Brain Centre Seoul" and "Byun Gi-won" and the only links that come back are references to this news item. Proper scientific findings, please, or GTFO.

 

[KOMega]

Dementia? That's silly.
I've been playing games for years and I don't have dementia.
Just ask my rainbow monkey unicorn friend, Bobsvensonmyer.
He hasn't noticed anything wrong with me.

 

[Aardvark Soup]

When I google "Balance Brain Centre Seoul", the first hit I get is a blog post (http://neurobollocks.wordpress.com/tag/balance-brain-centre/) making the convincing argument that this is all bullshit, followed by multiple pages filled with news sites echoing the same article.

This Balance Brain Centre appears to either not exist or be so small that they do not have much of an internet presence (or it has a different Korean name). I also can't find anything about this doctor, nor the research paper this is supposed to be based on. Since the claims being made also sound rather pseudoscientific, I agree with afformented blog that this 'digital dementia' thing is probably something someone just pulled out their of ass.

EDIT: The original source appears to be a Dr Manfred Spitzer, who wrote a rather alarmist book about the topic. While I have not yet found the research this is supposed to be based on, the technofobic tone of this doctor in interviews leave me rather sceptical.

 

[BarkBarker]

Dementia? Fuck that I'm more concerned with their lack of appreciation for the leaps in technology they have, If I ever have kids, they get pagers when they are 12, THEN a mobile when they are 18, I will raise them on NES and Sega Genesis, put them to bed with stories of my adventuring in zelda, with scary stories about how long ago women couldn't vote or show their ankles.

 

[Seventh Actuality]

Conjecture based on pop psychology? Do excuse me while I piss myself in terror.

 

[BleedingPride]

Okay, using a phone for up to 7 hours a day, what the hell do they DO in those 7 hours? I have a smartphone and i probably use it an hour a MONTH.

 

[Snowbell]

I was wondering why I have such a low attention span and such a bad memory, I've been playing video games pretty heavily since I was 15... :S

 

[Ukomba]

Okay, using a phone for up to 7 hours a day, what the hell do they DO in those 7 hours? I have a smartphone and i probably use it an hour a MONTH.

That entirely depends on what they call 'using'. I probably 'use' my smart phone for more than 7 hours a day. The vast majority of that time is listening to books, music, radio, or watching Netflix. None of those things are smart phone specific.

So what is it they don't like about using smart phones? There are A LOT of different things that can be done with them, and just 'using' them doesn't really tell you anything.

Taking a picture isn't the same as listening to music, isn't the same as watching a movie, isn't the same as making a phone call, isn't the same as playing a game, isn't the same as surfing the internet, isn't the same as using the gps, ext, ext, ext. If it's 7 hours of texting I think that is a problem. If it's 4 hours of music, 1 hour of phone calls, 1 hour of tv, and 1 hour of games that isn't a problem.

 

[insanelich]

I was wondering why I have such a low attention span and such a bad memory, I've been playing video games pretty heavily since I was 15... :S

Good news. This news is very likely to be nowhere near accurate.

We've had these people for the last few thousand years, people who are saying every new thing is bad for you. And then they use giant leaps of faith in their "proof" of this.

Proper research over hearsay, I say.

 

[Drejer43]

I'll be honest, I have a really bad memory and wouldn't be surprised if this is true

 

[FalloutJack]

Waaaiiit a minute.

Isn't this the same country that hosts live-action Starcraft? Are we really suppose to take this seriously?