Written By Markku Ahokas and Matilde Gelli
Google is the most famous search engine but why
is it so important? We want to analyse its importance from our memory point of
view.
Our memory is limited so we can't remember
everything and it could be divided in three parts:
1.
Sensory memory: it saves the
information that our senses give us. They are the sensations produced by the
external stimuli. This type of information can remain in our memory for just
250-400 ms.
2.
Short-term-memory: also called
working memory is the capacity of taking a small amount of information in mind.
Sensory memory passes the information to short-term-memory and it can stay
there for just about 30 s: after this time this information is lost or it's
passed to the long-term-memory.
3.
Long-term-memory: it contains the
information that we remember for a long time but it doesn't mean that it
remains in our mind forever. Infact it can decay and we slowly forget it.
When we use Google search engine we don't need
to remember the information itself, but rather how to find it using key words.
This isn't a big effort for our memory and this affects our memory: we actually
don't practise it too much. On the other hand, nowadays we get so much
information that we couldn't handle it. For this Google drive is helpful!
Google drive is a cloud service where you can
put all your memories and information: files, pictures, records and videos are
all safe there. You access them whenever you want. So you don't have to keep
them all in your mind with the risk of loosing them. You can also share them
with other people.
We can make this observation: the information
that we try to keep safe in our mind has changed. In fact maybe we don't try
anymore to preserve our knowledge but instead we have to remember passwords and
accounts to access to it.
Everyone of course will agree that Google drive
and this kind of services are useful and easy to use but what are the effects
on our memory?
We don't stimulate our long-term-memory too
much. Well we are still using our long-term-memory of course for lots of things
but maybe not anymore for the ones that can be saved in a digital form.
Actually there's a study that explains the
effects of Google on our memory, here is the link:
In this research they say that internet and
search engines are like an external memory outside of us.
They also say, at the end, that computers are
like friends: we fill them with so much information, also personal, that
loosing them is like loosing a friend or a part of ourselves.
Of course we found this study with Google!!
The world is changing and we have to deal with
it. We need these tools even though our memory doesn't benefit so much of them,
but it's still better to have and use these tools. It's always nice to have the
possibilities to access to old memories: sometimes you even forgot them. But
when you see them in the cloud or in a search engine, suddenly you rember them
again and it's always a joy to have found something that you thought you had
lost forever.
So what do you think about it? Do you think
that Google is an useful tool for our memory?
Let us know your opinions!!
Reference:
1) Ahtinen, Aino and Chowhury, Aparajita. 2018.
Psychology of Pervasive Computing lectures. Tampere University of Technology.
2) Betsy Sparrow, Jenny Liu, Daniel M. Wegner,
11 April 2011, Google Effects on Memory: Cognitive Consequences of Having
Information at Our Fingertips
As you mention, having information 'at your fingertips' changes the way we use our memory and process information: instead of remembering and understanding the information itself, we simply remember where to find it. I don't think this is really a problem as most of the time we do have access to things such as google. It does become a problem when this is not available to us anymore (which is probably why a broken smartphone is really annoying).
ReplyDeleteI think google can be a very useful tool when used right: useful for quickly looking up the weather, basic facts, photos on google drive etc. But a different approach of deeper processing for stuff you deem necessary to know about. I think this often happens ‘automatically’ as you cannot work efficiently without having any knowledge and understanding about the thing you work on. So I do agree with your blog post!
By the way: I think your example of suddenly finding old memories you forgot about is interesting. As we store a lot of data nowadays, we actually forget about some of the data we have. Some applications use this fact, such as Timehop (I never used it myself though): it shows what you were doing/posting exactly a year ago using your phone and social media data.
As you mention, having information 'at your fingertips' changes the way we use our memory and process information: instead of remembering and understanding the information itself, we simply remember where to find it. I don't think this is really a problem as most of the time we do have access to things such as google. It does become a problem when this is not available to us anymore (which is probably why a broken smartphone is really annoying).
ReplyDeleteI think google can be a very useful tool when used right: useful for quickly looking up the weather, basic facts, photos on google drive etc. But a different approach of deeper processing for stuff you deem necessary to know about. I think this often happens ‘automatically’ as you cannot work efficiently without having any knowledge and understanding about the thing you work on. So I do agree with your blog post!
By the way: I think your example of suddenly finding old memories you forgot about is interesting. As we store a lot of data nowadays, we actually forget about some of the data we have. Quite some applications use this fact, such as Timehop (I never used it myself though): it shows what you were doing/posting exactly a year ago using your phone and social media data.
Interesting and current post! I think that information flow and information available nowadays is much more massive than in the time before google and internet. In my opinion google removes the need to remember trivial things, but adds need to remember bigger concepts (How to search information, topic areas). So I think that today people remember more bigger concepts, which they do not need to know trivialities from in everyday lives, but less about more trivial stuff from those bigger concepts. This of course may be only the case for some people. Anyhow, I agree with your post that google makes everything easier!
ReplyDeleteTuomas
Especially all the arguments that you have with your friends about something, every argument at the end just goes like "lets google and see who is right". So the arguments comes basically meaningless when you just can google it in 10seconds. But of course google helps with all kind of things as well, as to see like Janne mentioned earlier for the weather or some other important kind of stuff.
ReplyDeleteJust like Henrik said, you can't really argue anymore when you can just google, I miss those argues. But in my opinion I don't "work" as much to remember something because I can rely that I can check it from google. But on the other hand I have learned a lot new information because using google. I can't see myself studying without google, it simply just helps so much, but we rely on it too much.
ReplyDelete-Tuomas
I believe that google is a brilliant tool to improve out knowledge on basically any subject we want, however I do believe it damages out ability to remember information. I find it myself, reaching for my phone if I need to check something that I had already looked up but didn't remember. Even exam scores can suffer. The ability to have the whole vast knowledge of google at your fingertips means we don't have to stimulate our part of the brain in charge of remembering the information. Photos are personally a big thing for me, I love taking them but after reading about how taking photos leads us to remembering less of those moments, I realized it starting happening to me.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting work, good job!
Matthew Heath
Thank you for this interesting and well written blog post. Google and its effects to our memory is a great topic that I have also thought about sometimes.
ReplyDeleteAs said in comments before, Google has at least changed the way that we argue as you can always check if you're right. I personally think that depending on situation Google can help you to learn or affect negatively on your memory. I think that memory is negatively affected in situations where you just are lazy and instead of really studying or thinking about certain subject you just Google it. But learning and positive effects to memory can happen in situations where you have already studied and thought thoroughly about certain question or topic and haven't still discovered the answer, and then you Google it.
I see that Google Drive is kind of a digital photo album. In this case it’s just same than keeping photos on the computer or on the mobile phone. Google Drive only reliefs space from your computer hardware or bookshelf. So I’m not sure how Google Drive itself makes things easier to remember, but I think Google search machine makes.
ReplyDeleteAs mentioned before, you don’t need to remember all the trivial things. Google makes space from your brain and you can focus on more advanced or even creative things and thinking.
Very interesting and important aspect you mentioned was passwords! Since it’s not needed to remember to all kinds of trivial things, like phone numbers, at least I have hard times to remember my passwords. Password issue is a whole different topic, but personally I’m a bit paranoid of someone hacking to my most important accounts where my whole life is in. Digital services like Google Drive are more vulnerable for hacking than physical photo albums, so maybe I should move back to physical memories.
– Emmi Putkonen
Great post! I like to think, that Google is extension to our memory and a tool to find more (and new) information. I don't see it as degrading our memory. It can't be argued against, that we don't remember as much trivial knowledge because we can always "Google it". Although, maybe we know more nowadays, because of Google and all the meaningless trivia, that we can search from Google.
ReplyDeleteYou pointed out, that seeing old forgotten memories in the cloud can be joyful. This is something, that I have noticed also. It is always great to see an old forgotten picture and suddenly you can remember the exact moment, when the picture was taken.