How Search Engines are Changing Human Behavior and Biology
Technology probably started to change us the moment we stooped down to pick up a rock and weigh it up for throwing. As humans we have the ability to use technology to short-circuit biology and evolution, augment our strengths and lessen our weaknesses and the way we use the web and search is no exception. Much is being made, right this moment, of a recently published study regarding the effect search engines are having on the way we use our brain to store our memories. Although the study implies that by relying on search engines to find things for us we are giving up the ability to remember facts which matter it is wrong in its assumption. We live in a world which can be eminently hostile. A sudden drop from a moderate height or a drop in temperature by a few degrees can kill us. The recent heat wave hitting America and its fatal effects makes the argument about our vulnerability to our environment. Having neither very sharp teeth nor claws and with muscles w...