Your Computer Is An Extension Of Your Brain

Is This A Good Or A Bad Thing?

We live in a technology-driven world. If you’re not checking your txt messages, or sending one, then you’re reading an e-mail. All on one little device that wasn’t in general use fifteen years ago.

And then there are our computers, and the information that pours from them, into our lives. But isn’t there a downside to all this technology?

Symptoms of 'technology addiction'

If you experience any of these 'symptoms' then you need to re-assess your relationship with technology:

If you lose your internet connection, or find yourself in a 'dead zone' where you can't use your phone, you become very distressed and can't find anything else to occupy your time.

You mostly communicate through Internet social networking suttees, finding that you have more friends in cyberspace than you have in real life.

you prefer Internet surfing to anything else in your life, and will choose that, over real life experiences and conversations.

You avoid or ignore work, procrastinating, and chat on-line instead.

You are compelled to go and see who has said what about you and how many hits your blog has received.

Sleep takes second place over emailing and social networking.

Before you're even properly awake you check your emails and check them last thing at night too.

Why you love your computer so much

One of the main reasons that you love your computer is because it stores all the information that you care about - whether it's information related to your job, photo's, e-mails, presentations or plans and goals. Your computer stores information that you have spent time and effort accumulating. But, every hour that you spend at your computer means that your time spent with others decreases by about 30 minutes.

Real friendship is better than virtual friendship

Furthermore, your friends can only help to make you happy if they are in your physical presence. They can't influence you positively if they are in cyberspace. This fact was uncovered in a research project that looked at information on 5 000 people, which saw that when one person was happy, their friends were more likely to share their experience of joy - if they were in the same physical space. Happily, sadness didn't have the same effect.

Computers mimic your brain

Computers were originally designed to 'copy' the way your brain works. Your brain works very efficiently by passing a message from one neuron to the next. It works in a complex, yet very coordinated manner, with various pieces of information stored in specific areas, which allow for retrieval. You can momentarily ‘lose’ some information. But fortunately, a simple clue, generally takes you straight to the memory and you can retrieve it and use it.

Computers also work in a very sophisticated way, keeping information stored in particular places, and require specific clues – file names – to retrieve the information. You set your computer up to work in the way that best suits you, so others may find it impossible to work on your system, as you’ve set it up in your individual way. It therefore becomes unique to you, and your way of thinking. File names, the way that you organize your information, and they way that you present it, become an extension of the way that you live your life.

Panic when you lose information

If you’ve ever seen someone who has lost their information, due to a disk crash, or having their computer stolen, you will have witnessed a very distressed person. Even if they have a backup, they are still very unhappy, causing others to be distressed for them. It’s easy to understand why they’d be upset – after all, you can imagine how you’d feel. Maybe it’s happened to you too, so you have personal experience of this particularly unpleasant occurrence.

Due to the similarity of the way that the information is stored and retrieved, in the brain and the computer, coupled to the way that we set our computers up, to reflect our personal preferences, they have become an extension of the way that our brains work. This is of course quite understandable, as computers were designed to store information and retrieve it, in a similar way to the way that the brain performs this task. However, the designers wanted to be able to store an unlimited amount of information, and to have it retrievable in 100% of the cases. Not fallible like the brain.

Your computer feels like its part of you

Unfortunately, the similarity between our brain and our computers means that we like to have the information that they have on them, available to us at all times. After all, it feels as if our computer is part of us. It makes it difficult to switch off from the information that is available to us, and walk away from our computer. It makes it very hard to ignore the fact that more information is pouring in, through our e-mails, and we may be missing out on seeing it immediately.

When we think of wanting some information, looking for something that we don’t know, the first response for a lot of people is to ‘Google’ it. This automatic response has become second nature. We no longer think it is strange, because technology has brought us the answer to our brains never-ending search for information. And so we continue to switch on, search, store and retrieve.

You are missing out on 'real' life

The down side to this seemingly endless nirvana of information is that we often forget to enjoy the simple things in life. Maybe a walk in the park, a game with your children, a walk on the beach, are things you’ve neglected. These activities don’t give us an immediate ‘hit’ and so we feel as if something’s missing. Many people have been diagnosed with ‘internet addiction’ because nothing else gives them any pleasure anymore. They are on a constant search for more information, and pursue this acquisition as if their lives depend on it. Everything, including partners, children and careers become lost in the wonderful world of technology and more information.

The danger is that we can lose ourselves and the simple things that make life pleasurable by focusing too much attention on our ‘technological’ brain and not enough on what our real, flesh and blood brain needs. We can even neglect our health, because we cannot say no to that next email, that next Google search, that next presentation.

Keep these pointers in mind ...

There are a few things that you can keep in mind, to help you avoid becoming a victim of technology:

Switch off your mobile phone when you prepare for bed. Even better, switch it off when you walk into your bedroom in the evening. If possible, it would be great to switch it off when you get home, but some people need to stay connected, so switch it off as soon as you can, after getting home.

Make notes on paper, of what you may need to do tomorrow on your computer, but don’t switch it on at night. If you have to prepare something, ensure you switch it off at least an hour before heading for bed.

Think about going for half a day, on the weekend, without your phone. It will feel as if you’ve lost a limb at first, but it may be just the break that you need. You may be able to pay 100% attention to someone that needs that focus from you. And you may be able to extend that lack-of-technology to a whole day.

If you can be disciplined enough to only switch your phone on when you want to receive e-mails, and set up a specific time of the day to do that, during the weekend, you will be free to enjoy some non-technological activities.

If your mobile phone is set to sound-alert for incoming emails, then change the setting. Every time a new email comes in you will be distracted and be pulled away from accomplishing the task you are busy with or from paying full attention to the person you are with. Manage your phone and only set this alert to on, when you need to be alerted to an important incoming email.

The ability to switch your brain off, and switch your technology brain off, will give you peace and calmness during that time. Your brain needs some down time, and your relationships will thank you. Furthermore, you may discover that your real brain becomes more creative without technology pushing you in a specific direction. Try it and see. You may be very surprised.

The interconnectedness that we experience with our computers is amazing and we've never experienced this as a species before. We need to learnt to manage this connection, so that we don't lose the connection to the other important aspects of our lives.

To help your brain deal with the technology onslaught more easily, work better and more effectively it is imperative that you consume the best quality Essential Fatty Acids(

References

Dynamic spread of happiness in a large social network: longitudinal analysis over 20 years in the Framingham Heart Study. Fowler, JH, et al. BMJ. 2008 Dec 4;337:a2338.

Long working hours and cognitive function; the Whitehall II study. Virtanen M, Singh-Manoux A, Ferrie JE, Gimeno D, Marmot MG, Elovainio M, Jokela M, Vahtera J, Kivimäki M. Am J Epidemiol. 2009 Mar 1;169(5):596-605.

In praise of slow - how a worldwide movement is challenging the cult of speed. Honore C. Orion Books, London. 2004.

The Scientific American BRAVE NEW BRAIN. Horstman J. Jossey-Bass Pub. A Wiley Imprint. San Francisco, CA, USA. 2010.

The brain that changes itself. Doidge N. Scribe Pub. Australia 2007.

Essential role of fats throughout the lifecycle. Background: the renaissance of fat: roles in membrane structure, signal transduction and gene expression. Deenyer GS. Med J Aust. 2002 Jun 3;176 Suppl:S109-10.

Roles of unsaturated fatty acids (especially omega-3 fatty acids) in the brain at various ages and during ageing. Bourre JM. J Nutr Health Aging. 2004;8(3):163-74.

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