The brain change game

magentaflame · Post by **magentaflame** » Sat Oct 21, 2017 2:08 pm

We'er told by scientists that the technology we use now is changing our brains, especially in children.

But is this a bad thing? Will it even be a problem for humans born into todays world? Will it make a difference?

Everyone on this forum was born in the time of the telephone. That technology is normal to us. The phone rings and we automatically answer it....unless we make a thought out decision not to.

When the first telephone exchanges were rolled out, the warning was that it would change our behaviour as humans. People would not physically connect to relatives and friends. People would ignore person in the same room as we connect with another who arent present. The list goes on in relation to how it would change society, and not in a good way.

So is new technology changing us again? And is it really a bad thing? Has it taken away fundamental human traits? Connections? The very thing that makes us human?

I can think of many other technologies like vehicles, microwaves....etc etc.

Just as a side note...did you know that if you dug up a human buried before 1945 they will be free of radiation in their bones. After that date every human being has radioative particled within their marrow. And thats apparently not a bad thing.

Clodhopper · Post by **Clodhopper** » Tue Oct 24, 2017 6:57 am

It makes sense: Evolution is a reaction to a changing environment and modern high technology has changed our environment in big ways and small for what? A century or so now? (Depending on how we define modern hi-tech)

Social effects can vary: How did the vacuum cleaner or the washing machine change things? The game console? I imagine the wheel changed the way brains worked, but can't prove it. It's possible all these things add up to more time for the brain to think and each little gain encourages future gain. Of course, any of these gains can be used or misused. Most of us misuse them - I waste enormous amounts of time that could be more productively used. But somewhere someone has that Eureka moment they otherwise wouldn't have had and over time these add up.

...not quite sure where this is going...but a fascinating topic.

xfrodobagginsx · Post by **xfrodobagginsx** » Tue Oct 24, 2017 1:12 pm

magentaflame;1513582 wrote: We'er told by scientists that the technology we use now is changing our brains, especially in children.

But is this a bad thing? Will it even be a problem for humans born into todays world? Will it make a difference?

Everyone on this forum was born in the time of the telephone. That technology is normal to us. The phone rings and we automatically answer it....unless we make a thought out decision not to.

When the first telephone exchanges were rolled out, the warning was that it would change our behaviour as humans. People would not physically connect to relatives and friends. People would ignore person in the same room as we connect with another who arent present. The list goes on in relation to how it would change society, and not in a good way.

So is new technology changing us again? And is it really a bad thing? Has it taken away fundamental human traits? Connections? The very thing that makes us human?

I can think of many other technologies like vehicles, microwaves....etc etc.

Just as a side note...did you know that if you dug up a human buried before 1945 they will be free of radiation in their bones. After that date every human being has radioative particled within their marrow. And thats apparently not a bad thing.

Yikes you make some interesting points

minks · Post by **minks** » Tue Oct 24, 2017 3:25 pm

Technology has made us lazy, we no longer have to get up to answer the phone that used to be plugged into the wall, on a short cord.

We no longer have to get up to change the channel on the TV

We don't even have to get up to make food if we do not want to.

Auto correct is making our brains lazy as well.

Email in the office makes us lazy, we don't have to walk down the hall to talk to anyone anymore (mind you the telephone did that way before email)

And it goes on and on, seems it's all geared to make our lives easier, at the cost of good health, and exercise.

hmmmmm crazy humans

xfrodobagginsx · Post by **xfrodobagginsx** » Tue Oct 24, 2017 4:45 pm

minks;1513693 wrote: Technology has made us lazy, we no longer have to get up to answer the phone that used to be plugged into the wall, on a short cord.

We no longer have to get up to change the channel on the TV

We don't even have to get up to make food if we do not want to.

Auto correct is making our brains lazy as well.

Email in the office makes us lazy, we don't have to walk down the hall to talk to anyone anymore (mind you the telephone did that way before email)

And it goes on and on, seems it's all geared to make our lives easier, at the cost of good health, and exercise.

hmmmmm crazy humans

I would agree on this and so does GPS.

magentaflame · Post by **magentaflame** » Wed Oct 25, 2017 2:42 pm

See now that's interesting.... I never use GPS. My brain still remembers a map after looking at it. This has been a deliberate decision on my part after witnessing a relative completely lost after the GPS went down. I remember sitting in the car looking at them thinking 'you're kidding right? you just saw the map and the directions and now you're completely lost?'

Post by **LarsMac** » Wed Oct 25, 2017 8:07 pm

It is fascinating to watch the evolutionary shifts caused by technology changes in the environment.

Great grandkids are already mastering smartphones and computer puzzles and games by the time they are starting school.

Question of the day is whether education systems can keep up with the changing paradigms in the learning process.

Pretty soon, public school systems will prove themselves the new dinosaurs.

The question is - Will the kids also learn how to deal with Real world environmental challenges as well?

Watching grandkids as they venture into adulthood, the jury is still out.

We can see some significant polarity developing between the Technocratic society and a more naturalist one. How well will these two societies coexist?

Not sure we will live to see that answer. Might be worth risking a cryochamber (assuming a proper one is invented in my lifetime) to come back and find out in a century or so.

magentaflame · Post by **magentaflame** » Wed Oct 25, 2017 8:45 pm

I dont think it will change behaviours as in...a 2 year old will still throw a tantrum.....a 14 year old boy will still lose the power of speech and will use neandethal grunts....or a 20 year old thrill seeking.

But it will change connections in other ways. Like the way people date. Approaching another human being has always been nerve wracking in any era....we know this because of poetry and writings from eons ago to present day. But i think minks is right , laziness or something like it (maybe we need to describe laziness in a different way. Using a washing machine freed up women to engage other activities. Instead of being enslaved to a boiling tub and wash board)....anyway i digress. A person could be surrounded in the opposite sex yet search an introduction on tinder.

magentaflame · Post by **magentaflame** » Wed Oct 25, 2017 8:56 pm

And i suppose technology didnt begin with steam....what about what the romans did for us?

What about the invention of the clock? You know the saying "watching your life tick away? What did we watch before then? Were we astute at reading nature ? Shadows?

xfrodobagginsx · Post by **xfrodobagginsx** » Thu Oct 26, 2017 7:54 am

What about that Antikythera mechanism that's 2000 years old?

Post by **LarsMac** » Thu Oct 26, 2017 9:19 am

magentaflame;1513757 wrote: And i suppose technology didnt begin with steam....what about what the romans did for us?

What about the invention of the clock? You know the saying "watching your life tick away? What did we watch before then? Were we astute at reading nature ? Shadows?

Oh, no. Technology probably began when the first humans figured out how to make fire on demand. Then they had to figure out how to control it.

Post by **LarsMac** » Thu Oct 26, 2017 1:05 pm

magentaflame;1513741 wrote: See now that's interesting.... I never use GPS. My brain still remembers a map after looking at it. This has been a deliberate decision on my part after witnessing a relative completely lost after the GPS went down. I remember sitting in the car looking at them thinking 'you're kidding right? you just saw the map and the directions and now you're completely lost?'

I like having a GPS, sometimes. It makes getting through cities a lot easier. I can spend more time minding traffic and the clowns in other cars instead of looking at highway signs to catch the next turn.

One of my favorite things when I am in new areas is to go out exploring, and finding my way around. eventually, when time to turn around and head back to the hotel, I can turn on the GPS to re-orient myself to find my way back.

But basically, I have a good sense of direction almost never need the thing. With one exception: We were in Portland Maine for a couple of weeks for work, and daughter lives out west of there in the boonies. with all the twists and turns and such, I found it much easier to accurately find my way around with the GPS tracking our route. without it, I invariably made a wrong turn, and could be miles out of the way before realizing the error.

I know people who cannot find there way anywhere without a GPS.

Wandrin · Post by **Wandrin** » Thu Oct 26, 2017 1:49 pm

LarsMac;1513774 wrote: I like having a GPS, sometimes. It makes getting through cities a lot easier. I can spend more time minding traffic and the clowns in other cars instead of looking at highway signs to catch the next turn.

One of my favorite things when I am in new areas is to go out exploring, and finding my way around. eventually, when time to turn around and head back to the hotel, I can turn on the GPS to re-orient myself to find my way back.

But basically, I have a good sense of direction almost never need the thing. With one exception: We were in Portland Maine for a couple of weeks for work, and daughter lives out west of there in the boonies. with all the twists and turns and such, I found it much easier to accurately find my way around with the GPS tracking our route. without it, I invariably made a wrong turn, and could be miles out of the way before realizing the error.

I know people who cannot find there way anywhere without a GPS.

One of the things about GPS that I really like is knowing in advance whether I have to make a left turn or right turn to get onto the highway ahead. It has saved me from a lot of turning around when I miss it in traffic. I like to wander and explore, but for those times that I'm trying to find something or see where it I am relation to it, it comes in very handy.

Wandrin · Post by **Wandrin** » Thu Oct 26, 2017 1:51 pm

LarsMac;1513772 wrote: Oh, no. Technology probably began when the first humans figured out how to make fire on demand. Then they had to figure out how to control it.

I'm sure our bodies went through some changes when they figured out how to cook with the fire. In time, the diets of our ancestors changed rather significantly because of it.

magentaflame · Post by **magentaflame** » Thu Oct 26, 2017 2:26 pm

What about the gramaphone? Before that time people went out to music halls and theatres to listen to music.

People had pianos and other instruments in their homes. In my mothers lifetime 4 in 5 homes had a piano. These days its an oddity and youll rarely find a family member who can play it.

magentaflame · Post by **magentaflame** » Thu Oct 26, 2017 2:28 pm

LarsMac;1513774 wrote: I like having a GPS, sometimes. It makes getting through cities a lot easier. I can spend more time minding traffic and the clowns in other cars instead of looking at highway signs to catch the next turn.

One of my favorite things when I am in new areas is to go out exploring, and finding my way around. eventually, when time to turn around and head back to the hotel, I can turn on the GPS to re-orient myself to find my way back.

But basically, I have a good sense of direction almost never need the thing. With one exception: We were in Portland Maine for a couple of weeks for work, and daughter lives out west of there in the boonies. with all the twists and turns and such, I found it much easier to accurately find my way around with the GPS tracking our route. without it, I invariably made a wrong turn, and could be miles out of the way before realizing the error.

I know people who cannot find there way anywhere without a GPS.

Spent two weeks in Maine back in the 90's

Post by **LarsMac** » Thu Oct 26, 2017 2:31 pm

magentaflame;1513781 wrote: What about the gramaphone? Before that time people went out to music halls and theatres to listen to music.

People had pianos and other instruments in their homes. In my mothers lifetime 4 in 5 homes had a piano. These days its an oddity and youll rarely find a family member who can play it.

Before gramophone, where my mother's family lived, people just gathered on someone's porch and started playing whatever instruments they brought along.

Actually, around there, they still do.

magentaflame · Post by **magentaflame** » Thu Oct 26, 2017 2:39 pm

Thats nice

Post by **LarsMac** » Thu Oct 26, 2017 3:06 pm

magentaflame;1513785 wrote: Thats nice

When I told my one grandson about it, his question was "Why would they do that when they can download all the music out there?"

He is one of "Them"

magentaflame · Post by **magentaflame** » Thu Oct 26, 2017 11:56 pm

Theyre breeding you know

FourPart · Post by **FourPart** » Sun Oct 29, 2017 6:52 pm

Not many people realise that the 'Pop' Charts used to be based on the number of copies of Sheet Music sold for that piece. It later became the number of recordings sold. I'm not even sure what it's based on now - Downloads? YouTube viewings? The point is that how many Pop Songs these days can even be found in the origina Sheet Music format? Like many other, I make money from arranging, publishing & selling such pieces in Sheet Music format for Choirs, but it's not the same thing.

xfrodobagginsx · Post by **xfrodobagginsx** » Mon Oct 30, 2017 9:11 am

Ever heard of it?

magentaflame · Post by **magentaflame** » Mon Oct 30, 2017 1:25 pm

FourPart;1513877 wrote: Not many people realise that the 'Pop' Charts used to be based on the number of copies of Sheet Music sold for that piece. It later became the number of recordings sold. I'm not even sure what it's based on now - Downloads? YouTube viewings? The point is that how many Pop Songs these days can even be found in the origina Sheet Music format? Like many other, I make money from arranging, publishing & selling such pieces in Sheet Music format for Choirs, but it's not the same thing.

I went into an Op shop not that long ago and found a 'section' for sheet music. So i guess someones stilling using it?