Growing up in a technological world has its advantages and disadvantages. You can find information on anything with a click of a button. There is a constant flow of communication, which really means that there is about ten different ways, on ten different devices, that you can get in touch with some. You have constant entertainment in the palm of your hand. But are all these things really advantages? Being plugged in all the time denies your brain resting time. Take a moment and think about how much time a day you are on any piece of technology; a cell phone, computer, TV, iPod, ect. I can honestly say that I am on my cell phone or computer all day long. Subtract the two hours I am at practice and the roughly seven hours of sleep I get a night, and that leaves 17 hours a day that I am “plugged in.” I would have never thought that my life revolves that much around technology.
Many people interviewed for the article, “Digital Devices Deprive your Brain of Needed Downtime,” had said that they take out their phone to kill time while waiting. Flurry, a company used to track how long games apps are played, found that games are played for no more than 6.3 minutes. What does this mean? I think, with the help of technology, people get things done faster. Therefore we have more time on our hands. American society doesn’t like free time; there is always something to be done. So what are we going to do with all that extra time? Fill it up with more things that have to be done! People will add activities or errands to their schedule until the point comes where the only time there is left are the short breaks between doing everything else. Constantly going, obviously, makes you tired. And even though, you might feel like your relaxing by watching TV after a long day, studies have shown that staring at a screen fatigues your brain. That’s why even after 10 hours of sleep you wake up feeling groggy.
The constant use of technology also straightly affects your memory. At the University of California, by studying rats, scientists found that rats only commit new mazes to memory only after they take a break. This applies to humans as well. But lets hold this thought for a second and go to the article “10,000 hours for Success.” In this article, it is said that it takes a person 10,000 hours of practice over to course of ten years to become an expert at anything. It used one of my favorite bands as an example. In the early 1960’s, while still a struggling band, The Beatles, where invited to play in Hamburg, Germany. Before, in Liverpool, they only where able to play for one-hour sessions, where as in Hamburg, they had to play eight hours a night, seven days a week, for weeks on end. That’s experience helped them to reach 10,000 hours of practice, which in turn, made them the BEST BAND EVER. Ok, so now that its clear that you have to practice A LOT to become amazing at something, lets go back to the technology affects your memory thing. How much longer do you think it will take for you to become an expert if you can remember anything? If you have ever owned a dog you know how long it takes to train them. My dog, after years of yelling, he will still jump on the counter and eat anything he can grab. This is because dogs can only react to situations, not learn from it. This is exactly what we are doing to our brains by putting them in over drive for so long. I’m not saying that technology is turning us back into cave men, at least not anytime soon; it takes thousands of years to evolve. What I am saying is that we own it to ourselves to take the few hours out of the day to actually relax. Unplug yourself from the world, turn off all devices and enjoy the peace and quiet.
One last word, it took me 2 hours to type this, and I feel more tired from sitting and staring at a screen then I do after 2 hours of intense field hockey workout. That’s enough of a reason for me to turn off technology.
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