4 ms·

This explanation has no support in actual evidence whatsoever.

by Daishiman 9y ago

sjeohp 9y ago
And no evidence against it. I believe it was intended as a hypothesis.
- Twisell 9y ago
  While most of the comment is indeed a very detailed and interesting analysis, the last part is unfortunately looking like a "it was better before" nostalgia bias. I'm currently writing my phd project (after having worked for 10 years in a company) and I'm absolutely stunned by the current easiness to access papers and informations compared to just 10 year ago when I left university. I concure however that a new and real challenge is now to be able to filter the noise induced by this overwhelming volume of available information. But I don't think nostalgia is an useful tool to reach this goal. PS: To illustrate https://xkcd.com/1601/ https://xkcd.com/1601/ (And I believe there was another comic that it traced it back to Greek philosophers that rejected writing. Thanks to whoever remember the link!)
fsloth 9y ago
Finland has seen a clear decline in literacy after the emergence of smartphones in the last decade (every child past 7 has one). Although, to be fair, the direct effect is explained by increased inequality: http://www.eera-ecer.de/ecer-programmes/conference/20/contribution/33833/ http://www.eera-ecer.de/ecer-programmes/conference/20/contri... Yet, I know how digital shit affects me. I'm not talking about the devices themselves, I'm talking about being flung up by some stupid pointless shit in social media or by the colorfull game which totally hijacks the reward mechanisms in my brain. I totally fail to see how the effects which promote shallow, fast reward seeking cognition are not not detrimental... yeah yeah, it sounds like greeks whining about reading spoiling the mind but the difference is that our media is engineered to distact and hijack the mind for no valuable outcome whatsoever. Sure, there are lots of positive effects but that does not mean one should not discuss the negative ones as well.

This explanation has no support in actual evidence whatsoever.

sjeohp 9y ago

And no evidence against it. I believe it was intended as a hypothesis.

Twisell 9y ago
While most of the comment is indeed a very detailed and interesting analysis, the last part is unfortunately looking like a "it was better before" nostalgia bias. I'm currently writing my phd project (after having worked for 10 years in a company) and I'm absolutely stunned by the current easiness to access papers and informations compared to just 10 year ago when I left university. I concure however that a new and real challenge is now to be able to filter the noise induced by this overwhelming volume of available information. But I don't think nostalgia is an useful tool to reach this goal. PS: To illustrate https://xkcd.com/1601/ https://xkcd.com/1601/ (And I believe there was another comic that it traced it back to Greek philosophers that rejected writing. Thanks to whoever remember the link!)

fsloth 9y ago

Finland has seen a clear decline in literacy after the emergence of smartphones in the last decade (every child past 7 has one). Although, to be fair, the direct effect is explained by increased inequality: http://www.eera-ecer.de/ecer-programmes/conference/20/contribution/33833/ http://www.eera-ecer.de/ecer-programmes/conference/20/contri... Yet, I know how digital shit affects me. I'm not talking about the devices themselves, I'm talking about being flung up by some stupid pointless shit in social media or by the colorfull game which totally hijacks the reward mechanisms in my brain. I totally fail to see how the effects which promote shallow, fast reward seeking cognition are not not detrimental... yeah yeah, it sounds like greeks whining about reading spoiling the mind but the difference is that our media is engineered to distact and hijack the mind for no valuable outcome whatsoever. Sure, there are lots of positive effects but that does not mean one should not discuss the negative ones as well.