Scientific researchers are pondering how the ubiquitous presence of digital devices in people’s lives — from watching mind-numbing videos to the increasingly widespread use of artificial intelligence — is affecting their work, memory, thought processes and, indeed, their existence as independent beings.
“The fundamental problem is that, as soon as a new technology that makes life more convenient becomes available, people immediately start using it because our evolution encourages us to do so,” said Nataliya Kosmyna, a professor at MIT, in an interview with The Guardian. ‘The human mind likes the easy way out; that’s its nature. At the same time, in order to learn, it needs difficulties and challenges.
If our minds need friction to stay in shape and we are thinking about how to avoid it, it is understandable that technology offers a smoother path. This is the “frictionless” user experience that leads us from programme to programme and from one application to another without resistance.
Its ease of use explains why we browse through more and more information, why we so easily fall into the internet’s traps, and why we find it so difficult to escape them. This is also why generative artificial intelligence has become an indispensable part of many people’s lives in just a year and a half.
A society that promotes stupidity may replace an enlightened society.
Based on similar experiences, people today know that once they become accustomed to the hyper-efficient world of cyberspace, they find it harder to cope with the friction-filled reality of their lives. This is why they avoid phone calls and order everything using internet applications.
Even more striking is the fact that we use our phones to perform simple additions and subtractions that we could do in our heads, and we Google everything immediately instead of trying to remember it. When going somewhere, we don’t memorise the route, but follow the directions displayed on Google Maps.
Many people give up reading books because they find it difficult to concentrate, and many are eagerly awaiting the opportunity to purchase a self-driving car. Writer and education expert Daisy Christodoulou calls this a ‘stupidogenic society’.
Some poetic questions have no answer simply because they are poetic questions
In an increasingly frictionless online world, people are primarily consumers. This passive, dependent relationship is unhealthy. So, how can people maintain their healthy scepticism and intellectual independence – which are essential parts of thinking – in an environment of false information and deepfakes generated by artificial intelligence?
How many of us will be able to resist the pressure of technology bombarding us with external “knowledge” when we realise that our minds are no longer entirely our own and that we cannot think clearly without assistance?
In 2024, Oxford University Press chose ‘brain rot’ as its word of the year. This refers partly to spending too much time browsing junk content online and partly to the content itself: memes and AI-generated text. Why do we pay attention to these things when the internet has given us access to all the world’s knowledge? That is our next question.
Two factors contribute to the process of ‘dumbing down’
One part of the answer to the latter question is that internet services are not designed to encourage their users to think for themselves or entertain themselves; rather, they are designed to hold people’s attention for as long as possible so that it can be monetised through advertising. The other part is a peculiar phenomenon that researchers have dubbed ‘continuous partial attention’.
This is based on the observation that most people divide their attention among many things at once. This distraction paves the way for a mental state that gives rise to ‘brain rot’. At a certain point, the weakened concentration is penetrated by the easily digestible, shallow content of the internet. Internet and mobile phone users rummage through this content and find material that does not require meaningful attention.
Artificial intelligence has exacerbated this situation. Machines no longer just save us from having to remember things; they also save us from having to think. They write our emails and plan trips that we previously had to organise ourselves. Michael Gerlich, a professor at the Swiss Business School (SBS), began researching this topic.
A survey on the use of AI has yielded alarming results
A business school teacher has noticed that discussions among his students have become less lively. Rather than discussing their assignments with each other, students now immerse themselves in their laptops. In a survey analysing the behaviour of 666 students of different ages, he found that those who use artificial intelligence frequently demonstrate weaker critical thinking skills. For example, they are more likely to trust the answers that AI provides to questions.
The professor uses the example of a candle to show his students why a lack of critical thinking is problematic. Artificial intelligence can be used to create the brightest, longest-burning, cheapest and most beautiful candle, but not an electric light bulb. The latter requires critical thinking to find a different lighting solution, something which AI lacks.
Recently, education researchers have emphasised that, unlike lexical knowledge, children should be taught how to find answers to their questions. However, Googling and AI searches oversimplify this logic. ‘Zero knowledge’ occurs when someone types a question into Google or asks a chatbot and receives a ready-made answer. They will not be able to evaluate the answer critically.
You need knowledge that makes people say, “Wait a minute! This contradicts everything I thought I knew!” It’s no surprise that the number of flat-Earth believers has increased. If you read a blog on the subject, you might be convinced by the logical arguments presented, especially if you know nothing about our unfortunate planet.
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