Reconfigure

Abstract

Is the Internet making us stupid? There is a growing body of research that suggests that the Internet is rewiring the synaptic patterns of our brains, which for some is a cause for alarm. All symbolic technologies — not just the Internet — have rewired our brains, and thus the Internet is unremarkable in this way. In particular, the Internet appears to encourage associative and analogical — rather than linear and logical — thinking. The brain is indeed linear and logical, but the brain has also proven to be analogical and associative, capable of making connections between disparate objects and data points, and has long been doing so. The Internet has not dulled our minds but has instead unleashed this pre-existing, if undervalued, portion of our cognitive architecture.