Or are we freeing them up? An investigation
of what it means to turn our memories over to machines
by Dominic Ali
Futurist Frank "Dr. Tomorrow" Ogden is a wired
warrior. His Vancouver houseboat is a grotto of gizmos, a temple
devoted to technology. Ogden, author of The Last Book You’ll
Ever Read, owns three PCs and three Macintosh computers with
blazing fast Internet access, six digital cameras, a massive
library of MP3s, two retired robots, and enough techno toys
to make James Bond envious. Now if only he could remember his
wife’s birthday....
"I have her birthday on my computer," says the gregarious 80-year-old,
"but I still forget it." Ogden believes his faulty remembrance
of birthdays is largely due to his age, not his reliance on
technology. Unfortunately for the rest of us, when it comes
to our own memories we aren’t so sure.
As more of us come to depend on techno-appliances like computers,
cell phones with speed dials, and personal digital assistants
(PDAs) to remember information, we feel as if our own memories
are getting sketchier. What’s happened to that function of our
brains that kept the important details of life, like names,
numbers and important dates? Have we set more of our mind free
to pursue lofty ambitions as Ogden believes, or is it something
far worse: Are we becoming helpless amnesiacs?
Studies of the brain haven’t offered up any easy answers. Psychologists
are still researching and debating how memories are stored,
but one accepted model features three stages. The first stage,
called sensory memory, records information from our senses and
lasts only a few seconds before rapidly diminishing. Just think
of a chance meeting with a friend. You see her clothing, smell
her perfume, and listen to her voice all at the same time. As
these sensations bombard you, sensory memory sorts them out
and passes the data to your short-term memory.
Short-term memory, also called working memory, is similar to
a workbench, surrounded by tools such as mnemonic devices("i-before-e-except-after-c")
to help you remember things. As sensory information enters,
your short-term memory either discards it, combines it with
other memories, or stores it in your brain’s long term memory.
Information in short term memory lasts for about 20 seconds
and can be seen at work when you’re about to call a friend after
getting the number from directory assistance. Long-term memory,
on the other hand, is like an infinite filing cabinet. Unfortunately,
like its real-world counterpart, we often have trouble accessing
our "files" when we want them.
In the 1997 book TechnoStress (John Wiley & Sons), psychologists
Drs. Michelle Weil and Larry Rosen argue that such apparent
memory loss is a symptom of "multitasking madness," where our
minds juggle more information than they can handle. "Humans
subjected to excessive laboratory-induced multitasking show
increased tension, diminished perceived control, and even experience
physical discomfort," they report. So before resorting to so-called
smart drugs with dubious memory enhancing claims like Ginkgo
Biloba or Vasopressin, you’re better off writing down your thoughts
or going for a short walk to refresh your mind.
"With technology we’re given the opportunity to forget information
because we’ve got external memory," says Rosen from his office
at the California State University at Dominguez Hills. As we
key in phone numbers in electronic Rolodexes or addresses into
PalmPilots, "we no longer take the time to process material
into our short term memory and transfer it to our long term
memory." Problems and frustrations arise when our computers
crash and our external storage devices die, taking our data
away, forever.
Actually, this isn’t the first time a new invention has threatened
to dull our natural memory device. Most of us come from a print-based
culture, and book technology was once new. In pre-literate oral
cultures, long complex epics and sagas like Homer’s Iliad were
passed along verbally, and were written down long after they
were composed. Up until then, the only way to learn an epic
poem was to listen to a master storyteller, or become one. Full
writing systems--which have only been around for the past 5,000
years--made it easier to learn, but still had their critics.
In Phaedrus, Plato quotes his teacher Socrates proclaiming that
writing would "create forgetfulness in the learners‚ souls,
because they will not use their memories; they will trust to
the external written characters and not remember of themselves."
Irony of ironies, Socrates didn’t write down any of his own
thoughts, and is primarily remembered because his observations
were recorded by Plato.
But the biggest difference between writing things down and entering
data is the media we use. Text-based cultures employ easily
understood media, such as pen and paper. However, in our new
digital culture, most of us don’t understand how any of our
non-intuitive high-tech gadgets work. There’s a tendency to
get involved in the mechanics of the technology instead of focusing
on the message’s content. In fact, some psychologists believe
there are increased memory requirements because we have to remember
how different devices like cell phones and pocket organizers
work. Aha! Let’s see Homer do that.
David Franklin, a 30-year-old Winnipeg systems analyst, agrees.
"If you don’t want to remember these phone numbers you still
have to learn the software. It’s not like you’re brain dead,"
he contends. Franklin is usually the first person on his block
with the latest high-tech gadget. Collecting techno appliances
is his hobby, and he doesn’t think his memory for things like
phone numbers has decreased.
Technology certainly affects us psychologically, but there’s
evidence it may affect us physically. Bioengineer Dr. Henry
Lai researches technical advances to improve medical treatments
at the University of Washington in Seattle. He subjected rats
to an hour of pulsed microwave exposure, similar to waves given
off by cellular phones, then gave the animals memory and spatial
learning tests. Lai found that exposed rats were slower and
had difficulty learning new internal maps, called spatial patterns,
to reach a specific destination.
Spatial memory helps us successfully navigate unfamiliar shopping
malls or remember the quickest route home from work. Lai believes
the radiation may have affected an organic chemical in the brain
called acetylcholine, which is involved in place learning. Should
humans be worried about using cell phones? "I encourage people
to use cell phones if they need it. But I tell them not to use
it for too long. The jury’s still out on the dangers of cell
phones, but there is cause for concern," he says. Memo to cell
phone manufacturers: if your products damage spatial memory,
please equip future phones with built-in Global Positioning
Devices.
As more of our experiences are externally stored and communicated,
especially on the fragmented Internet, what are the implications
for our cultural memory, our shared social history? After all,
Canada is one of the most wired countries in the world, and
more than half of Canadians are active web surfers. Simon Fraser
University Media Historian Paul Heyer has noticed that electronic
media bombards us with new icons and ideas every day, and as
a result, "the cultural memory banks turn over faster." Our
cultural references are more fragmented than those of previous
generations. "In the older days when you had fewer [media] choices
there was more shared experience." If our shared experiences
are dwindling, what does this mean to society?
Technophiles like Frank Ogden don’t see this as a collapse of
traditional communities but as social evolution. Many of us
have already started forming new virtual tribes, he points out,
and we have more in common with our online pals than we do with
our real-world neighbors. In our Brave New World, the very definition
of "communities" is changing.
Psychologist Larry Rosen believes our collective memory is being
shared in new ways. Instead of learning about our history and
culture by repeating tales and folklore the way our grandparents
did, he explains, we exchange experiences and legends through
web sites and e-mails with other members of our adopted tribes.
The move to external memory might also have other far-reaching
effects. After all, we still inhabit bodies that were designed
for the Stone Age. Futurist Frank Ogden thinks technology could
signal the beginning of a new rung on the ladder of evolution.
"We’re using our brains for more creative things instead of
using it simply as a warehouse," he says. "Change is forcing
us to think better, and that is evolution." Ogden envisions
a future where we’ll have neural implants to augment existing
memory. They could be similar to devices seen in sci-fi movies
like the Matrix or William Gibson’s Johnny Mnemonic. Sound far-fetched?
Just remember that artificial limbs, pacemakers, and breast
implants were once considered the stuff of science fiction,
too.
