I must admit to sometimes unthinkingly looking for the red squiggly spell check when I’m writing with pen on paper, and it can take me a while to focus and just read a book with no means of linking away from the subject matter (except in my mind). Does habitual, extended internet use rewire the brain? Common sense would suggest of course it does. But the jury is still out in this article.

Constantly craving novelty, whether it’s the next text or email or something new on the internet isn’t necessarily a bad thing (discovery and learning go hand in hand) if we can still digest and absorb the information we do have rather than constantly gorging on information without ‘digesting’ it.

The brain is plastic and physically rewires in response to environment. Texting is certainly addictive. Have you noticed how the compulsive texter always seems to want to be some place they are not-’what else is happening elsewhere…now?’ This is analogous with site hopping on the internet: ‘What if I’m missing something some place else’. Compulsive technology use in this way may be wiring our brains towards the ‘Monkey Mind’ the Buddhist term that vividly describes the way our minds stay busy and flit constantly, keeping us away from inner peace and true happiness. Wiring your mind into flightiness may be a way of wiring it away from good mental health.

Of course modern technology (and now I am sounding like my grandfather) has huge benefits and can help us develop our mind’s and learn if we use it well. In just the same way that mobile/cell phones are incredibly useful but we seldom think about using them well.

Another possible danger is that we lose the capacity to appreciate slower forms of thinking and information gathering that may be less surface or seem less instantly entertaining but in fact add depth to our thought. In fact the idea that something must be entertaining to be of value is quite new: ‘If it doesn’t excite me and I can’t see it’s instant relevance then it’s of no value and I’ll click away from it….’ can make us all more child-like. Perhaps an under-rated skill to develop is the ability to focus for extended periods of time on material that isn’t instantly stimulating. In fact progress in the world is generally made by people who have this capacity.

In this same way that subtler flavors can be discerned in food when we stop insisting that everything be flavored with artificial sweeteners-moving away from the ‘yes but is it exciting’ relationship to information can develop our ‘information taste buds.’

And talking of our cultural assumption that everything has to be exciting or enjoyable to be valid I caught an episode of ‘Wife Swap’ on TV the other day-a show that is so formulaic as to be identical every week. One of the fathers was seen reading to his children for the first time. Afterwards he said to camera: ‘Actually I quite enjoyed myself’ and then as an after though: ‘And I think the kids got a lot out of it too’.

Mark