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| Why texting harms
your IQ | |
The regular use of text messages and e-mails can lower the IQ more than
twice as much as smoking marijuana.
That is the claim of psychologists who have found that tapping away on
a mobile phone or computer keypad or checking them for electronic messages
temporarily knocks up to 10 points off the user's IQ.
This rate of decline in intelligence compares unfavourably with the
four-point drop in IQ associated with smoking marijuana, according to
British researchers, who have labelled the fleeting phenomenon of enhanced
stupidity as "infomania".
Research on sleep deprivation suggests that the IQ drop caused by
electronic obsession is also
equivalent to a wakeful night.
Infomania is mainly a problem for adult workers, especially men, the
study commissioned by Hewlett Packard, the technology company, has
concluded.
The noticeable drop in IQ is attributed to the constant distraction of
"always on" technology when employees should be concentrating on what they
are paid to do. Infomania means that they lose concentration as their
minds remain fixed in an almost permanent state of readiness to react to
technology instead of focusing on the task in hand.
The brain also finds it hard to cope with juggling lots of tasks at once, reducing its
overall effectiveness, the report added. And while modern technology can
have huge benefits, excessive use can be damaging not only to a person's
mind, but to their social life.
Eighty volunteers took part in clinical trials on IQ deterioration and
1,100 adults were interviewed.
More than six in ten (62 per cent) of people polled admit that they
were addicted to checking their e-mail and text messages so assiduously that they scrutinized
work-related ones even when at home or on holiday. Half said that they
always responded immediately to an email and one in five (21 per cent)
will interrupt a meeting to do so.
Furthermore, infomania is having a negative effect on work colleagues,
increasing stress and dissenting feelings. Nine out of ten polled thought
that colleagues who answered e-mails or messages during a face-to-face
meeting were extremely rude. Yet one in three Britons believes that it is
not only acceptable, but actually diligent and efficient to do so.
（Agencies) |
经常收发短信和电子邮件会降低你的IQ，损害程度甚至是吸食大麻对智力损害程度的两倍多。
心理学家发现人们在使用手机或电脑键盘打字或者用它们查询电子信息时，智力会暂时降低10个百分点。
英国研究人员称，与吸食大麻相比，电子信息对智力的不利影响大的多。人在吸食大麻时智商会降低4个百分点。研究人员将这种暂时变笨的现象称为“信息狂躁”。
关于剥夺睡眠的研究表明因为痴迷于电子产品而造成的智力衰退相当于一夜失眠。
惠普科技公司委托进行的研究结果表明，信息狂躁主要表现在成年人身上，尤其是成年男性。
造成这种智力明显衰退的原因在于当员工们应该集中精力工作时，“无处不在”的科技却总是不断分散他们的注意力。信息狂躁是指他们的意识近乎一直处于一种随时对“技术”做出反应的状态，因而无法将注意力集中在手头的工作上。
该报告还补充说大脑很难同时应付许多难题，其整体效率会降低。此外，虽然现代科技可以给予我们巨大的帮助，但过多地使用科技也会给人们的大脑和社会生活带来危害。
80名志愿者参加了一个关于智力减退的临床实验，1100名成年人接受了采访。
超过60%的被调查者（62%）承认他们对查阅电邮和短信上瘾。他们说他们很频繁地进行查阅，就算是在家和节假日也会仔细查看与工作有关的电邮和短信。其中有一半人说他们总是立刻就回电子邮件，五分之一（21%）的人说他们会为此打断会议。
此外，信息狂躁对同事也有负面影响，增加他们的压力和敌对情绪。90％的被调查者认为在面对面会议时回电子邮件是非常无礼的行为。但是三分之一的英国人不仅可以接受这种行为，而且觉得这样做说明自己工作勤奋、高效。
（中国日报网站译） |
Updated: 2005-04-25 10:28
