In my Methodical American column this month, I mentioned that smartphones are the new way to memorize anything. Ask a high school student today to list presidents, the periodic table, or state assets, and you’ll get a blank stare or a “Sure, let me get my smartphone.” Google is always available. When was the last time you remembered a phone number?
But we’ll never get our phones back for everything. Some things are so important that we’ll have to commit them to memory even as we reach the age of universal digital restoration. Here are some categories of life where memory will always trump digital retrieval:
Cultural Factor
Without basic history and cultural knowledge, you can’t function in society for long. Without knowing these references, you have no context to understand current events, nor do you know what you’re missing or what questions to ask. You can’t understand commercials, editorials, or even news articles. And you can’t understand anyone’s jokes. You will be disabled and unable to date.
Security factor
Our gadgets can do a lot to eliminate the need to remember passwords. Programs like Dashlane and LastPass automatically fill in our login information for the websites we visit. And they even fill in our credit card information when we buy something online. But you still have to unlock these programs every day by entering a master password that you have to remember. The same applies to physical security: you can automate parts of it, but at the end of the day, there is a physical key, card or fob. You have to know where to find it and how to use it.
Search factor
Our gadgets can always pull up information on demand, but only if you know how and where to look for it. You still need to understand how to use the tools of modern search engines, such as Rotten Tomatoes, Wikipedia, Dictionary.com, or whatever else. Oh yes, Google.
Frequency Factor
You refer to specific details frequently. Memorization is only necessary because the amount of searching will bring your life to a standstill. For example, spelling. Looking up every word or direction at work every day or the code to your school locker will take a real toll on your productivity.
Performance Factor
Even if your day job requires something, you can quickly look up, like molecular weights, stock symbols, or commonly prescribed medications. Your work grinds to a halt if you have to interrupt your flow every few minutes to look it up. You need to be fluent in facts about your career to be effective.
Social Factor
You must constantly know basic facts about your friends and family (and yourself). You should have instant entrée to your boss’s name, your spouse’s birthday, and the terms of your best friend’s children. Trying to find them electronically will lead to resentment (and possible job loss).
Smartphones can reduce cognitive performance.
No, smartphones don’t make you stupid. But they can drain our thinking skills. Thus reducing our ability to perform current tasks, even if we’re not using them now.
We have a limited capacity for cognitive dispensation. But we’re constantly bombarded with information from signs, advertising, people around us, background noise, and our thoughts. We can manage this information overload because we can only pay attention to a small amount of information. And our brains learn what information they need to keep track of. That’s why you can instantly notice your name being called over a loudspeaker in a busy airport.
Your brain helps you choose appropriate stimuli for your current situation, including long-term and short-term goals. The problem is that because our smartphones are connected to many related activities, we can reach a point where part of our brain is always paying attention to the smartphone, even when it’s not in our hands right now. If you’re in a meeting at work, part of your mind might be focused on your phone because you know your child might text you or you might get important news. We constantly tune part of our minds to our smartphones. It diminishes our ability to focus on a task and enjoy it entirely.