February 16, 2008

Flawed. Weak. Organic.

or Desperately Googling Linda Hamilton


borgbraindrain.jpg

This story at The Walrus Magazine offers some amazing insights into how the human mind tries, and frequently fails, to process the vast amounts of information that is available in this digital era.

The central premise: our puny human minds are not able to manage the billions of voices, ideas, opinions and news stories that filter through the internets (and Blackberries) every nanosecond.

So buck up, if you're ever overwhelmed by the multiplicity of tasks, duties and expectations of this multitasking modern age, you may not be incompetent, you may just be experiencing brain atrophy.

From The Atlantic:

...certain studies find that multitasking boosts the level of stress-related hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline and wears down our systems through biochemical friction, prematurely aging us. In the short term, the confusion, fatigue, and chaos merely hamper our ability to focus and analyze, but in the long term, they may cause it to atrophy.

Still, there's some good news - you only have to wait until 2029 when scientists foresee injectable nanobots as a cure to what ails you - helping you to work better, stronger, faster!

Imagine...little robots floating around in your bloodstream, attaching themselves to neurological receptors in your brain. The BBC reports that scientist are suggesting that these technological enhancements would

make us smarter, remember things better and automatically go into full emergent virtual reality environments through the nervous system.

MMMMM...drone-y!

Well, I'd love to explore this matter further, but the phone's ringing and I have to get back to work: the Swiffering needs to be done, bills need to get paid, the cat needs some food, a bunker's gotta get built...

Posted February 16, 2008 12:00 PM
Comments

See, they don't mention that our hair will all fall out and our complexions are going to get totally pasty. And all the tubes and gears sticking out of our heads mean our hats will no longer fit. Oh dear.

-- posted by: Jeffrey on February 18, 2008 11:08 AM

"MMMM...drone-y!"

*happy sigh*

I so love a Borg allusion.

Great post!

-- posted by: girl6 on February 17, 2008 08:50 PM

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