Is the internet really rotting our brains? Here’s some science.
You're probably not addicted to the internet.
Most of what’s described as “internet addiction” is actually other addictions - to gambling or video games - that just happen to take place online. While “problematic internet use” is a real thing, feeling addicted to the internet could just be your sense of a strong habit.
Subconscious cues – time of day, reaching the end of a work project, feeling stressed and wanting to relax – can trigger your internet habit, without your even realizing it. Then you find yourself refreshing Facebook or scrolling down Reddit without even really knowing why.
In his book, The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg describes habit loops as: trigger, habit, and reward: You feel lonely → you check Facebook → you get the reward of seeing what's going on in your friends' lives. You feel bored → you play 2048 on your phone → you numb yourself from boredom.
If your web habit is bothering you, pay attention to the cues that trigger your habit, and look for other things you can do – gchat a friend, go for a walk, pet your cat – that can give you the same nice feeling of reward.
Random rewards are really powerful.
Here's why your internet habit is so strong:
If you train a rat to expect a treat every time he pushes a button, he'll get a few treats and wander off. But if the rat only gets a reward sometimes, at random intervals, he'll become obsessed with pushing that button and trying to get that treat.
Okay. So now replace pushing the button with refreshing Twitter, replace the rat treats with replies or faves, and replace the rat with yourself.
This quirk of psychology is exploited by casinos and video game designers, and it governs how you relate to the internet and social media, too. Random rewards are everywhere on the internet – new email alerts, Facebook likes, reblogs on Tumblr, and even just finding a lower price on that 20lb bag of cat litter if you just check one more site. There could be something great at any time!
Your brain misses its downtime.
When you've always got your nose in a smartphone or screen, the constant stimulation doesn't leave time or space for your mind to wander. Our quest to avoid boredom might be costing our brains vital processing and chilling-out time.
A brain at rest isn't really at rest – it's processing thoughts, reflecting on experiences, and filing away memories into long-term storage. Some researchers also speculate that a lack of time for introspection could be changing our very senses of self, causing us to focus more on the concrete and external than on the inner worlds of our minds.
Information overload is real.
Wikipedia has plenty of space for its information, but your little brain can only hold a few thoughts at a time. When you try to stuff too much into your short-term – or “working” – memory, something has to go. The endless scrolling of Facebook or Twitter doesn't give you a chance to process what you've seen – you read and read, but nothing sticks. In his book, The Shallows, What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains, Nicholas Carr writes that this overload of working memory starves our “deep” memory, where new ideas and creative synthesis happen.
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