Posted on 09/26/2005 9:35:01 PM PDT by glorgau
The distractions of constant emails, text and phone messages are a greater threat to IQ and concentration than taking cannabis, according to a survey of befuddled volunteers. Doziness, lethargy and an increasing inability to focus reached "startling" levels in the trials by 1,100 people, who also demonstrated that emails in particular have an addictive, drug-like grip.
Respondents' minds were all over the place as they faced new questions and challenges every time an email dropped into their inbox. Productivity at work was damaged and the effect on staff who could not resist trying to juggle new messages with existing work was the equivalent, over a day, to the loss of a night's sleep. "This is a very real and widespread phenomenon," said Glenn Wilson, a psychologist from King's College, London University, who carried out 80 clinical trials for TNS research, commissioned by the IT firm Hewlett Packard. The average IQ loss was measured at 10 points, more than double the four point mean fall found in studies of cannabis users.
The most damage was done, according to the survey, by the almost complete lack of discipline in handling emails. Dr Wilson and his colleagues found a compulsion to reply to each new message, leading to constant changes of direction which inevitably tired and slowed down the brain.
Manners are also going by the board, with one in five of the respondents breaking off from meals or social engagements to receive and deal with messages. Although nine out of 10 agreed that answering messages during face-to-face meetings or office conferences was rude, a third nonetheless felt that this had become "acceptable and seen as a sign of diligence and efficiency".
In fact, it is a recipe for muddled thinking and poor performance, said Dr Wilson, who also called for restraint by the two-thirds of people who check work emails out of office hours and even on holiday. He said: "Companies should encourage a more balanced and appropriate way of working."
Duhhhhhhh ... wha?
My IQ goes UP whenever I try to decipher a Nigerian email - exercizing the old brain muscles, you know.
huh?
I don't understand.
We "Power Freepers" can handle all of that! And more!
Mark
But at least emails don't cause the munchies.
Then there are people like me, who can't wait for peace and quiet and to have everyone leave them alone (hermit complex).
People really need to use restraint. Text, email and phone messages should wait until YOU are able to answer them. Who ever invented the rule, 'drop everything to answer the phone'? I've stopped doing it several years ago, and only answer the phone if I'm able to, or want to. If it's that important, they can leave a message. I refuse to be a slave to all this technology.
If I had ignored e-mail, I wouldn't be rich today. Well, I'm about to be rich. I got this e-mail from a guy overseas who inherited some money and he needs my help to get the money into the country and he's going to give me $15 million - whoops, I'm not supposed to talk about it. But, anyway, e-mail is pretty important.
What I really despise is the expectation of others that ALL emails and VM messages must be received and answered instantly.
Also, the expectation that one's cell number should alwasy be available to everyone so they can call you whenever they want for any reason.
We've become a nation of responders. Proactive activity and advanced planning and thinking is nearly impossible in an environment that insists on instant response to all communications.
I'll go even further and say I've pretty much abandoned television for it's constant bombardment of the equivalent of popup ads (you're now watching....up next....) and shrinking credits for more ads, crawls and logos and Wino Cam © and fast edits and split screens and whooshing noises....
Whatever happened to just a clean image, and what is it anyway with Blue State idiots who think I have a JumboTron in my living room?
It Must be True, I Saw it on the Internet
I was on my way to the post office to pick up my case of free M&M's (sent to me because I forwarded an e-mail to five other people, celebrating the fact that the year 2000 is "MM" in Roman numerals), when I ran into a friend whose neighbor, a young man, was home recovering from having been served a rat in his bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken (which is predictable, since as everyone knows, there's no actual chicken in Kentucky Fried Chicken, which is why the government made them change their name to KFC).
Anyway, one day this guy went to sleep and when he awoke he was in his bathtub and it was full of ice and he was sore all over and when he got out of the tub he realized that HIS KIDNEY HAD BEEN STOLEN. He saw a note on his mirror that said "Call 911!" but he was afraid to use his phone because it was connected to his computer, and there was a virus on his computer that would destroy his hard drive if he opened an e-mail entitled "Join the crew!"
He knew it wasn't a hoax because he himself was a computer programmer who was working on software to prevent a global disaster in which all the computers get together and distribute the $250.00 Neiman-Marcus cookie recipe under the leadership of Bill Gates. (It's true - I read it all last week in a mass e-mail from BILL GATES HIMSELF, who was also promising me a free Disney World vacation and $5,000 if I would forward the e-mail to everyone I know.)
The poor man then tried to call 911 from a pay phone to report his missing kidneys, but a voice on the line first asked him to press #90, which unwittingly gave the bandit full access to the phone line at the guy's expense. Then reaching into the coin-return slot he got jabbed with an HIV-infected needle around which was wrapped a note that said, "Welcome to the world of AIDS."
Luckily he was only a few blocks from the hospital - the one where that little boy who is dying of cancer is, the one whose last wish is for everyone in the world to send him an e-mail and the American Cancer Society has agreed to pay him a nickel for every e-mail he receives. I sent him two e-mails and one of them was a bunch of x's and o's in the shape of an angel (if you get it and forward it to more than 10 people, you will have good luck but for only 10 people you will only have OK luck and if you send it to fewer than 10 people you will have BAD LUCK FOR SEVEN YEARS).
So anyway the poor guy tried to drive himself to the hospital, but on the way he noticed another car driving without its lights on. To be helpful, he flashed his lights at him and was promptly shot as part of a gang initiation.
Send THIS to all the friends who send you their mail and you will receive 4 green M&Ms — if you don't, the owner of Proctor and Gamble will report you to his Satanist friends and you will have more bad luck: you will get sick from the Sodium Laureth Sulfate in your shampoo, your spouse will develop a skin rash from using the anti-perspirant which clogs the pores under your arms, and the U.S. government will put a tax on your e-mails forever.
I know this is all true 'cause I read it on the Internet.
Oh, I've abandoned TV as well, except for what I want to watch. I refuse to watch commercials. I'll flip somewhere else.
I refuse to drop everything and answer the phone, email, etc unless it's my choice.
I hear you on the commercials. And I refuse to have cable. If commercials and ads are ways to get ME to buy things, shouldn't I be paid to watch them? I mean, fair IS fair???
(BTW, FReepmail me and let me know how that soldier girl of yours is doing!)
LOL!
So many hoaxes, so little time.
We live in an area if we don't have cable, we don't get any TV reception. I agree about being paid to watch their advertisements. They bombard my home, I should be compensated.
My daughter is good, thanks for asking and remembering. Nothing eventful lately, they'll be wrapping up this tour in a couple months.
Good. God bless your family and your daughter as she so bravely serves this great country.
You gave me my first real Internet LOL of the day, thanks!
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