Passage Two
Could Google, the world’s largest search engine, be causing our memory banks to be weak? Maybe, say four Columbia University researchers, who believe Google’s instant search mechanics could be training our brains to get rid of information we’re sure of quickly finding again with a few taps on a keyboard.
Times certainly have changed. I can still remember having to memorize stuff back in grade school like linking verbs—“is, am, are, was, were, have, has, had, etc.”—as if reciting a ritual chant, or the precise sequence of northeastern states, left to fight, top to bottom. Nowadays, I just look up Google Maps if I can’t remember whether it’s Vermont before New Hampshire, or whether to answer “this is he” or “this is him” when someone asks for me on the phone.
But we’ve heard this tune before, right? I’m looking at a book on my shelf, The Shallows, by author Nicholas Carr, whose article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” set off all kinds of cultural and scientific discussions in 2008. The Shallows elaborated on points in that article and brought in actual neurological research to support Carr’s thesis that the Internet may be dramatically rewiring our brains.
And with the Columbia research, the evidence that something’s up is growing. In the study, titled “Google Effects on Memory: Cognitive Consequences of Having Information at Our Fingertips,” the Columbia University researchers claim that when we’re sure of access to information in the future, our ability to summon that information from memory drops. Conversely, our ability to recall how to access the information goes up. Thus, the researchers argue, “The Internet has become a primary form of external memory, where information is stored collectively outside ourselves.”
According to Betsy Sparrow, the study’s lead, “Since the coming of search engines, we are reorganizing the way we remember things. Our brains rely on the Internet for memory in much the same way they rely on the memory of a friend, family member or co-worker. We remember less through knowing information itself than by knowing where the information can be found.”
Is Google really wrecking our memory? The answer is “it depends.” The Columbia University report doesn’t offer evidence of actual memory diminishing. Instead, the suggestion is that, influenced by Internet and search engine use, our memories are switching job hats and becoming more external. Instead of remembering “ends,” we’re remembering “means.” Search engines like Google are simply becoming extensions of our brains, sort of like wireless electronic devices.
And it’s not unacceptable to consider ways in which such a memory shift might actually benefit us. “Perhaps those who teach in any context, be they college professors, doctors or business leaders, will become increasingly focused on teaching greater understanding of ideas and ways of thinking, and less focused on memorization,” suggests Sparrow.
Would that be such a bad thing? After all, I’ve always thought the popular notion that memorizing precisely where something is on a map as a sign of “intelligence” was pretty dumb. I’d rather have an accurate working knowledge of the details that separate, say, Shia from Sunni, the two main branches of Islam, than how to point at random to Turkey or Brazil on a globe.
46. The result of the Columbia University research is that ______.
A. search engines may weaken our memory
B. the way we remember things may be changed
C. our memory may rely heavily on external information
D. search engines may extend our memory of information
47. The phrase “job hats” in Paragraph 6 refers to ______.
A. the original memory banks B. the roles of search engines
C. the abilities to deal with information D. the ways of remembering information
48. Which of the following could be an example of the “means” (Para. 6) we rely on?
A. Memory of colleagues.
B. Knowledge about Shia and Sunni.
C. Location of Vermont and New Hampshire.
D. Positions of different countries on the globe.
49. According to the Columbia study, what may happen when we have easy access to information?
A. Our external memory begins to fail.
B. Our actual memory begins to diminish.
C. We are likely to remember the means of getting that information.
D. We are likely to store that information permanently in our memory.
50. The writer believes Google may benefit us because we can ______.
A. improve our intelligence and knowledge B. develop our understanding and thinking
C. memorize things precisely D. reorganize our brains
