The Most Illogical Idiocy I Have Read Today

Your Brain on Computers - Overuse of Digital Devices May Lead to Brain Fatigue - NYTimes.com: "But scientists point to an unanticipated side effect: when people keep their brains busy with digital input, they are forfeiting downtime that could allow them to better learn and remember information, or come up with new ideas."

This is idiotic and absurd.

The notion that one is not always interactive with what one is doing is the first absurdity. When one is taking things in, one is reflecting. It's simultaneous.

What the scientists may be counseling is mindfulness which has nothing to do with learning and remembering information. It has to do with keeping some distance no matter what one is doing. I call that transcendence within the immanent frame.

Remembering information? Really. Is that what we interact to achieve? Sometimes, sure. But if we need it, we remember it on the spot, not by stopping and then, er, remembering.

I could buy that something digital wastes time. That is a different matter.

But this NYT piece is a not-so-subtle way to tell us to be good and turn off the gadgets. So we can somehow reap the benefits.

What do we do when we turn off or otherwise leave our digital world? Generally we don't sit down and meditate on whatever we were doing or learning. .

Am I being silly? Probably. But no.

Brain fatigue? There are people who cannot use a word processor who have brain fatigue. Some are obsessed. Some at a dead end. The entire nation -- US -- had brain fatigue as the NYT helped lead us to war in Iraq. That's real brain fatigue, induced by double bind behavior which makes you nuts.

The article finally gets to the weighty issue of whether or not to use digital devices while on exercise machines.

The mantra is still rest the brain.

My brain gets lots of rest. It is called sleep. I have no control over that. It comes. Daytimes I learn and think using my computer. I have no way of knowing how I know anything. But I know a howler when I read it.

Syndrome trolling is what is going on.

More fluff is being created. Foucault understood it. I accept it. But I reserve the right to yell and scream when something looks idiotic. Even if that is just my quirky take and no one else agrees.

Abba's Way. Table Talk. "The Most Illogical Idiocy I Have Read Today."