

Is the Internet an extension of human memory? - thomasdavis
http://thomasdavis.github.com/2011/07/05/is-the-internet-an-extension-of-human-memory.html

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swombat
Yes, it is an extension of memory, but it's not new. Encyclopedias have served
that role for centuries. The process is simply quicker now.

As it continues to accelerate (perhaps eventually becoming directly integrated
into our thought processes via some kind of brain/machine interface), the
distinction between "stored in your brain" and "stored in the
computer/internet/etc" will become ever more blurred.

Perhaps even more excitingly, there's no reason why you should have such a
distinction between "computers/networks" and "human brains". Via mechanisms
such as Twitter and other instant social messaging, I also have some level of
access to the information stored in your brain. Eventually, we might find that
the whole setup of billions of brains plugged into each other and into
billions of data-rich computers gives birth to some emergent process or
another... potentially scary, but fascinating.

~~~
thomasdavis
Well my counter thoughts are that the difference in look up speed is big
enough to make a distinction.

If I read information from an encyclopedia I would be much more inclined to
try remember it at the point in time.

Whereas it's habitual for me to now just skim over information on the internet
and store the reference point to it instead.

Edit: Effectively instead of filling my memory with facts I store it with
pointers to facts. Which makes it harder to put two and two together.

~~~
brudgers
> _"instead of filling my memory with facts I store it with pointers to
> facts"_

[To push the analogy further] Unlike the managed memory model of the
Encyclopedia, one of the problems with the internet as memory is that memory
addresses are so frequently overwritten and the entire system is essentially
non-redundant. This is to say that, unlike books web pages tend to change of
disappear after publication breaking links and each web page is - for the vast
majority of practical purposes - a unique individual manuscript rather than
the product of a printing press.

This makes the internet as memory suffer from amnesia as pages are rewritten,
overwritten, and discarded in a matter of months even at relatively stable
websites and this tendency toward frequent revision encourages a lower level
of investment in the depth of data provided on the web. As a case in point, I
recently found a genealogical link from 2004 which pointed to the contents of
a specific box in an archive in New Jersey that contained a photograph of my
great great grandfather while he was serving in Company B of the 95th Ohio
Volunteers during the American Civil War. Now the page returns 404, and the
search function of the archive website does not hit on my ancestor's name at
all - the detailed information which was accessible from the web did not
survive the intervening updates of the website.

Of course my personal example hardly touches the scale at which the internet
suffers from amnesia - even the deletion of Geocities is probably a tiny
fraction of the information which the internet forgets at what feels like an
ever increasing pace.

And given the ephemeral nature of the internet's indices - it doesn't even
make sense to talk of remembering a Google or Bing search page given that it
is specifically constructed for a unique time, place, and consumer. If the
internet is memory, then the search engines are oft-demonic homuncului who
provide access.

~~~
swombat
I'll conclude by asking:

How is that different from the way your own brain stores memory? Do you really
think your brain is like a hard drive, storing permanently without rewriters,
amnesia and other dysfunctions?

I suspect the two are rather similar...

~~~
brudgers
My brain has redundant pathways to memories and almost certainly stores
memories in multiple locations. However, the primary comparison was not to
brains but to encyclopedias or books (in keeping with ancestor comments)
specifically and other technological artifacts in general.

And therefore, books are more akin to the permanent storage devices such as
disks you mention (though tending to be far more persistent).

Generally speaking, It is my belief that computers are not significantly more
isomorphic with brains than windmills and any conclusion that there are
homuncului should be taken as a _reductio ad absurdum_ against an isomorphism
between brains and the internet.

------
alinajaf
I like the way Carl Sagan described how organisms store information in Cosmos.
We store all of our vital information in our DNA (i.e. how to metabolize
proteins etc). What we couldn't fit in there we stored in our brains, passed
on through rearing children, word of mouth and shared culture. That eventually
lead to the written word and now the internet. He articulates it a lot better
than I do.

------
s2r2
For the philosophically inclined: <http://consc.net/papers/extended.html> (the
famous "The Extended Mind" paper from Clark/Chalmers)

(And <http://philpapers.org/browse/the-extended-mind> for in-depth
information)

~~~
thomasdavis
I was actually trying to find resources when I was writing this but couldn't
so this is very helpful, thanks!

I recall reading about other mechanical devices like the steering wheel and
computer mice being extensions of the human body. Does anyone know what it's
called?

~~~
billswift
I vaguely remember reading something on the Web years ago, but there are two
books I know of that discuss this idea: Donald Norman's _Things That Make Us
Smart_ and Andy Clark's _Natural-born Cyborgs_.

------
idan
And Marshall McLuhan strikes again.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_McLuhan#The_global_vil...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_McLuhan#The_global_village)

------
FrojoS
from the parent:

 _My dilemma

Now this can be most convenient in some circumstances because I can quickly
find huge repositories of quality information.

[...] But due to me not really committing information directly to my memory I
have less premises to call on when thinking.

I feel that my ability to be creative is impaired because all I am turning my
memory into is the “Contents Page” of what I know. So instead of a novel, I am
a dictionary._

This is a very interesting thought. But maybe the answer will be, that some
day you will have to be online, in order to think.

Though, right now, this all sounds very futuristic to me. The access of
information over the internet is way slower than over my memory. Not because
of bandwith but by how poorly, the searched for information is presented.

PS: So what are all those Star Trek Borgs standing in their boxes? Surfing the
internet of course!

------
jeggers5
Always loved the concept of my mind having a direct link to the internet.
Instant information and communication with ANYBOY, instantly and effortlessly.

------
szx
That makes a lot of sense, knowing what (little) we know about how creativity
and connectivity work in the brain. Memories interact with each other and with
the outside world, and that just doesn't happen when stored externally.

I can definitely say I've been feeling the effects of my "hard" knowledge
gradually being replaced by pointers and references in the last 15 years. And
it's not just that horrible "smartphone dies -> IQ drops X points" effect, but
also declining creativity - regardless of my smartphone's battery.

So yeah, I agree this is probably a stage in our evolution and will be a non-
problem once we upload to the net, but what can we do until then?

~~~
thomasdavis
This is definitely what I was trying to communicate, thanks for verifying the
essence for me!

------
joejohnson
Instead of remembering information, we store pointers to that information. We
just need to remember the search terms or keywords that will allow us to
quickly recall the desired information.

But, having knowledge organized this way leads to this: <http://xkcd.com/903/>

------
skarayan
It's all about leverage, we will leverage anything and everything, including
memory.

------
tobylane
No, it requires manipulation of the real world (typing and waiting), it cannot
ever be categorized in the unique way each of our brains work and most of all
it's not offline.

~~~
patio11
The delta between memory and assisted memory is getting smaller over time,
though. My memory of every paper I ever wrote for school and for my first day
job is pretty slim. Every word I've written since that is accessible with
about ten seconds of reflection and Google. Much of the important stuff is
accessible on my iPad, too. (The additional accessibility of it makes it
easier to re-read, which keeps it in active memory, too.)

I'm in paperwork-filing mode right now for immigration. I've done it before,
largely backed by paper notes. It is stressful, highly technical, and not my
field. This time, I'm backed by Dropbox and my iPad. I have literally asked
for a moment during discussions with clerks at town hall and then read
sentences from the relevant Ministry of Justice regulations directly to them.
("I need a document proving that I have properly executed my duty to pay all
forms of tax for last year, including that from $YOUR_OFFICE. Can you help me
out with that? No? OK, let's see, you have a form, it is called a... one
minute... Certification Of Tax Payment for City And Prefectural Taxes. I'd
like to apply for that. It will cost me 250 yen, apparently. No ma'am, I
believe it is quite likely you will find that form if you look. Yes ma'am,
that is the one, thank you.")

Do I have an encyclopedic command of obscure regulations written by a foreign
government in my third language? No. But the system of myself and my
technological crutches strongly gives the appearance of that.

Edited to add: If it weren't obvious, I find this Really Freaking Useful,
because it is saving me a couple thousand dollars on hiring a specialist whose
chief professional responsibility is knowing that a) I need that document to
complete the particular procedure I'm in and b) the quickest way to extract it
from City Hall. Previously, the solution set was a) pay up, b) spend weeks
researching the issue and playing ping-pong around four offices (and you're
the ball), or c) buy plane tickets prior to being deported.

~~~
bluedanieru
Is this because you have a business, or has the process gotten more
complicated? I've never had much trouble with Japanese immigration, although
the last couple times I didn't need to do anything myself.

~~~
patio11
Short version: Japan is optimized for salarymen.

------
drcube
And Plato regretted the invention of writing because it atrophies our memory.
Same thing, different millennium.

------
_shane
It is an extension of human memory at the sacrifice of attention span.

