[kwlug disc.] 'Blackberries make you stupid!'

[Unsolicited]

Came across this yesterday, at
http://ctv.globetechnology.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050819.gtjkblog2005/tech/Technology/Technology/&id=RTGAM.20050819.gtjkblog2005
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Ten lost points: Hoo boy. Researchers at the University of London
Institute of Psychiatry are saying that the constant distractions of
e-mail and texting on portable devices (such as the Blackberry) make
you stupid, more so than smoking marijuana.

E-mail, phone calls and text messages can drop your IQ by an average
of 10 points, which is double the rate of loss of brainpower of those
smoking pot, the researchers said.

In a study of 1,100 volunteers funded by Hewlett-Packard, the
researchers say that half of those questioned reply to e-mail
instantly or as soon as possible, and one in five admits to answering
e-mail during meals or social engagements.

No, it's not the actual act of sending and receiving e-mail that dumbs
you down, it's the constant shifting of concentration, which tires the
brain and makes it more unfocused.

People who behave like this also work longer hours — more than 60 per
cent say they answer work-related e-mail when they're not on company
time. It's a form of addiction, which explains why so many people have
named Research In Motion's device the "Crackberry."

But wait — there's some good news: Apparently the drop in IQ is
reversible, and you will regain your lost intellect, such as it was,
when you stop being so compulsively distracted.

Like when you quit your job.

E-mail Jack Kapica at Jkapica at globeandmail.ca
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