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Quotable Informer

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South Korea is one of the most digitally connected nations in the world and the problem of internet addiction among both adults and children was recognised as far back as the late 1990s.

That is now developing into the early onset of digital dementia – a term coined in South Korea – meaning a deterioration in cognitive abilities that is more commonly seen in people who have suffered a head injury or psychiatric illness.

"Over-use of smartphones and game devices hampers the balanced development of the brain," Byun Gi-won, a doctor at the Balance Brain Centre in Seoul, told the JoongAng Daily newspaper.

"Heavy users are likely to develop the left side of their brains, leaving the right side untapped or underdeveloped," he said.

The right side of the brain is linked with concentration and its failure to develop will affect attention and memory span, which could in as many as 15 per cent of cases lead to the early onset of dementia.

Sufferers are also reported to suffer emotional underdevelopment, with children more at risk than adults because their brains are still growing.

The situation appears to be worsening, doctors report, with the percentage of people aged between 10 and 19 who use their smartphones for more than seven hours every day leaping to 18.4 per cent, an increase of seven per cent from last year.

More than 67 per cent of South Koreans have a smartphone, the highest in the world, with that figure standing at more than 64 per cent in teenagers, up from 21.4 per cent in 2011, according to the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning.

Dr Manfred Spitzer, a German neuroscientist, published a book titled "Digital Dementia" in 2012 that warned parents and teachers of the dangers of allowing children to spend too much time on a laptop, mobile phone or other electronic devices.

Dr Spitzer warned that the deficits in brain development are irreversible and called for digital media to be banned from German classrooms before children become "addicted."


Losing oneself to techno

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I believe this.

Demonic Fairy

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Well, I'm doomed. May as well live out the rest of my non-dementia days trying to figure out that new Minecraft-clone with the spaceships.

Greedy Consumer

Ringoringa
Well, I'm doomed. May as well live out the rest of my non-dementia days trying to figure out that new Minecraft-clone with the spaceships.
yur not doomed, play tennis or ping pong or golf, those three sports require the most attention, and also make the fastest brainwaves out of any other sport, because it requires more attention to be concentrated. But you have to play it for years. Pinball might be the same, so I downloaded a pinball game for a super Nintendo emulator before and played it on 2x the speed but its super boring XD lol

Benevolent Elder

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I read the article and I am curious about any studies on this.
The discuss the over reliance on digital devices and then the memorization and memory loss; I wonder if they are attributing the use of the devices is the cause of the loss or if it simply a case of the children not practiced at using their memory.
I know that before video games, memory and concentration games and practices were common, but now this is usually not the case given how time intensive those things were. I posit that the push to maximize efficient schooling (and even transferring this over to playtime which is just as fast paced) has left out any methods which do not transfer quick results (ie within a specified grading period.)

I was also frustrated by the lack of mention on any type of mental stimulation exercises which might compensate or overcome this problem. I wonder, did they do any follow up or is it all about big bad 'digital dementia' ?

I do, however, believe that it might not be a bad idea to keep the computers in a computer lab where use and learning are controlled for specific activities, rather than allowing them to be placed in the classrooms for constant daily use, especially with the younger grades. However, once a child enters high school I think it might be a bit counter intuitive to say that they are preparing a child for graduation and yet keep computers out of the classroom.

I think a bit of common sense (yeah I know all the jokes wink ) goes a long way, and finding a solution to what is being presented as a problem is the first step to building a better mindset. (This as opposed to teaching the practice of "OMG BIG PROBLEM! LET'S YELL AND STOMP UNTIL EVERYONE JUST ACCEPTS IT! And then no one will notice the lack of a solution until we sweep the news away." After all... I think some kids already have THAT lesson down a bit too well.)
(and yeah... I have stuff on speed dial, but I also try to memorize the numbers I need. I never know when the cell will die and I might have to scrounge for something called a quarter to use something called a ...*gasp* payphone!)

Fashionable Sex Symbol

I knew my memory and ability to focus were getting screwed up! Time for sports and math.

Wintry Dragon

I think I am feeling the effects...


What are we talking about anyway?

Fluffy Loiterer

Wow, I didn't realize that was an issue. I suppose it's a good thing I often exercise the right side of the brain as well as the left.

Magical Tree

Maybe this is what's wrong with my students!

Haha. Actually it's because they hate English - and they are low level students and the school sends me in there with no co-teacher.

But yeah - Mom was right - tv and computer rots your brains. rofl

Demonic Fairy

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thewaitingtree
Maybe this is what's wrong with my students!

Haha. Actually it's because they hate English - and they are low level students and the school sends me in there with no co-teacher.

But yeah - Mom was right - tv and computer rots your brains. rofl


I'll have you know I'm on the computer for the majority of the day, and my brain is in perfect condishaaaaaaaaaaaagsdohjfksndmuconduaguhsdooadgnassogihago;sagsaiohfado ablah

fancy pandas are UP with nyancat esque fillings of cakes as are we in time and space hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha NYANYANYNANYANYANYANYANYAN

Snuggly Buddy

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thewaitingtree
Maybe this is what's wrong with my students!

Haha. Actually it's because they hate English - and they are low level students and the school sends me in there with no co-teacher.

But yeah - Mom was right - tv and computer rots your brains. rofl


It is perhaps stating the obvious but it really depends what is on the TV or computer rather than the devices. This article seems to lump all digital devices / uses together. It does make a difference whether one is watching something calm and educational like Blue Planet or Planet Earth or something 'less edifying' like old episodes of Ren and Stimpy.

It also does not address the chicken and the egg issue. Which came first? People who use a lot of digital media becoming left brain dominant or left brain dominant people being more likely to use a lot of digital media? In general - right brain thinkers are more creative and tend to be picture thinkers and artists and such. Often they are not as strong at logic stuff and not as interested in computers. (Though granted anyone can do some computer / digital stuff). Left brain thinkers tend to be more logic based and more into technical stuff. So some of the trend SK is seeing might be a natural result of left brain people being more into tech stuff.

And in case I'm not wording that well I'm not trying to put down right brain thinkers or call you dumb. I envy some of the skills my right brained friends have in terms of art and design and being - how to put it... - less 'Spock like' than me and often better at relating to people and social skills. But years of working in tech support has shown me the majority of my coworkers were left brain folks and some of the folks that had the worst time understanding the technology were often right brain folks. As such it would be no surprise to me to learn folks that favor the left brain are more into computers and such. And again, I'm talking broad generalities here - there is no one size fits all answer.

Magical Tree

David2074
thewaitingtree
Maybe this is what's wrong with my students!

Haha. Actually it's because they hate English - and they are low level students and the school sends me in there with no co-teacher.

But yeah - Mom was right - tv and computer rots your brains. rofl


It is perhaps stating the obvious but it really depends what is on the TV or computer rather than the devices. This article seems to lump all digital devices / uses together. It does make a difference whether one is watching something calm and educational like Blue Planet or Planet Earth or something 'less edifying' like old episodes of Ren and Stimpy.

It also does not address the chicken and the egg issue. Which came first? People who use a lot of digital media becoming left brain dominant or left brain dominant people being more likely to use a lot tof digital media? In general - right brain thinkers are more creative and tend to be picture thinkers and artists and such. Often they are not as strong at logic stuff and not as interested in computers. (Though granted anyone can do some computer / digital stuff). Left brain thinkers tend to be more logic based and more into technical stuff. So some of the trend SK is seeing might be a natural result of left brain people being more into tech stuff.

And in case I'm not wording that well I'm not trying to put down right brain thinkers or call you dumb. I envy some of the skills my right brained friends have in terms of art and design and being - how to put it... - less 'Spock like' than me and often better at relating to people and social skills. But years of working in tech support has shown me the majority of my coworkers were left brain folks and some of the folks that had the worst time understanding the technology were often right brain folks. As such it would be no surprise to me to learn folks that favor the left brain are more into computers and such. And again, I'm talking broad generalities here - there is no one size fits all answer.

I guess you can't really hear my sarcastic tone.
Honest and serious opinion - everything in moderation.
Before tv I'm.sure there were left brain dominant tasks.
Because the authors are South Korean, I wonder if what they're describing is what we consider ADD or an autism spectrum condition. I have experienced Koreans who know very little about these things. I have one student who's prolly mildly aspie with a side of anxiety and my coteacher tells me the kid has ADHD. He doesn't.

I grew up watching a lot of tv because of my asthma (couldn't go out and run like kids do). I'm not the most social person I know, but I seem to be normal enough. Lol. I have friends. But like I said the original post is mostly sarcastic.

Shady Zapper

thewaitingtree
David2074
thewaitingtree
Maybe this is what's wrong with my students!

Haha. Actually it's because they hate English - and they are low level students and the school sends me in there with no co-teacher.

But yeah - Mom was right - tv and computer rots your brains. rofl


It is perhaps stating the obvious but it really depends what is on the TV or computer rather than the devices. This article seems to lump all digital devices / uses together. It does make a difference whether one is watching something calm and educational like Blue Planet or Planet Earth or something 'less edifying' like old episodes of Ren and Stimpy.

It also does not address the chicken and the egg issue. Which came first? People who use a lot of digital media becoming left brain dominant or left brain dominant people being more likely to use a lot tof digital media? In general - right brain thinkers are more creative and tend to be picture thinkers and artists and such. Often they are not as strong at logic stuff and not as interested in computers. (Though granted anyone can do some computer / digital stuff). Left brain thinkers tend to be more logic based and more into technical stuff. So some of the trend SK is seeing might be a natural result of left brain people being more into tech stuff.

And in case I'm not wording that well I'm not trying to put down right brain thinkers or call you dumb. I envy some of the skills my right brained friends have in terms of art and design and being - how to put it... - less 'Spock like' than me and often better at relating to people and social skills. But years of working in tech support has shown me the majority of my coworkers were left brain folks and some of the folks that had the worst time understanding the technology were often right brain folks. As such it would be no surprise to me to learn folks that favor the left brain are more into computers and such. And again, I'm talking broad generalities here - there is no one size fits all answer.

I guess you can't really hear my sarcastic tone.
Honest and serious opinion - everything in moderation.
Before tv I'm.sure there were left brain dominant tasks.
Because the authors are South Korean, I wonder if what they're describing is what we consider ADD or an autism spectrum condition. I have experienced Koreans who know very little about these things. I have one student who's prolly mildly aspie with a side of anxiety and my coteacher tells me the kid has ADHD. He doesn't.

I grew up watching a lot of tv because of my asthma (couldn't go out and run like kids do). I'm not the most social person I know, but I seem to be normal enough. Lol. I have friends. But like I said the original post is mostly sarcastic.

                    i'd say it's entirely possible that it's got to do with attention deficit disorder (or something similar) or autism spectrum disorder, but i'm having a tough time believing it- for one, it says that it's rising. both rates have stayed pretty darn stable over the years (people say it's rising because of the fact we're getting better at diagnosing and sadly, paranoia around the whole thing). :l

                    then there's the fact it says psychiatric disorders/head injuries and all that. neither add or asd are, so that is also something.

                    i would say that it is possible this is one really messed up diagnosis of neurodevelopmental disorders and such? but it is highly unlikely that it is.

Angelic Blob

And people poke fun at America for being slow with high tech merchandise, such as phones. Then I say that is a good thing. The issue over here is the over abundance of reality shows and people using the net as a way to cut others down.

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