Passivity

I was reading an article recently that essentially said the internet is rewiring our brains. They did brain scans of people who'd used the internet constantly and those who hadn't used it before. People who were "old pros" would use the decision-making part of their brains the most, while people who hadn't used it before had activity similar to reading. After enough time on the web, their brain patterns started to match the people who were "old pros". They've recently discovered that there's a lot more "plasticity" to our brains than they had previously thought. Pathways that get fired more often push out older pathways that aren't being used as much. It's how we improve at tasks with practice and why we get rusty with time.

I wonder what effects seemingly every day activities are having on the way people use their brains. Headphones have become seemingly ubiquitous on the subway. Are people lulling their minds into further disuse by giving up thinking time to hear the same songs they've heard a thousand times before? Personally, I have a radically different experience when I am without my headphones than I do when I'm wearing them. I'm more aware of what's around me (not just sounds that would otherwise be drowned out) and my thoughts are deeper and more engaging. Television takes the fall for its deleterious effects, but it's not acting alone. We are accomplices to the ill effects wrought on us whenever we engage in passivity to distract and deter ourselves from active thoughts and lives. In this regard I even give (some) video games some much understated credit for actively employing the mind and the body instead of just allowing you to bask in the narcotizing, numbing azure glow of the television.