How Google Is Rotting Our Memories

By Nick Mcdermott

IT provides us with instant answers to almost any question imaginable.

But our reliance on Google for fact-checking and finding basic information has made us forgetful, say scientists. It was also found that many individuals view Internet search engines as an extension of their own intelligence, rather than a separate tool.1. 研究發(fā)現(xiàn)：很多人將因特網(wǎng)搜索引擎視為自身智力的延伸，而非獨立的工具。extension:延伸，擴展。As a result they still regard themselves as being clever even when they need the Internet to find answers.

In a series of tests, researchers found that participants were more likely to recall information if they believed it had been erased2. erase: 擦去，消除。from a computer.

Those who thought it was stored were more forgetful, even if explicitly asked to keep the information in mind.3. 那些認為信息已經(jīng)儲存起來的人更加容易健忘，即便他們已被明確告知必須要用心記住信息。explicitly: 明確地，清楚地。In another experiment, the Harvard University team asked students to answer trivia questions with or without Google, and then asked them to rate their own intelligence.4. 在另一個實驗中，哈佛大學團隊要求學生在使用或不使用谷歌的情況之下回答百科知識問題，然后讓他們對自己的智力進行打分。trivia question:（智力比賽或測試中）涉及各種科目知識的問題。

They found those who used the Internet had a significantly higher view of their own brain power, even compared with individuals who got the questions right through their own knowledge.

遇上問題，大部分人的第一反應不是“讓我想一下”，而是“谷歌/百度一下”。的確，網(wǎng)絡搜索引擎比人腦更能可靠準確地存儲信息，也能更快捷地檢索數(shù)據(jù)。特別是在人手一部能夠隨時隨地上網(wǎng)的智能手機的今天，每個人就像隨身攜帶著一個海量的數(shù)據(jù)庫。但你是否曾經(jīng)想過：這一巨大的便利所帶來的行為方式的改變，以及對我們自身所產(chǎn)生的影響呢？哈佛大學的研究團隊就谷歌對人記憶力的影響進行了實驗，得出了文中的結論。

“Using Google gives people the sense that the Internet has become part of their own cognitive tool set,” the Harvard University researchers concluded.5. “使用谷歌給人們帶來這樣一種感覺：因特網(wǎng)已變成他們自身認知工具箱的一部分?！惫鸫髮W研究人員總結道。cognitive: 認知的，認識的。

And rather than sharing information, people are more likely to save it electronically if they want future access to it, rather than relying on someone else’s memory, the researchers found.6. 研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)：如果人們想要以后使用這些資料，他們更傾向于以電子化的方式進行儲存，而不是與他人分享信息、依賴其他人的記憶。access to: 使用，獲得。

Psychologists Daniel Wegner and Adrian Ward,wrote in the journal Scientif i c American: “Our work suggests that we treat the Internet much like a human transactive memory partner [a person we share personal details with].7. 心理學家丹尼爾·韋格納和阿德里安·沃德在期刊《科學美國人》中寫道：“我們的實驗表明：我們將因特網(wǎng)視為人類的交互記憶伙伴，也就是我們與之分享詳細信息的人。Scientif i c American:《科學美國人》，美國一本科普雜志，始于1845年，是美國歷史最長且一直連續(xù)出版的雜志；transactive memory:交互記憶。這是一個心理學術語，指在一個群體中，每個人都有自己獨特的記憶方式和特長，每個人不需要記憶所有的信息，只需要記住群體內(nèi)哪些成員是哪方面的信息專家即可，當需要這方面的信息時，可向其進行咨詢。

“We off-load memories to ‘the cloud’ just as readily as we would to a family member, friend or lover.”8. 我們將記憶“卸載”并上傳到“云端”，就跟我們與家人、朋友或愛人分享信息一樣方便。off-load: 卸載，卸貨；the cloud: 云端，泛指網(wǎng)絡，該名稱源于工程師在繪制示意圖時，常以一朵云來代表網(wǎng)絡。

“It seems that the propensity for off-loading information to digital sources is so strong that people are often unable to fix details in their own thoughts when in the presence of a cyberbuddy,” the researchers added.9.“人們?nèi)绱藘A向于將信息儲存到數(shù)字源上，以致當他們的‘網(wǎng)絡兄弟’在場時，他們就無法通過自己的思考來解決具體細節(jié)問題?！毖芯咳藛T補充說道。propensity: 傾向，偏好；cyberbuddy: 此為復合詞，cyber指“網(wǎng)絡”，buddy則是“好友，密友”的意思。

They said that having the Internet “undermines the impulse to ensure that some important facts get inscribed into our biological memory banks”.10. 據(jù)稱，因特網(wǎng)“削弱了人們把重要事實刻入大腦記憶庫的動力”。undermine: 破壞，削弱；impulse: 動力，沖動；inscribe: 刻下，寫下。

The teams also found that many individuals now view Google and other Internet search engines as an extension of their own intelligence,rather than a separate tool.

Writing in the journal Scientif i c American,psychologists Daniel Wegner and Adrian Ward from Harvard University, warn that individuals who believe their memorable facts are saved online are much worse at remembering them.

“Our work suggests that we treat the Internet much like a human transactive memory partner [a person we share personal details with]. We offload memories to ‘the cloud’ just as readily as we would to a family member, friend or lover,” the pair wrote.

“The Internet, in another sense, is also unlike a human transactive memory partner; it knows more and can produce this information more quickly. Almost all information today is readily available through a quick Internet search. It may be that the Internet is taking the place not just of other people as external sources of memory but also of our own cognitive faculties.11. 因特網(wǎng)可能不僅正在逐漸代替其他人成為外部記憶源，而且也在代替我們自身的認識能力。faculty: 能力，才能。

“The Internet may not only eliminate12. eliminate: 清除，消除。the need for a partner with whom to share information—it may also undermine the impulse to ensure that some important, just learned facts get inscribed into our biological memory banks.We call this the Google effect.”