Email, IM and . . . marijuana?

An Anonymous Patron writes “From the Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel Online: Does more IM = a lower IQ? E-mail, instant messaging may hurt smarts more than marijuana does . . . According to a recent university study conducted at King’s College London, constant e-mailing and text-messaging reduces your intelligence by 10 IQ points – an effect more damaging than smoking marijuana.”

April 24, 2005 by rochelle Uncategorized 5

simoleon101 says:

April 24, 2005 at 5:53 am

and so…
This is a rather interesting finding. I never would have thought that having a ba-zillion messages coming from at least three different forms of communication would cause a deficiency in the ability to focus on one thing at a time…

But seriously, does it really surprise any of us that distractions, which are assumed to have an adverse effect on focus, would hurt IQ scores? I really think that this research was a waste of time other than for the readers to find out how they stack up against the people mentioned in the article and their particular form of communication addiction.

What would be a good research, in my opinion, is the effects of all these communication forms in the library setting itself. Does someone who uses IM and e-mail every five minutes feel encouraged or discouraged in a library, since other people may be waiting to use the computers? How about instead of IQ tests, how do constant users of IM and e-mail rate on reading materials that are age appropriate? i.e. does a 20 year old start reading teen mysteries or a 12 year old read Richard Scary books? I admit i read a Richard Scary book every now and then, but i mean as a preferred reading level.

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rochelle says:

April 25, 2005 at 12:32 am

Re:and so…
I’m not quite sure I follow…are you suggesting that heavy use of IM and email leads to a reduced reading level?

Also, would you characterize someone who reads several hours a day as having a “reading addiction?”

I have problems with this study, but probably for different reasons than you do. I’d like to see a full copy of the study and see if they break it down by learning style or if they identify people (um, like me) who are their best with a million things going on.

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Brian says:

April 25, 2005 at 5:04 am

IM and mj
Maybe this also explains why I devour a bag of Oreos whenever I’m on IM reference duty.

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kylere says:

April 25, 2005 at 6:11 pm

Well in light of this…
…if they ever legalize marijuana I will have to give up email to smoke it?

NOooOOoOOoOOOooooOOoooOooo! I guess I will keep getting my fix from IMAP rather than THC.

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HeidiL says:

April 25, 2005 at 7:35 pm

Re:and so…
I don’t think simoleon101 meant to imply that use of IM leads to a reduced reading level, but that users of IM may simply chose to read things at a level lower than that of which they are capable of reading.

If I’m wrong, please correct my errant ways.

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