Home » Opinion » Chinese Views
Smart gadgets no substitute for brainpower
By Wu Guangqiang |
May 9, 2011, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
OUR world is increasingly populated by intelligent gizmos whose pervasive presence is barely of note, but which have reshaped the world landscape, physically and intellectually.
These modern inventions have made human life easier and more comfortable, but excessive reliance on them has impaired human abilities in many ways.
After millions of years of evolution, man became the only animal that walks upright on his sturdy two legs. Constant manual labor has endowed him with nimble fingers, with which he creates countless devices and machines to further empower himself.
All the modern inventions are supposed to help their creators lead a better life. But has this turned out the case? We have to put on our thinking cap.
Cars, planes, buses and high-speed trains have increased our mobility, but reduced our walking ability, resulting in feeble legs and portly bellies. Chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiac diseases and high blood pressure have reached epidemic levels as a result of a sharp drop in the amount of physical exercise among the masses.
In the same way, countless high-tech gadgets are designed to aid students in learning and intended to help them become more intelligent. Are our children, who grow up with gadgets, more intelligent than their parents?
It's tricky to define intelligence, as there are probably as many definitions of intelligence as there are experts who study it.
I prefer to this one: intelligence is the combination of knowledge and wisdom, the ability to acquire knowledge and to apply it in varying situations. Even though there is a generally accepted definition, however, the measurement of intelligence is difficult. We do have various tests to measure how much knowledge students acquire, but to fathom whether our children get smarter or slower calls for other criteria and methods.
My concern is that artificial intelligence (AIs.) is usurping the functions of the brain, our most important faculty.
As an English teacher, I've noticed a disturbing phenomenon: the more learning-aid devices my students have, the weaker their learning ability is.
Aid or substitute?
Nowadays, almost any English learner is armed with a full set of gears that enables him to have an instant access to anything he needs, either visual or audio. Yet, a random test of his language proficiency will be disappointing.
The problem is the popular misconception that modern devices can help them understand and memorize. Machines can never do that.
In my youth, I had nothing but a bulky tape recorder to help me pick up my English and Japanese. E-dictionaries or zillions of online learning tools were not yet born. I did nothing but tedious daily practice and drill, intensive and extensive reading. I took down every new word, looked it up in a dictionary, memorizing it and using it.
I was doing a large amount of exercise to grasp the knowledge. I was making full use of my brain, eyes, ears and mouth. Ebbinghaus' forgetting curve and learning curve show that the only secret to remembering new knowledge is to review it instantly and repeatedly until we retain the memory. No machine can do the job for our brain.
Sadly, most of our children have been supplied with E-dictionaries, computers, iPhones, iPods and, iPads by their parents - without being told that these are only learning aids. They take it for granted that a press of a bottom and a click of the mouth can input a new word into his mind.
Help or distraction?
It reminds me of the funny story of my son as a boy. He believed that whenever we needed money we could get some by inserting a card into the slot of an ATM.
A computer to a scientist is what a pen is to a writer. What if we apply this statement to this: A computer to a teenager is what a toy to a toddler. Most parents will smile with a nod.
Some boys in my class just can't tear themselves from their obsession with their iPhone or iPod. Sitting in the classroom, their eyes are glued to a gadget hidden on the desk or between their legs.
The magical spell of modern gizmos enchants not only primary and secondary students, but college students as well. What makes college students crazy is another modern invention: online games.
According to a survey conducted in 2010 about the online culture of college students, nationwide, 76 percent of college students are addicted to online social activities such as QQ and MSN, 35 percent to online games; only 26 percent use the Internet for learning. The result is stunning. Every year, quite a percentage of students drop out or are expelled from school because of academic failure.
In conclusion, intelligent gizmos will do our children more harm than good unless we help our children learn how to use them wisely.
(The author is a freelancer based in Shenzhen.)
These modern inventions have made human life easier and more comfortable, but excessive reliance on them has impaired human abilities in many ways.
After millions of years of evolution, man became the only animal that walks upright on his sturdy two legs. Constant manual labor has endowed him with nimble fingers, with which he creates countless devices and machines to further empower himself.
All the modern inventions are supposed to help their creators lead a better life. But has this turned out the case? We have to put on our thinking cap.
Cars, planes, buses and high-speed trains have increased our mobility, but reduced our walking ability, resulting in feeble legs and portly bellies. Chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiac diseases and high blood pressure have reached epidemic levels as a result of a sharp drop in the amount of physical exercise among the masses.
In the same way, countless high-tech gadgets are designed to aid students in learning and intended to help them become more intelligent. Are our children, who grow up with gadgets, more intelligent than their parents?
It's tricky to define intelligence, as there are probably as many definitions of intelligence as there are experts who study it.
I prefer to this one: intelligence is the combination of knowledge and wisdom, the ability to acquire knowledge and to apply it in varying situations. Even though there is a generally accepted definition, however, the measurement of intelligence is difficult. We do have various tests to measure how much knowledge students acquire, but to fathom whether our children get smarter or slower calls for other criteria and methods.
My concern is that artificial intelligence (AIs.) is usurping the functions of the brain, our most important faculty.
As an English teacher, I've noticed a disturbing phenomenon: the more learning-aid devices my students have, the weaker their learning ability is.
Aid or substitute?
Nowadays, almost any English learner is armed with a full set of gears that enables him to have an instant access to anything he needs, either visual or audio. Yet, a random test of his language proficiency will be disappointing.
The problem is the popular misconception that modern devices can help them understand and memorize. Machines can never do that.
In my youth, I had nothing but a bulky tape recorder to help me pick up my English and Japanese. E-dictionaries or zillions of online learning tools were not yet born. I did nothing but tedious daily practice and drill, intensive and extensive reading. I took down every new word, looked it up in a dictionary, memorizing it and using it.
I was doing a large amount of exercise to grasp the knowledge. I was making full use of my brain, eyes, ears and mouth. Ebbinghaus' forgetting curve and learning curve show that the only secret to remembering new knowledge is to review it instantly and repeatedly until we retain the memory. No machine can do the job for our brain.
Sadly, most of our children have been supplied with E-dictionaries, computers, iPhones, iPods and, iPads by their parents - without being told that these are only learning aids. They take it for granted that a press of a bottom and a click of the mouth can input a new word into his mind.
Help or distraction?
It reminds me of the funny story of my son as a boy. He believed that whenever we needed money we could get some by inserting a card into the slot of an ATM.
A computer to a scientist is what a pen is to a writer. What if we apply this statement to this: A computer to a teenager is what a toy to a toddler. Most parents will smile with a nod.
Some boys in my class just can't tear themselves from their obsession with their iPhone or iPod. Sitting in the classroom, their eyes are glued to a gadget hidden on the desk or between their legs.
The magical spell of modern gizmos enchants not only primary and secondary students, but college students as well. What makes college students crazy is another modern invention: online games.
According to a survey conducted in 2010 about the online culture of college students, nationwide, 76 percent of college students are addicted to online social activities such as QQ and MSN, 35 percent to online games; only 26 percent use the Internet for learning. The result is stunning. Every year, quite a percentage of students drop out or are expelled from school because of academic failure.
In conclusion, intelligent gizmos will do our children more harm than good unless we help our children learn how to use them wisely.
(The author is a freelancer based in Shenzhen.)
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