'Info-mania' dents IQ more than marijuana

[Dover]

'Info-mania' dents IQ more than marijuana
14:32 22 April 2005

The relentless influx of emails, cellphone calls and instant messages received by modern workers can reduce their IQ by more than smoking marijuana, suggests UK research.

Far from boosting productivity, the constant flow of messages and information can seriously reduce a person's ability to focus on tasks, the study of office workers found.

Eighty volunteers were asked to carry out problem solving tasks, firstly in a quiet environment and then while being bombarded with new emails and phone calls. Although they were told not to respond to any messages, researchers found that their attention was significantly disturbed.

Alarmingly, the average IQ was reduced by 10 points - double the amount seen in studies involving cannabis users. But not everyone was affected by to the same extent - men were twice as distracted as women.

"If left unchecked, ‘info-mania’ will damage a worker’s performance by reducing their mental sharpness," says Glenn Wilson, a psychiatrist at the University of London, UK, who carried out the study, sponsored by Hewlett-Packard. "This is a very real and widespread phenomenon."..cont'd

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7298

[orwell]

1. That Settles It

I am going off-line to smoke a big one.

[MrModerate]

2. Damn -- what if you get lots of email AND

Smoke lots of boo?

Yer clearly doomed, at least as far as the corner office and the company car go.

Choices, choices . . .

[sui generis]

3. heh eh heheh heheh

pull my finger

http://www.funlol.com/funpages/pull-my-finger.html

[firefox]

4. Who says cannabis lowers IQ?

I don't believe it for a minute. It all sounds like a sneaky way of continuing the demonization program against cannabis without demonizing the prohibition which is really the bitch.

I call bullshit on the whole thing.

[aeolian]

6. Ditto.

Back-door demonization.

Typical.

"Studies show gunshot wounds to the head are more harmful even than that most evil of evils: Marijuana."

[entanglement]

5. The article says "men were twice as distracted as women"

I strongly suspect that the emails sent to the men contained links to free pr0n as part of a conspiracy to achieve this result :evilgrin:

[htuttle]

7. Time to trade in that Blackberry for a bong, I guess

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

8. I'm sure someone out there has turned a Blackberry *into* a bong.

Likely my former roommate has (or would, if he had a Blackberry)

[YankeyMCC]

9. I believe it

And futhermore...hey what's that over there...

[NNadir]

10. IQ is a dubious concept.

This is like saying that global warming has a greater impact on Santa Claus than on the Easter Bunny.

[Ian David]

11. But what if you smoke pot AND surf the net all day?

What then?

What if you're stoned, driving your car, drinking a soda, listening to Air America Radio, and chatting on your cellphone at the same time?

My god! The humanity!