There's a new word that's popped up:"digital amnesia," an increasingly common condition. A study conducted by Kaspersky, a company specializing in the protection of computer systems, reveals that the majority of French people with smartphones and tablets are unable to remember the most important numbers.
Why ? The answer is simple:"When we store information from the outside (e.g. in a phone), we encourage our mind to erase it," the Kaspersky article explains. As a result, 58% of French people say they do not know the number of their children, and 51.5% of them do not know that of their workplace. Digital amnesia becomes more problematic when you lose or have your phone stolen. This is also the great anxiety of the people interviewed in the study. 42% of French people would indeed be devastated by the loss of information and memories on their laptops.
But all is not so negative. In any case for Laurence Allard, the sociologist of innovative uses cited in the study. She explains that thanks to smartphones, "we are increasingly dispensing with the effort of memorization. This somehow frees up space in our original hard drive (our brain) and therefore would allow us to focus on work topics for example, giving us the feeling of being more focused on what is essential. Well, all the same, if you don't know by heart the number of your children, parents, spouse... can you challenge yourself to learn them, kid? #ChallengeDuJourHello
