This is an interesting topic.
I don't know whether there has been any study on the memory of people
from illiterate cultures. Is it an urban myth that they have better
memories or is it a proven fact?
Anecdotes about people not being able to remember times tables because
they use calculators ignore the fact that teaching tables in schools
went out of fashion at about the same time that children were being
given calculators, so we don't know whether those children would still
have remembered tables if they had learnt them.
What will be interesting will be to discover is if the concept of what
is considered good memory will change. Will we in future be lauded for
remembering synonyms and categories rather than facts so that perhaps
our memories become less visual and more word orientated? How will this
affect TV games shows?
On the anecdotal level,
I first took to computers because, since the age of five when I was
involved in a road accident, I have suffered from an embarrassing
form of short term memory loss, partly compensated for by long term
memory gain (i.e I can't see the trees but I have a wonderful arial view
of the wood )
The early desk top computer housed a diary which couldn't disappear
behind a radiator, be left at work or dropped in the street . If I wrote
something without finishing it, I could find it again when I wanted to
continue. The printer attached to the computer hid my appalling
handwriting and didn't drop ink blobs on every page.
The diary bit wasn't so successful eventually. I got tired of it
occupying the desk top and then kept forgetting to fill it in, but for
the rest, it helped. I don't think digital life has made my short term
memory any worse and, although I wouldn't claim to be organised, I do
feel less incompetent than I was before I owned a computer.
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