How Google Is Rotting Our Memories

By Nick Mcdermott

IT provides us with instant answers to almost any question imaginable.

But our reliance on Google for fact-checking and finding basic information has made us forgetful, say scientists. It was also found that many individuals view Internet search engines as an extension of their own intelligence, rather than a separate tool.1. 研究发现：很多人将因特网搜索引擎视为自身智力的延伸，而非独立的工具。extension:延伸，扩展。As a result they still regard themselves as being clever even when they need the Internet to find answers.

In a series of tests, researchers found that participants were more likely to recall information if they believed it had been erased2. erase: 擦去，消除。from a computer.

Those who thought it was stored were more forgetful, even if explicitly asked to keep the information in mind.3. 那些认为信息已经储存起来的人更加容易健忘，即便他们已被明确告知必须要用心记住信息。explicitly: 明确地，清楚地。In another experiment, the Harvard University team asked students to answer trivia questions with or without Google, and then asked them to rate their own intelligence.4. 在另一个实验中，哈佛大学团队要求学生在使用或不使用谷歌的情况之下回答百科知识问题，然后让他们对自己的智力进行打分。trivia question:（智力比赛或测试中）涉及各种科目知识的问题。

They found those who used the Internet had a significantly higher view of their own brain power, even compared with individuals who got the questions right through their own knowledge.

遇上问题，大部分人的第一反应不是“让我想一下”，而是“谷歌/百度一下”。的确，网络搜索引擎比人脑更能可靠准确地存储信息，也能更快捷地检索数据。特别是在人手一部能够随时随地上网的智能手机的今天，每个人就像随身携带着一个海量的数据库。但你是否曾经想过：这一巨大的便利所带来的行为方式的改变，以及对我们自身所产生的影响呢？哈佛大学的研究团队就谷歌对人记忆力的影响进行了实验，得出了文中的结论。

“Using Google gives people the sense that the Internet has become part of their own cognitive tool set,” the Harvard University researchers concluded.5. “使用谷歌给人们带来这样一种感觉：因特网已变成他们自身认知工具箱的一部分。”哈佛大学研究人员总结道。cognitive: 认知的，认识的。

And rather than sharing information, people are more likely to save it electronically if they want future access to it, rather than relying on someone else’s memory, the researchers found.6. 研究人员发现：如果人们想要以后使用这些资料，他们更倾向于以电子化的方式进行储存，而不是与他人分享信息、依赖其他人的记忆。access to: 使用，获得。

Psychologists Daniel Wegner and Adrian Ward,wrote in the journal Scientif i c American: “Our work suggests that we treat the Internet much like a human transactive memory partner [a person we share personal details with].7. 心理学家丹尼尔·韦格纳和阿德里安·沃德在期刊《科学美国人》中写道：“我们的实验表明：我们将因特网视为人类的交互记忆伙伴，也就是我们与之分享详细信息的人。Scientif i c American:《科学美国人》，美国一本科普杂志，始于1845年，是美国历史最长且一直连续出版的杂志；transactive memory:交互记忆。这是一个心理学术语，指在一个群体中，每个人都有自己独特的记忆方式和特长，每个人不需要记忆所有的信息，只需要记住群体内哪些成员是哪方面的信息专家即可，当需要这方面的信息时，可向其进行咨询。

“We off-load memories to ‘the cloud’ just as readily as we would to a family member, friend or lover.”8. 我们将记忆“卸载”并上传到“云端”，就跟我们与家人、朋友或爱人分享信息一样方便。off-load: 卸载，卸货；the cloud: 云端，泛指网络，该名称源于工程师在绘制示意图时，常以一朵云来代表网络。

“It seems that the propensity for off-loading information to digital sources is so strong that people are often unable to fix details in their own thoughts when in the presence of a cyberbuddy,” the researchers added.9.“人们如此倾向于将信息储存到数字源上，以致当他们的‘网络兄弟’在场时，他们就无法通过自己的思考来解决具体细节问题。”研究人员补充说道。propensity: 倾向，偏好；cyberbuddy: 此为复合词，cyber指“网络”，buddy则是“好友，密友”的意思。

They said that having the Internet “undermines the impulse to ensure that some important facts get inscribed into our biological memory banks”.10. 据称，因特网“削弱了人们把重要事实刻入大脑记忆库的动力”。undermine: 破坏，削弱；impulse: 动力，冲动；inscribe: 刻下，写下。

The teams also found that many individuals now view Google and other Internet search engines as an extension of their own intelligence,rather than a separate tool.

Writing in the journal Scientif i c American,psychologists Daniel Wegner and Adrian Ward from Harvard University, warn that individuals who believe their memorable facts are saved online are much worse at remembering them.

“Our work suggests that we treat the Internet much like a human transactive memory partner [a person we share personal details with]. We offload memories to ‘the cloud’ just as readily as we would to a family member, friend or lover,” the pair wrote.

“The Internet, in another sense, is also unlike a human transactive memory partner; it knows more and can produce this information more quickly. Almost all information today is readily available through a quick Internet search. It may be that the Internet is taking the place not just of other people as external sources of memory but also of our own cognitive faculties.11. 因特网可能不仅正在逐渐代替其他人成为外部记忆源，而且也在代替我们自身的认识能力。faculty: 能力，才能。

“The Internet may not only eliminate12. eliminate: 清除，消除。the need for a partner with whom to share information—it may also undermine the impulse to ensure that some important, just learned facts get inscribed into our biological memory banks.We call this the Google effect.”