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Submitted via IRC for AndyTheAbsurd
[...] When we have any function, whether it's language or vision or cognitive functions like memory, we aren't dealing with a straight line to the brain that says "This is what I do." The brain builds a network of connections, a network of neurons that have a particular role in that function. So when we have a new cognitive function, like literacy, it doesn't have a preset network. Rather, it makes new connections among older networks, and that whole collection of networks becomes a circuit. It's a connected scaffolding of parts.
The beauty of the circuit for functions like literacy is its plasticity. You can have one for each different language, like English or Chinese or Hebrew. And then something miraculous happens: the circuit builds upon itself. The first circuits are very basic — for decoding letters as we're learning to read — but everything we read builds upon itself.
So what's changing now with technology? How is that affecting our circuits?
The fact that a circuit is plastic is both its beautiful strength and its Achilles' heel. Reading reflects our medium. And to the extent that a digital medium is going to require us to process large amounts of information very quickly, it will diminish from the time we have for slower processing work.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Saturday September 01 2018, @05:17AM (5 children)
Technically the media doesn't matter if it was digital or analog, what matters is bandwidth. I could trivially read and think faster than 300 baud using early 80s modems, 2400 baud was non-trivial to keep up with, once I went 14.4 and soon ISP instead of BBS, there was no way to keep up.
My point being that annoying hipsters signalling they're holier than thou for taking time away from their smartphones MIGHT pick up on this and demand the same app on their phone that eliminates blue light after dark or whatever witchcraft they're shilling now MIGHT brag about their 75 baud or 300 baud or 45.45 baud slower-downer for their twitter app scroller or similar. Sort of like how hipsters had a thing for "slow food" a while back, maybe they'd roll for "slow social media brainwashing propaganda" or whatevs.
Personally I think a nice 20 WPM morse code UI would be a useful moron filter for digital communications aside from whatever brain goodness. It seems to work for the hams. Even a mere easy couple WPM works wonders.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 01 2018, @06:54AM (4 children)
Try red light instead. It has a better effect after dark than blue light. The reasons for this have to do with the biology of sleep, if you're interested in learning about that kind of thing.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 01 2018, @06:56AM
Oops. Misread what I quoted! GP determined that biology is science too advanced for him and thus indistinguishable from witchcraft.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 01 2018, @01:55PM (2 children)
Eliminating red light or adding it? Do you have any good links?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 01 2018, @04:27PM (1 child)
redshift [github.com] for free software users. F.lux [wikipedia.org] is likely what VLM is talking about for Android users.
redshift can be started by specifying the location manually (also can use -o to set the display color temperature in one shot mode for the current position of the sun in the sky instead having redshift continually adjust display temperature):
or just tell it to set the night display temperature (according to the man page is 3700K) with one shot manual mode:
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 02 2018, @05:45PM
gnome has nightlight built in to the display settings gui, like gnod intended.