Mefail Tahiri 1* Ejup Rustemi 2
1 University of Tetova, North Macedonia
2 University of Tetova, North Macedonia
* mefailt@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
Throughout the course of human history, the Internet has been the technology that has gained the most extensive and rapid adoption. How we find information, enjoy media, and keep track of our social networks and connections have all been revolutionized by the widespread usage of the Internet. This revolutionary change has occurred in just a few decades. Internet connection has become portable and widespread, to the point where the population of the industrialized world can be said to be “online.” This is a result of the even more recent arrival of smartphones. It is abundantly obvious that the Internet has had an impact on a variety of facets of contemporary society. On the other hand, the influence that it might have on the structure and functioning of our brains continues to be a primary focus of research. This paper will try to shed light to this complex topic and bring forward the most important issues that we should keep in mind when dealing with such a phenomenon.
Keywords: Internet, cognitive, ability, technology, society.
INTRODUCTION
Here, using data from neuroscience, psychiatry, and psychology, we take a look at some basic theories on how the Internet might be influencing human cognition. We zero in on the following areas to see whether the unique features of the internet are impacting them: a) our ability to focus, since the constant flow of information on the Internet makes it hard to maintain attention on a single task for very long; b) our memory and how we store and retrieve information; and c) our social cognition, because the Internet is influencing our social lives in new ways, including how we view ourselves and our self-esteem, due to the fact that online social settings can mimic and even mimic real-life social processes. The Internet seems to have the ability to bring about both short-term and long-term changes in all of these areas of cognition, which could be reflected in corresponding changes in the brain. Given the existing state of knowledge, this is the overarching conclusion that can be reached (Anderson M, Jiang J., 2018). But, comparing the cognitive effects and brain effects of Internet use in older adults with that of young individuals whose brains are still developing is one of the most pressing issues in the field and a top priority for future studies. We conclude by proposing a method for Internet research to be integrated into broader research frameworks, with the aim of studying the long-term effects of this hitherto unstudied social phenomenon on human cognition and the brain.
Volume 9, No.1 (2024): April
ISSN 2661-2666 (Online) International Scientific Journal Monte (ISJM)
ISSN 2661-264X (Print)
DOI : 10.33807/monte.20243097
DOI URL: https://doi.org/10.33807/monte.20243097
Full Text: PDF
This is an open-access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)