In reading, we are both scientists and poets.
Maryanne WolfRead
Digital technology can be a great resource, but it can also be a pernicious one, so it's how we, as a society, really study the cognitive impact of that and use evidence-based research to go after the technology designers to do a better job of dealing with the problems of memory and attention we are seeing.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Digital technology has both positive and negative effects on our cognitive abilities, and it's essential to study and address these impacts.
In this quote, Maryanne Wolf highlights the dual nature of digital technology, presenting it as both a valuable resource and a potentially harmful influence on our cognitive functions, particularly concerning memory and attention. She emphasizes the importance of societal awareness and evidence-based research to advocate for better design practices among technology creators, ensuring they consider the psychological effects of their innovations.
Themes
Digital TechnologyCognitive ImpactMemoryAttentionResearch
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in discussions about the effects of smartphone use on students' attention spans.
More from Maryanne Wolf
All quotes βThe acquisition of literacy is one of the most important epigenetic achievements of Homo sapiens. To our knowledge, no other species ever acquired it.
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The quality of our reading is not only an index of the quality of our thought; it is our best-known route to developing whole new pathways in the cerebral evolution of our species.
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There's a richness that reading gives you, an opportunity to probe more than any other medium I know of. Reading is about not being content with the surface.
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The attention span of children may be one of the main reasons why an immersion in on-screen reading is so engaging, and it may also be why digital reading may ultimately prove antithetical to the long-in-development, reflective nature of the expert reading brain as we know it.
Maryanne WolfRead
There's no question that our children's attention and memory is changing when they are reading too long, too much, too early on digital screens.
Maryanne WolfRead
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