Letters: All-encompassing Net

With reference to Apurva Venkat's article, "Gadget addiction: A worrying trend among India's uber-cool millennials" (August 7), the internet and therefore, smartphones, allow people to connect with others from almost anywhere at any time. There is growing concern that smartphones may actually discourage, rather than complement, social interactions.

A report by the American Academy of Pediatrics analysed potential psychological issues associated with social networking sites and stated that social media has considerable psycho-social effect, hitting us hardest when we feel weak or less privileged. When people keep their brains busy with digital input, they are forfeiting downtime that could allow them to better learn and remember information, or come up with new ideas.

Rising levels of hearing loss in the younger age group are attributed to extended hours of cell phone usage.

One of the most intriguing aspects of the internet is we have outsourced our memory to search engines. The retention of knowledge in our brains is now replaced by on-demand access to knowledge in the collective brain of the internet.

Internet has a profound impact on us. All these devices have their place, but we need to use them in a measured way. We need to make our world and our lives less hazardous.

H N Ramakrishna, Bengaluru

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