Are ten hours a day surfing the net shrink 10% of the key brain regions?

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SarathW
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Are ten hours a day surfing the net shrink 10% of the key brain regions?

Post by SarathW »

Are ten hours a day surfing the net shrink 10% of the key brain regions?
Above statement is from the following video.
What is the logic behind it?
If I spent ten hours a day surfing the net to understand the Buddha's teaching how it reduces my brain function?

“As the lamp consumes oil, the path realises Nibbana”
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Sam Vara
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Re: Are ten hours a day surfing the net shrink 10% of the key brain regions?

Post by Sam Vara »

SarathW wrote: Mon Jan 15, 2018 7:45 am Are ten hours a day surfing the net shrink 10% of the key brain regions?
Above statement is from the following video.
What is the logic behind it?
If I spent ten hours a day surfing the net to understand the Buddha's teaching how it reduces my brain function?
The most specific statement about this in the part of the video indicated is this: "People who surf the web 10 hours per day can experience a 10% shrinkage in key brain regions, according to one study..."

Even if this statement is true, and made in good faith, here are some problems in applying it.

1) It is one study. Another study might "prove" something different. We cannot assume that the study is valid or reliable unless we know a great deal more about it.

2) It says "can experience". This suggests that, even in terms of the study, not all do; they are talking about extreme cases.

3) It does not explain how the terms "surf" and "the web" have been operationalised. Maybe those people are randomly using the internet, moving aimlessly between sites. Maybe they are engaged in violent on-line games, pornography, posting hateful comments, or something very different from your attempt to understand the Buddha's teaching. What about people who use the internet for hours every day because that is their job? Researchers, etc. Are they similarly affected?

4) We are not given any sense of time-scale here. How many days must one "surf the web" for ten hours in order to experience these changes? A week? Several years?

I don't know, but this looks like an attempt to create an attention-grabbing and sensationalist headline out of sloppy reporting. I think a good rule of thumb is to monitor our feelings and intentions when we use the internet. If it makes us feel and act worse than before, then we should cut down.

Don't worry, SarathW - if we see any deterioration in the quality of your posts, we will let you know! :jumping:
SarathW
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Re: Are ten hours a day surfing the net shrink 10% of the key brain regions?

Post by SarathW »

Don't worry, SarathW - if we see any deterioration in the quality of your posts, we will let you know! :jumping:
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pyluyten
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Re: Are ten hours a day surfing the net shrink 10% of the key brain regions?

Post by pyluyten »

yes, never rely on one single study, especially if you do not have the source. You need at least to know how many people, which method, otherwise this is not a study but vapor.

however, i would not surf 10 hours a day, or only for professional reasons. This is not thtat much "surfing", but more generally "screens". Avoid too many hours. I know because i have too much a day, mostly because of job, and this is a damage to mindfulness

And where you do not have one single study but hundreds, is children. Do not waste chilfren brain with screens.
< 3 years = no screen
< 6 years = only sometimes, like once a week, few minutes
Spiny Norman
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Re: Are ten hours a day surfing the net shrink 10% of the key brain regions?

Post by Spiny Norman »

SarathW wrote: Mon Jan 15, 2018 7:45 am Are ten hours a day surfing the net shrink 10% of the key brain regions?
What about relentless tweeting? :tongue:

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