According to an article on CNN, workers distracted by phone calls, e-mails and text messages suffer a greater loss of IQ than a person smoking marijuana. The constant interruptions reduce productivity and leave people feeling tired and lethargic. A study done in London found that the IQ of those who tried to juggle messages and work fell by 10 points — the equivalent to missing a whole night’s sleep and more than double the 4-point fall seen after smoking marijuana. It also found that almost two out three people check their electronic messages out of office hours and when on holiday, and half of all workers respond to an e-mail within 60 minutes of receiving one.
I knew there was an explanation.
I can just see it now: The new movie: Email Madness. Bwah-hah-ha. We now need to warn our children of the danger of email and neopets. Just imagine the story of Bill and Mary. Two upstanding college students, who were lured by a crime ring into a Starbucks with free wireless access. Little did they know that Starbucks was run by a crime ring, which hooked young college students on caffeine and email by supplying free wireless access and “acceptable” drugs. As a result of the lowering of IQ from the email, Bill and Mary were kicked out of Upstanding College (UC) and had to go to “Community College”.
Think of all the poor folks in Mensa, who were borderline on membership, being kicked out due to email. Lives will be ruined.
Not. The definition of IQ is “A measure of intellectual functioning determined by the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children. It contains two subscales: a performance scale and a verbal scale. The performance scale measures the ability to solve problems without the use of words, to think rapidly in visual images and to quickly interpret visual materials. The verbal subscale measures verbal comprehension, which includes applying verbal skills and information to the solution of problems. It also includes the ability to think with words and the ability to process verbal information. The two subscales are combined and the IQ is referred to as the Full Scale IQ.” I can’t see how email affects this.
Let’s file this one in the same category with the research on the obese, and emanations from cell phones. The next thing they will tell us is that cell phones are dangers when driving, without addressing the real problem (which is driving while answering email).
