{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Cognitive offloading and its consequences","description":"For thousands of years\u2014maybe for as long as we've been human\u2014we've offloaded our thinking. We've counted on our fingers. We've carved tallies into bone. We've invented a long series of tools to help us reason, remember, and manage information\u2014tools like abacuses, calendars, writing systems, calculators, smartphones, and many, many more. So cognitive offloading is hardly new\u2014but the questions around it seem newly urgent. As cognitive technologies accumulate, as opportunities for offloading tempt us at every turn, as headlines warn of "digital dementia" and "cognitive surrender," it seems like a good time to take stock. Yes, cognitive offloading can save us time and effort. But what are its other consequences? My guest today is Dr. Sam Gilbert. Sam is a Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at University College London. Sam and his colleagues have been trailblazers in the study of cognitive offloading\u2014when we do it, why we do it, what it does for us and to us.  Here, Sam and I talk about what cognitive offloading is, how deep it goes in our species\u2019 history, and how it pervades our everyday lives. We talk about the different forms that offloading takes. We discuss why some people offload more than others, and why we offload in certain situations. We walk through three bodies of research on the consequences of cognitive offloading\u2014research on the so-called Google effect, on the photo-taking impairment effect, and on the impact of using GPS to navigate. Of course, we also address the elephant in the room: How should we think about the possible dangers\u2014and benefits\u2014of cognitive offloading in the new era of AI? Before we get to it, some news: We have re-launched the Many Minds newsletter, as a Substack! We'll be sharing each of our episodes there, as well as other morsels from time to time. We've been wanting to do this, in part, to give you a better way to engage with us\u2014and with each other. Were there questions we should have asked? Are there connections you made that we didn't? Counterarguments we overlooked? Et cetera. All that stuff can now go in the comments for each episode. So, if you're a fan of the show, please do consider subscribing and following along with us there. Alright friends, on to my conversation with Dr. Sam Gilbert. Enjoy!   Notes 4:00 \u2013 For a sampling of recent discussions of AI and its possible harms, see here, here, and here. 7:30 \u2013 For a scholarly discussion of \u201cshifting baseline syndrome,\u201d see here. 12:30 \u2013 For an earlier influential overview of the phenomenon of cognitive offloading, see  this article by Dr. Gilbert and a colleague. 15:00 \u2013 For more on the phenomenon of tilting one\u2019s head to view a tilted image (aka \u201cexternal normalization\u201d), see here. For an example of recent work on finger counting in children, see here. 18:00 \u2013 For some of Dr. Gilbert\u2019s work on cognitive effort in cognitive offloading, see here. For another recent discussion of the construct, see here. 23:00 \u2013 For a recent review of \u201cintention offloading\u201d by Dr. Gilbert and colleagues, see here. 29:00 \u2013 For work by Dr. Gilbert and colleagues on the role of metacognition in offloading, see here and here. 33:00 \u2013 For recent work by Dr. Gilbert and colleagues on offloading in older and younger adults, see here. See also a recent review of cognitive offloading in children by Dr. Gilbert and a colleague. 39:00 \u2013 The original study of the \u201cGoogle effect\u201d by Sparrow and colleagues. For more on \u201ctransactive memory,\u201d see here. 45:00 \u2013 For the original demonstration of the \u201cphoto-taking impairment effect,\u201d see here. For recent work by Dr. Gilbert and colleagues exploring this effect, see here. 53:00 \u2013 A recent meta-analysis of whether GPS impairs navigation ability. 59:00 \u2013 The \u2018Your Brain on ChatGPT\u2019 preprint. 1:02:00 \u2013 For a meta-analysis of the effects of calculators on math education, see here.   Recommendations \u2018The Intelligent Use of Space,\u2019 by David Kirsh Cognition in the Wild, by Edwin Hutchins   Tile art credit: Image by NASA via Wikipedia   Many Minds is a project of the Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute, which is made possible by a generous grant from the John Templeton Foundation to Indiana University. The show is hosted and produced by Kensy Cooperrider, with help from Assistant Producer Urte Laukaityte and with creative support from DISI Directors Erica Cartmill and Jacob Foster. Our artwork is by Ben Oldroyd. Subscribe to Many Minds on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also now subscribe to the **new** Many Minds newsletter! We welcome your comments, questions, and suggestions. Feel free to email us at: manymindspodcast@gmail.com. For updates about the show, visit our website or follow us on Bluesky (@manymindspod.bsky.social). ","author_name":"Many Minds","author_url":"https:\/\/disi.org\/manyminds\/","html":"