Ever heard of Digital Amnesia? Smartphones and Internet can trigger it.

In this modern era of technology people are using smartphones and the internet as an “extension of their memory” and self which may lead to 'digital amnesia', a new survey by Kaspersky hints. In the survey of 6,000 people aged 16 or older in six European countries including the UK, researchers found that people increasingly rely on their devices and are unable to recall important information even about their loved ones. This comes as no surprise since your smartphone allows you to speed-dial your important contacts with a single touch, without actually going through the agony of dialing each and every digit. Stores all the important birthdays and events reminders that you need to acknowledge. The daily To-do list tracks you of all the responsibilities that you need to carry out in a day. The list goes so on and so forth with this gadget providing you with a wide avenue of opportunities. One of the primary reasons why we care to forget such data is all because we feel that we can trust the connected device for backup. In many cities on India and across the world having access to the internet is as quintessential as having access to electricity or drinking water.



Worse yet, ask your colleague what he/she did last weekend, they may have a tough time figuring it out. All because the internet is ruining your memory. This issue can be termed as 'Digital Amnesia' – a phenomenon in which technological knowledge becomes lost to humanity through constant technological advancement. To put it in simple terms it is the experience of forgetting information and relying on a digital device to store and remember it for you. The age has come when we are forcing our brain to adapt to a life with round the clock availability of smartphones and internet. These connected devices have evidently transformed our lives in tremendous ways in each and every aspect, leaving us improved and powerful but let us also not forget about the future implications of this technology which is making us to diligently erase precious moments from our memories and loosing of our important information.



Since most of the important data is stored to our devices, the loss of any such data leaves the users overwhelmed and upset. The thought of never getting back those memories gifts you with a panic-attack. Perhaps our sense of trust with these devices are so high that half of the time we do not care to create a backup for all the stored data. Being forgetful is not at all unpardonable, it happens in all of our lives. But forgetting things can definitely cause you anxiety.



Given below are a few traits that might help you in overcoming your case of Digital Amnesia:

• Make it a point to dial someone the next time when you want to call someone.
• Try and remember important dates including birthdays and anniversary's by mind.
• Create your To-do list mentally.
• Rack your brains out in figuring out how a phenomenon happens before hitting the search button in Google.
• Indulge in frequent flashbacks of the good memories in your life if not our brain is left with a chance of rewriting it with irrelevant data.
• Every time you log in to your online account disable the remember password option and type the password by yourself.
• Memorize your ATM pin number each time you want to withdraw money.
• Avoid using GPS to take you to a place where you already have been once. Visualize the lanes and roads by your self and attempt the ride without any technological aid.



The studies have proved that Digital Amnesia is not just among the young internet buffs but also include a larger adult population who has started to rely on these electronic devices for making their day to day activities organized and simple. So next time give it a second thought when you are about to hit the speed dial button on your smartphone or creating a new To-do list. By doing that you maybe actually saving your brain from a serious condition of Amnesia.