Outsourcing Memory

Carr’s arguments concerning memory propose some interesting ideas. The arrival of the limitless and easily searchable data banks of the Internet has not only changed the way we view memorization, but the way we view memory itself. The Internet has become a replacement for personal memory, rather than an aid for it. Memory nowadays is viewed as artificial memory. According to Clive Thompson, the Internet is an “outboard brain” that is taking the place of inner memory. He says that “by offloading data unto silicon, we free our own gray matter for more germanely ‘human’ tasks like brain-storming an daydreaming.” Our memory has essentially been “outsourced.” Memorization is beginning to become obsolete since it is so easy now to retrieve information via the Internet. With Google, memorization has become jeopardized. Rote memorization is a thing of the past. How we view memory is comparable to the metaphor that portrays the brain as a computer. It is compared to a hard drive to store data. However, this view of human memory is incorrect. The human brain is much more than a place to store data; biological memory is constantly dynamic and perfecting.