Tuesday, December 30, 2025

Digital overload.

Avoid the screen, print offers robust cognitive development.

Make the right choice
Screen reading : cognitive risks

* Leads to brain fog and poorer episodic memory
* Heavy use linked to difficulty connecting ideas and early signs of cognitive decline
* Causes cognitive overload and faster burnout
* Blue light and flicker weaken prefrontal cortex function
* Encourages faster reading and skimming, leading to shallow processing

Print reading : cognitive benefits

* Engages multiple senses - sight, touch, smell and movement of turning pages
* Creates stronger visuospatial and photographic memory for content retrieval
* Encourages deeper information processing and comprehension
* Builds resilient neural pathways in the hippocampus for long-term recall
* Improves retention by up to 20% compared to screen skimming
* Provides a sense of progress and completion that aids summarisation

Case study : Aarav (Age 9)

* Spent 3-4 hours daily on a tablet with e-books, games and videos
* Developed reduced attention span, irritability, poor retention and social withdrawal
* Teacher noted he was "mentally jumping from one thing to another"
* Intervention. Replaced screens with physical books, cardboard puzzles and board games
* Result. Improved focus, better retention and healthier engagement


Tailpiece.

Got up at 5, sent all the messages, switched on the hymns on the home theatre, lit up the puja room lamp and opened up the house for the day.

Morning cuppa with Lekha and my walk on the road outside The Quarterdeck. Recited my prayers.

Breakfast of masala dosas prepared by Lekha. Superb!

Off to town for the following :-

      * Pookkode panchayat, to check as to whether my change of cell phone number has been
         approved. Unfortunately, the concerned clerk was away on leave. Smitha, sitting on the
         adjacent table felt bad since she has been seeing me since the 10th; took down my name
         and number with a promise of informing me if and when the absent girl returned.
      * To the SBI, where Manager Anoop gifted me the bank's annual goodies and pulled out
         money; will update my passbook.
      * Picked up Lekha and went to the ICICI Bank, where all the staff had gone outside, wonder
         where. After a while of wait, Sreerag, an employee, helped us with the updation of the
         credit cards. In the evening, used the cards to find that both the cards were not working.
         Was there a conspiracy to "teach" me a lesson because I'd snubbed Shweta about her poor
         professional competence?
     * To the fruit shop to collect our fruit basket. Came to know about the passing away of its
        proprietor, Mr Ravindran all of 76 years! Felt bad.   

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