101,899 Google searches, 9,988 tweets, and 1,157 Instagram posts all in one second: the modern world, and life in general, revolve around the internet when, in fact, it should be the other way around. Technology is a tool created by humans to assist us, but it appears that technology has the upper hand in our lives.

Due to the internet, people no longer have reason to memorize information as they once did. Instead of memorizing the exact information, we now remember where we wrote down the information or remember the person who knows this information. This effect is better known as the ‘Google Effect’ which promotes a type of memorization called ‘transactive memory.’ Transactive memory is a psychological hypothesis first proposed by Daniel Wegner in 1985 and is defined as the “memory system of a group being greater than that of an individual.”

What this means is that people tend to remember who or what has the information needed rather than what exactly that information was. “I use this type of memorization daily,” said Najiha Uddin ’23. “When I need to remember what I have scheduled for the day, my first instinct is to go to my mom and ask her what I have to do.” These are just a few of the many ways in which we use transactive memory in our daily lives.

According to a study done in 2011, individuals tend to rely on the internet rather than other people as their source of transactive memory. The study was conducted with three different groups of people. All groups were given the same words and phrases to memorize, but one group was given computers and told that they would have access to the computers later. The second group was also given computers but told they would not have access to computers later. The third group was not given computers in general.

When the first group was asked what the words and phrases were without their computers, they showed a tendency to remember where the words and phrases were located, but could not recall the exact words. A majority of the second group showed that they were more successful than the first group in memorizing the exact words though some struggled and remembered only the folder in which they wrote down the information in. The third group, however, had much greater success in remembering the words compared to both of the previous groups. 

“This has definitely happened to me because even though I can’t remember what exactly I have to do as a homework assignment, I know that I can find it in my notes app on my phone or on Google Classroom,” said Kenneth Lee ’24.

Similar types of studies have been conducted on numerous occasions in recent years, especially due to the rise in internet use among all generations. The significance that the findings hold is that the way people’s brains are wired are inevitably and unknowingly changing due to the internet.

However, this is not necessarily a dystopian change as some may think. Scientists argue that this use of transactive memory actually helps society because it encourages people to communicate more. When in need of information, people go to ask others around them for that information which results in more social interactions. 

“I agree with this statement because honestly if I didn’t have to ask anyone for information I could remember on my own, I would most likely interact with people about half as much as I do right now,” said Nema Khan ’24. She elaborated, “I ask my friends all the time what the homework was or when the due date for an assignment is, and that naturally leads to us talking and meeting up more. But if that part of my day were gone, I would probably be a lot more isolated.”

All in all, although the internet lowers the effectiveness of an individual’s memory, it improves the memory system of a group and positively affects society as well. The increase in social interaction allows for the creation of stronger connections, leading to a more closely bonded society.

101,899 Google searches, 9,988 tweets, and 1,157 Instagram posts all in one second: the modern world, and life in general, revolve around the internet when, in fact, it should be the other way around. Technology is a tool created by humans to assist us, but it appears that technology has the upper hand in our lives.