No, it’s because too many things are competing for long term storage.
Let’s go back 50 years, before the internet.
How many strings of random numbers did we have to keep in our heads? A few phone numbers, maybe social security and your main car’s license plate. Oh, and your anniversary.
A rolodex would handle everything else you needed infrequently.
Now look at today... 200 Facebook friends, hundreds of cell phone numbers, passwords for half a dozen computers and dozens of websites. Separate critical passwords for banks or government sites. Email addresses by the hundreds.
You have to choose what you will focus your attention and memory on. I bet those same people CAN call up a bunch of other memorized stuff but the question is WHICH stuff and are they making good decisions about what to remember?
I don’t blame anyone these days when someone asks what did you do on monday and it takes a while to come up with it... that’s the kind of load modern life places on our memories. Things like dinner on monday aren’t important. Other things are.
In one respect I agree we are “doing it wrong” by letting tech rule us rather than the other way around. In another respect the question is “so what?” as long as you have the info you need organized and stored where you can get at it?
I sense that the concept of digital amnesia.....came about to fulfil the focus for a Government Grant..sponsored study!!