Posted on 06/23/2013 11:34:22 PM PDT by TexGrill
Kim Min-woo, 15, started having memory problems recently. He started flunking tests in subjects that required heavy bouts of memorization. And then he couldn’t remember the six-digit keypad code to get into his own home. He had to call the code up on his smartphone to get in the door.
Kim’s mother took him to a doctor and the diagnosis was shocking: Kim had symptoms of early onset dementia due to intense exposure to digital technology. Since the age of five, Kim was tethered to either the television or the computer. He is an avid computer game lover.
“His brain’s ability to transfer information to long-term memory has been impaired because of his heavy exposure to digital gadgets,” said psychiatrist Kim Dae-jin at Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital in southern Seoul, who diagnosed Kim and is treating him.
Koreans were the earliest converts to digital life, and they may be the first to be afflicted by its most harmful side effects. Penetration of wireless broadband, at 104.2 out of 100 people, is the world’s highest.
More than 67 percent of Koreans over the age of 16 have smartphones, again the world’s highest. And where adult Koreans go, so do the kids and teens.
According to the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, 64.5 percent of teens now have smartphones, up from 21.4 percent in 2011.
Internet addiction was recognized as a problem in both adults and young people as early as the late 1990s. Now Korea is discovering a scourge called “digital dementia” - the kind of early onset dementia, or deterioration of cognitive abilities, that usually only comes about following a head injury or psychiatric illness.
(Excerpt) Read more at koreajoongangdaily.joinsmsn.com ...
104.2 out of a hundred.
I recognise those numbers.
Votes for Obama?
And it was the Soros-funded voting touch screens counting those votes.
Somehow I knew it would be relating to gaming.
This is the society those in power are forging. People so stupid they can only remember maps on games, with twitch reactions for that perfect headshot. I’ve been gaming for 20 years, but I’m not stupid. I have something called friends, real friends that I greatly enjoy spending time with.
And yeah, friends all around that I game with; UK, Canada, wherever.
Well, it definitely ain't doing anything for their math skills.
When I have to remember 45 different loginids and passwords to be online, is it any wonder that I can’t remember what I ate for breakfast on any given day?
I believe I have had enough.
Most likely sleep deprivation and stress are the cause of the young man’s problems. Korean schools are very competitive, and most kids go to “cram” schools after regular school, to prepare for college entrance exams.
But the gadgets make a convenient scapegoat.
Digital Dementia is not just Korean in nature. It hits US citizens as well
For evidence of that, just go to Democratic Underground.
Oh good so you aren’t one of *those* gamers!
Glad to know.
There’s gamers and there’s ‘gamers’. Surely you know this.
If you mean casual versus hardcore, I’m the hardcore type. It’s the only time I have a Type-A personality. People that do things wrong receive no mercy.
You don’t say.
I’d suggest not asking to game with me. I’m... loud and sometimes not nice.
I guess that's why they're one of the highest, huh?
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