Email Lowers IQ

Email distraction lowers IQ according to a recent British study. A study determined that distractions caused by email found that people who do frequent email or SMS suffer a 10-point IQ drop - more than twice the IQ drop caused by marijuana (4 pts). The study found the IQ of those who tried to juggle messages and work fell by 10 points -- the equivalent to missing a whole night's sleep


According to CNN, workers distracted by phone calls, e-mails and text messages suffer a greater loss of IQ than a person smoking marijuana. The constant interruptions reduce productivity and leave people feeling tired and lethargic, according to a survey carried out by TNS Research and commissioned by Hewlett Packard. You can read the full story here, but please, please do not forward the link to your friends.

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How does one "instantaneously" measure a person's IQ?

Seems fishy to me.

Secondly, I bet there are lots of thinks that temporarily lower one's IQ.

For instance, when a beautiful woman enters a room - every man in the room has their IQ drop by 30.

If she smiles at a particular man, he drops another 10pts.

If she laughs at his stupid jokes the man has the IQ of a vegetable.

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I find this interesing and I wonder if reading e-mail and working in an environment that deals with e-mail, IMs and such is the culprit to the lowering of attention span? No joke. I am finding my attention span is nothing compared to what it was and reading a book has become a task. But if my IQ is significantly lower, then I will really start to worry.

I find this information very interesting and in fact I've been having some "tireness" when replying to different subject e-mails everyday. I've also read an article some months ago regarding this phenomenon http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/002087.html

My IQ has dropped 30 points in 6 years and I feel really really dumb and lost the ability to play Fur Elisesad

Reduce email distractions. Email doesn't make you dumb, it's just a symptom of taking on too much, which is probably in itself a symptom of something substantial - like personal esteem or knowing your goals, etc.

So, deal with the underlying causes (lifetime journey) and take on the symptoms (email/sms). Reducing your email distractions and other mental overhead is one way to do it. You're not stupid, you're too mentally taxed!

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