Prometheus 6

The research reveals that the average citizen has to remember five passwords, five pin numbers, two number plates, three security ID numbers and three bank account numbers just to get through day to day life.

Given that humans can only keep seven items in mind simultaneously (margin of error there is three, up or down), I don't think we're dumbing down due to mobile phones (that would be television's fault). I think we're being challenged beyond the capacity of unaugmented humans.

Mobile phones 'dumbing down brain power'
By Ben Quinn
Last Updated: 7:52am BST 13/07/2007

An over reliance on technology is leading to a dumbing down of the nation’s brain power, according a study published today.

In a society flooded with mobile phones, Blackberry devices and computers of various shapes and sizes, a quarter of all Britons do not know their own landline number while as little as a third can recall more than three birthdays of their immediate family.

The research reveals that the average citizen has to remember five passwords, five pin numbers, two number plates, three security ID numbers and three bank account numbers just to get through day to day life.

Six out of ten people claimed that they suffer from “information overload,” stating that they need to write these numbers down in order to remember them.

However, more than half of the 3000 people surveyed admitted to using the same password across all accounts, leaving them at risk of potentially severe security breaches.

Professor Ian Robertson, a neuropsychology expert based at Trinity College Dublin who carried out the study, said: “People have more to remember these days, and they are relying on technology for their memory.

“But the less you use of your memory, the poorer it becomes. This may be reflected in the survey findings which show that the over 50s who grew up committing more to memory report better performance in many areas than those under 30 who are heavily reliant on technology to act as their day to day aide memoir.”