The regular use of text messages and e-mails can lower the IQ more than twice as much as smoking marijuana. 

    That is the claim of psychologists who have found that tapping away on a mobile phone or computer keypad or checking them for electronic messages temporarily knocks up to ten points off the user’s IQ. 

    This rate of decline in intelligence compares unfavourably with the four-point drop in IQ associated with smoking marijuana, according to British researchers, who have labelled the fleeting phenomenon of enhanced stupidity as “infomania”. 

    Research on sleep deprivation suggests that the IQ drop caused by electronic obsession is also equivalent to a wakeful night. 

    Infomania is mainly a problem for adult workers, especially men, the study commissioned by Hewlett Packard, the technology company, has concluded. 

    The noticeable drop in IQ is attributed to the constant distraction of “always on” technology when employees should be concentrating on what they are paid to do. Infomania means that they lose concentration as their minds remain fixed in an almost permanent state of readiness to react to technology instead of focusing on the task in hand. 

    Workers lose productivity by interrupting a business meeting and disrupt social gatherings because of their infirmity, the report said. 

    The brain also finds it hard to cope with juggling lots of tasks at once, reducing its overall effectiveness, it added. And while modern technology can have huge benefits, excessive use can be damaging not only to a person’s mind, but to their social life. 

    Furthermore, infomania is having a negative effect on work colleagues, increasing stress and dissenting feelings. Nine out of ten polled thought that colleagues who answered e-mails or messages during a face-to-face meeting were extremely rude. Yet one in three Britons believes that it is not only acceptable, but actually diligent and efficient to do so. 

    The effects on IQ were studied by Dr Glenn Wilson, a University of London psychologist, as part of the research project. “This is a very real and widespread phenomenon,” he said. “We have found that infomania, if unchecked, will damage a worker’s performance by reducing their mental sharpness. Companies should encourage a more balanced and appropriate way of working.” 

    經(jīng)常收發(fā)短信和e-mail會(huì)降低人的智商。這種損害比吸食大麻對(duì)智商帶來的損害要高兩倍多。 

    心理學(xué)家發(fā)現(xiàn)，使用手機(jī)或敲擊電腦鍵盤發(fā)送或接收電子信息會(huì)暫時(shí)降低使用者約十個(gè)百分點(diǎn)的智商。 

    根據(jù)英國(guó)研究人員的研究，吸食大麻會(huì)使智商下降個(gè)百分點(diǎn)，而與之相比，經(jīng)常使用電子文本信息造成的智力衰減率更加嚴(yán)重。研究人員將這種暫時(shí)變笨的現(xiàn)象稱為“信息狂躁”。 

    關(guān)于剝奪睡眠的研究表明因?yàn)榘V迷于電子產(chǎn)品而造成的智力衰退相當(dāng)于一夜失眠。　　 

    惠普科技公司委托進(jìn)行的研究結(jié)果表明，信息狂躁主要表現(xiàn)在成年人身上，尤其是成年男性。 

    造成這種智力明顯衰退的原因在于當(dāng)員工們應(yīng)該集中精力工作時(shí)，“無處不在”的科技卻總是不斷分散他們的注意力。信息狂躁是指他們的意識(shí)近乎一直處于一種隨時(shí)對(duì)“技術(shù)”做出反應(yīng)的狀態(tài)，因而無法將注意力集中在手頭的工作上。 

    該報(bào)告還補(bǔ)充說大腦很難同時(shí)應(yīng)付許多難題，其整體效率會(huì)降低。此外，雖然現(xiàn)代科技可以給予我們巨大的幫助，但過多地使用科技也會(huì)給人們的大腦和社會(huì)生活帶來危害。 

    此外，信息狂躁對(duì)同事也有負(fù)面影響，增加他們的壓力和敵對(duì)情緒。90％的被調(diào)查者認(rèn)為在面對(duì)面會(huì)議時(shí)回電子郵件是非常無禮的行為。但是三分之一的英國(guó)人不僅可以接受這種行為，而且覺得這樣做說明自己工作勤奮、高效。

    倫敦大學(xué)的心理學(xué)家Glenn Wilson博士正在做一個(gè)名為“這是一個(gè)真實(shí)的的普遍現(xiàn)象”的研究項(xiàng)目，信息狂躁對(duì)智商的影響是其中的一個(gè)部分。他說：“如果不進(jìn)行檢查控制，信息狂躁將會(huì)降低員工的精神敏感度，進(jìn)而影響其工作效率。所以，公司應(yīng)提倡一種更加平衡的適當(dāng)?shù)墓ぷ鞣绞健?rdquo;