Source: http://fusion.net/story/184582/heres-the...

There’s a long history of fear when it comes to technology’s impact on our lives. As Bell pointed out in Slate back in 2010, the 16th century scientist Conrad Gessner had similar concerns about how information overload from mass production of books might harm the mind after the advent of the printing press. Such observations have been made for centuries, and likely will be made for centuries to come, when we’re wrestling with the impact of the chips in our brains and yearning for the days of the simple iPhone.

Mills and Bell’s papers both come to the same conclusion: we simply need more research.

“We need to recognize that use of the internet and digital technology has cognitive and social benefits and to balance these against any risks,” Bell and his colleagues wrote.