More electronic gadgets = lower IQ?

wrote, On 10/22/2014 5:02 PM:
On Tuesday, October 21, 2014 4:08:15 PM UTC-4, Craig R. wrote:
;-) Perhaps we can infer a correlation between the proliferation
of electronic gadgets in our cockpits with the dumbing down of
glider pilots? There are Standford University studies that indicate
that multitasking can lower your IQ or that "people who are
regularly bombarded with several streams of electronic information
cannot pay attention, recall information, or switch from one job to
another as well as those who complete one task at a time".
http://www.forbes.com/sites/travisbr...udies-suggest/


RAS posts seem to verify these studies!
So, the obvious solution is to dump all the spendy computers, fly
with basic instruments, enjoy the scenery, and preserve the gray
matter! Fly safe and have fun.

I'd have to agree with Kirk 66. Flying my glider completely focuses
my attention as only a few other activities (such as piano or
juggling) can. After flying I frequently marvel that not once during
the rigging, flying or derigging has my day job even briefly crossed
my mind. AW

The Forbes article was not a very good one, because it did not tell us
what a "task" is. They gave examples like writing an email during a
meeting, but how do we relate that to glider flying?

Fact is, "glider flying" is an activity, a complex task that is
comprised of other tasks, such as Aviating, Navigating, and
Communicating. The accomplished pilot chooses the devices that allow him
to best accomplish each of those tasks.

Navigating, for example, might be done simply by looking out the canopy
if the pilot is familiar with area, or in unfamiliar areas with a map,
whether paper or electronic, depending on the skills possessed.
Communicating might be done with a communications radio (requires
talking/listening), or an inReach/SPOT device (little or no pilot action).

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to
email me)
- "A Guide to Self-Launching Sailplane Operation"
https://sites.google.com/site/motorg...ad-the-guide-1
- "Transponders in Sailplanes - Feb/2010" also ADS-B, PCAS, Flarm
http://tinyurl.com/yb3xywl