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.” 

    經常收發短信和e-mail會降低人的智商。這種損害比吸食大麻對智商帶來的損害要高兩倍多。 

    心理學家發現，使用手機或敲擊電腦鍵盤發送或接收電子信息會暫時降低使用者約十個百分點的智商。 

    根據英國研究人員的研究，吸食大麻會使智商下降個百分點，而與之相比，經常使用電子文本信息造成的智力衰減率更加嚴重。研究人員將這種暫時變笨的現象稱為“信息狂躁”。 

    關于剝奪睡眠的研究表明因為癡迷于電子產品而造成的智力衰退相當于一夜失眠。　　 

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

    造成這種智力明顯衰退的原因在于當員工們應該集中精力工作時，“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近乎一直處于一種隨時對“技術”做出反應的狀態，因而無法將注意力集中在手頭的工作上。 

    該報告還補充說大腦很難同時應付許多難題，其整體效率會降低。此外，雖然現代科技可以給予我們巨大的幫助，但過多地使用科技也會給人們的大腦和社會生活帶來危害。 

    此外，信息狂躁對同事也有負面影響，增加他們的壓力和敵對情緒。90％的被調查者認為在面對面會議時回電子郵件是非常無禮的行為。但是三分之一的英國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。

    倫敦大學的心理學家Glenn Wilson博士正在做一個名為“這是一個真實的的普遍現象”的研究項目，信息狂躁對智商的影響是其中的一個部分。他說：“如果不進行檢查控制，信息狂躁將會降低員工的精神敏感度，進而影響其工作效率。所以，公司應提倡一種更加平衡的適當的工作方式。”