The story becomes even more intriguing when we turn from our own role as driver or rider to that of highly experienced navigators (cab drivers) of the complex mazes to be found in major cities—such as London. It is precisely the cab drivers of London who have been studied. To be successful at their trade (and to even be granted a license to operate a cab), these drivers must acquire information about the location of every street in London – and this is quite a task.
The key to acquiring what is called “The Knowledge” is their direct experiencing of the 25,000 streets and 20,000 landmarks within a 25 miles radius of London. They drive around the city and learn by doing. Unlike the animals strapped to the trolley and rolled about the maze – and unlike the rider in a car – these is active engagement with their environment. And here is the real “kicker” – the brains of these cab drivers have been tested. It seems that the neural structure of specific areas of their brain that specialize in memory of locations has grown increasingly dense (more neural connections). “Neuroplasticity” is operating at full force. The brains of these cab drivers are changing, so that they might successfully engage and adapt to their challenging world of streets and landmarks.
We don’t have to turn just to the impact of passive observation on our ability to navigate as the driver of our car or to the impact of active engagement on the brains of London Cab drives. We can also attend to the impact which passive retrieval of information from the Internet has on our processes of thought, feeling and behavior. In this passivity, we are likely to find it difficult to integrate this information with what we already know (or believe that we know). The new information is likely to be received in isolation (acting like an engram) and set aside or set up as somehow unrelated to our existing schemata.
We learn and expand our epistemological base when we interact with our world—when assimilation and accommodation are being interwoven with our reception of new information from a constantly changing world. Under these conditions, which regions of our brain are likely to grow increasingly dense with greater neural wiring – and which regions might simply wither away or (more likely) be re-purposed (via neuroplasticity) for use in our adaptation to the changing environment of the new technologies.
