When I work with people in the education space, the conversation invariably gets around to the subject of kids in school and the devices they now carry. Some years back there was a lucky handful of K thru 12 students who would bring their laptops to school. They were not really allowed to use them in class, but they could be helpful during study hall or the times in between classes when no one could dictate their use.  Now an exploding percentage of students carry iPhone and Android smart phones, devices that are really just small form factor computers that also make calls. Of course, if you are under 18, you use them to text because they rarely use smart phones to make an actual call. So the population of personal computing devices at schools grew quickly. Today we have added iPads and tablets to the inventory causing the vast majority of kids to have an outboard brain they are highly addicted to using.

They may not think of it as such, but in reality it is offloading many of the bits of data they used to memorize. It provides an alternate method for finding information and solving problems when their brains are not up to the task. It notifies them of appointments and tasks, and provides the connection with their network of friends so they can always be connected. A level of connection that is being imbedded into their psyche to such a degree that the absence of the outboard brain causes abject panic. Pity the poor kids whose parents will not let them use these devices, or cannot afford to supply them with this intelligence augmentation. I am sure that there are a few of you at this moment who really want to rage against the concept that we need an outboard brain. I get it, you have lived a lot of your life without the need. The problem is we have them now, and we are quickly raising a generation that is integrating with these devices, and the massive information source that is the Internet that comes along with them. Game over.

This of course causes issues in the education system because they have been geared for hundreds of years to teach just one brain. Now they have to figure out how to integrate the outboard brain into the equation. Luckily there are a handful of schools that are pioneering this concept, for example, the American School in Bombay, and the International School in Zurich.

But this is really not about kids, it is about me. I have been thinking a lot lately about the fact that I carry a laptop, iPhone and an iPad. I use them extensively in my career. In fact, a large part of the success I have had in the last five years has come from the ability to work from wherever I am, handle lots of conversations in a day, access powerful rivers of information in an instant, and store lots of information I could never memorize. I just left Germany and for some reason my iPhone would not find a carrier. When I connected to the clients wireless, it blocked one of my email accounts. And I had to pay for my Internet connection at the hotel. I would not say that I was crippled, but I was really annoyed. I was somehow less of a force without my tools. There were moments when I would have reached out to the Web from my iPhone for information and it was not available to me. I was left intellectually neutered temporarily.

Could I perform the work I do today without my outboard brain? The reality is not very well. I would not make nearly the money I now get paid. I would not have the number of clients I now have. I would not have the knowledge level I now enjoy. I would not have the ability to solve problems with the speed and alacrity I can now. Maybe it is a blessing that I lived 40 some odd years without really have an outboard brain at my side. It gives me the ability to appreciate what it is doing for me today. Instead of raging against the time it takes for me to learn how to use the new tools that come along with it every day, I embrace the fact that companies are constantly giving me new capabilities and streamlining my ability to communicate, do research, digest knowledge, and problem solve. In the 80’s, I did not have this kind of informational fire power – not even close.

Now I want more. I want a brain computer interface so I don’t need to type and can work at the speed of thought. I want the screen projected on my retina so I do not have to carry around 15” devices just to gain information. I want to build rules based rivers of information that flow to me automatically when I need them. I want my outboard brain to offload everything that is not uniquely human so I can spend my brainpower on building good relationships, creativity and innovation. I want to focus more on the spiritual side of life, and the family and friends around me. Instead of dragging me away from them, I want it to be sophisticated enough that it frees me from many of the tasks I do today that take up time. I am sure this will happen and I am impatiently waiting.

For now I would happy if my outboard brains were always connected and never blocked…

Scott Klososky
Scott@klososky.com