Because it's there, dummy

... to paraphrase British mountaineer George Mallory's response when asked why he wanted to climb Everest. (Mallory and his partner Andrew Irvine disappeared somewhere along the way to the summit.)

It is an ongoing source of fascination to me why so many people choose to spend their spare time in front of a computer screen. Work computer time I understand - it is the medium through which most business gets done. But after work, the last thing I want to do is to be fussing on my laptop and browsing the Internet. I really, really don't want to do it. It's bad for the posture, it's bad for the eyesight, it's bad for the brain, and it's bad for your life.

The main difference between a computer's processor and your brain is consciousness. (Believe me, your computer really doesn't give a toss about anything.) Yet, more and more people, more and more of the time, turn to their computers for socialising, entertainment, and creative pursuits. Trouble is, it's a computer.

Washington professor Dr Eric Chudler points out that despite the differences in the way messages are sent through wires and neurons, computers and brains perform many similar functions. “For example, both can store memories, and brains use neuronal circuits throughout the brain. Both computers and brains can be modified to perform new tasks. New hardware and software can be installed in computers to add additional memory and programs. The brain undergoes continual modification and can learn new things. The brain can sometimes rewire itself when necessary.”

After work, the last thing I want to do is to be fussing on my laptop and browsing the Internet. I really, really don't want to do it.

Janet Paterson, editor, ITWeb Informatica

But it's still a computer. Human beings are inherently social. Social interaction is fundamental to health and survival. When social interaction deviates too extremely or too regularly from the real thing, it shows. Canadian neuroscientist Simon N Young puts it like this: “Given the importance of social interactions for humans, it is not surprising that most psychiatric disorders involve some disruption of normal social behaviour, and that in several disorders, abnormal social functioning is one of the central symptoms. Examples are autism, social anxiety disorder, borderline personality disorder and schizotypal personality disorder.”

A couple of years ago, King's College in London carried out studies (commissioned by HP) on the effect of computer use on the brain. Doziness, lethargy and an increasing inability to focus reached “startling” levels in the trials by 1 100 people, who also demonstrated that e-mails in particular have an addictive, drug-like grip. The average IQ loss was more than double that found in studies of cannabis users.

Human society, be it in Manhattan, Cape Town or the Surui tribe in the Brazilian Amazon, is organised into predictable relationships and patterns of social engagement - patterns which shape both individual and collective behaviour and identity.

Some might say that the growth of social networking is merely an evolution of human behaviour and societal norms, but just because computers, the Internet and social networking are good for some things, doesn't mean it's good for everything. Whether it's wondering why kids don't seem to climb trees any more or why so many people display the sort of sloppy thinking born of the instant gratification cult the Net has accustomed us to, there's no substitute for the real thing.

The whole is often greater than the sum of its parts, and breaking down human interaction into typing and SMS lingo will never substitute being able to read a look on someone's face or smell their perfume.