How many times a day do you check your email? When you wake up? Before bed? A dozen limes in between? The technology that was supposed to make our lives simple has taken up too much time. The average teen spends more than seven hours a day using technological devices, with an additional hour just text-messaging friends.

The advantage of technological devices is connectedness. Email lets us respond on the go, and we are in touch with more people during more hours of the day than at any other time in history. But is it possible that we’re lonelier than ever, too? That’s what MIT professor Sherry Turkle observes in her new book, Alone Together, which clearly describes our changing relationship with technology.

For Turkic, the biggest worry is the effect the weak connections have on our development. Technology isn’t offering us the lives we want to live. “We’re texting people at a distance” says Turkic. “We’re using lifeless objects to convince ourselves that even when we’re alone, we feel together. And then when we’re with each other, we put ourselves in situations where we are alone—always on our mobile devices. It’s what I call a perfect storm of confusion about what’s important in our human connections.”

Moreover, communicating online is not equal to face-to-face communication. Online, you can ignore others’ feelings. In a text message, you can avoid eye contact A number of studies have found that this generation of young people is sympathetic (有同情心的) than ever. “That doesn’t lead to disaster,” says Turkle, “but the disadvantages still cannot be ignored.”

That’s the norm at Green Bank, West Virginia, where its 143 residents can’t rely on their cellphones or tablets to connect with friends and loved ones because wireless devices are forbidden.

Located within a 13,000-square mile area known as the National Radio Quiet Zone, Green Bank houses the National Astronomy Observatory, which operates the world’s largest radio telescope.

There is a ban on Wi-Fi—wireless Internet service—in Green Bank, along with anything else that can create electromagnetic waves. Officials say the waves could interfere with signals the telescope receives. People can connect with the Internet through telephones or Ethernet cables, but wireless service is not permitted.

Residents say they are happy with their quiet unplugged lifestyle. It allows them to connect in ways that actually matter, said Shelly Chestnut. “You know what? Your cell phone isn’t looking at a person eye-to-eye, or going to their house and speaking and just shaking their hand or giving them a hug and saying ‘How are you today?’” she said.

Some people call the Green Bank Telescope “the GBT”. That is short for “Great Big Thing”. The telescope is searching for radio signals from other planets, among other things. Richard Lynch is one of the scientists who listen for signals from outer space. “All the signals that we find with the telescope so far are just generated by unintelligent stars, galaxies—you know, things in the universe. We haven’t ever found anything from an intelligent civilization.”

For the latest news, people in Green Bank read the local weekly newspaper. When Chestnut needs to look for a phone number, she looks in a phone book. And instead of sending messages on Facebook to her friends and neighbors, she talks to them. In Green Bank, everyone knows each other and communication is almost always face-to-face.

People are less willing to rely on their knowledge and say they know something when they have access (接近) to the Internet, suggesting that our connection to the web is affecting how we think.

Professor Evan Risko, of the Department of Psychology at the University of Waterloo, led a recent study where the team asked about 100 participants (参与者) a series of general-knowledge questions, such as naming the capital of France. For half of the study, participants had access to the Internet. They had to look up the answer when they responded that they did not know the answer. In the other half of the study, participants did not have access to the Internet.

The team found that the people who had access to the web were about 5 percent more likely to say that they did not know the answer to the question. Furthermore, in some cases, the people with access to the Internet reported feeling as though they knew less compared to the people without access.

“With the popularity of the Internet, we are almost frequently connected to large amounts of information. And when that data is within reach, people seem less likely to rely on their own knowledge,” said Professor Risko.

Studying the results, the researchers thought that access to the Internet might make it less acceptable to say you know something but are incorrect. It is also possible that participants were more likely to say they didn’t know an answer when they had access to the web because online searching offers an opportunity to confirm their answer, and the process of finding out the answer is rewarding.

“Our results suggest that access to the Internet affects the decisions we make about what we know and don’t know,” said Risko. “We hope this research helps us understand how easy access to large amounts of information can influence our thinking and behaviour.”