“What is that actor's name again? You know, the one from that movie?” More often than not, our response is, "I’ll Google it."

Today, we can find the answer to almost any question with only a few keystrokes. But, is this expediency helping or hurting us? A new study out of Columbia argues that, in the long-run, it may actually be a disabling convenience. 

According to the neuroscientist-led study, the world’s largest search engine has transformed the way we remember information – because we don’t. After four experiments testing participants’ memory of searchable information, the study found that we remember where to search for information but have forgotten the information itself.

“People actively do not make the effort to remember when they think they can look up information later,” the study’s authors write.

So how dependent on the internet are we really? The study went so far as to compare losing a SmartPhone and hence, our ability to easily access the internet, to the experience of losing a friend.

Do you suffer from the “Google effect?” Leave your comments below.