Is the Web making us stupid?
October 28th, 2008 | Published in Reading, Technology, Web | 1 Comment
There’s a great article at the Atlantic that’s worth reading: Is Google making us stupid?. I don’t think it is, but I do think it’s changing things, and probably in ways we haven’t begun to realize yet. It’s an interesting observation, and definitely something to think about.
October 29th, 2008 at 11:16 am (#)
That was a really interesting article. I think it is two fold and while I agree with some of the conclusions of the author, but I don't think google is making most people stupid.
In regards to my browsing, I can certainly attest to a low attention span. I can get completely scatological and, quite literally, be looking at information about building a boat one second and a picture of a cat the next.
I don't think this is really the fault of google really, but instead more in relation to our nature. Since the flow of information is so free, we are able to follow our natural thought patterns, or perhaps unnatural ones, much easier.
With that said, I would assert that Google actually makes most people smarter. I learned in school, that often knowing how to find the answer quickly is more important than actually knowing the answer. This is the service that google offers, which makes it so attractive. You don't have to known the first 100 digits of Pi by heart, but can find it immediately.