Technology is making us stupid
Today we are relying more and more on the internet. We are constantly looking up facts on Wikipedia or google. I’ve come the the realization that the more we rely on these technologies, the less we will be able to remember stuff.
Every time I need to find out something quickly, I google it. Even worse, I’ve begun to google things I already know the answer to (just to double check). It’s almost as if the information on the web is the ultimate source of truth. But hold on, how can you tell of what your reading online is fact or fiction? Aside that, I’ve begun to do worse things!
Now I look up experiences, such as how to best open a coconut or a good receipt for potato pancakes! It’s as if my own way of doing things is not good enough anymore, and I must consult the great oracle all the time. What ever happened to trial and error? Or figuring it out myself? You may be thinking, “why waste time, if you can get the best way to do it online?”
The information sources on line have been incorporated into my life so much, it’s like having a second brain of sorts. A brain where I have access to the collective knowledge and experiences of millions of people. It’s not until I went away on vacation that I began to notice what a problem this was. I felt like I was going through some kind of technology withdrawal. These were withdrawal symptoms from not having my second brain. But luckily I soon adapted. And I began to imagine how much power the “content writers” of the Web have. They are in-effect thinking for people, who are relying on their opinions/knowledge of the facts.
Having access to all of this information is a great thing, don’t get me wrong, but you may not realize how much it has a hold on you unless you unplug. -MP
Filed under: Technology | 2 Comments
hey that was a gud comment on technology… bcos i feel i also google things which i knew it already… we rely on technology so much that we stopped using our “brains”, but use “google”. I am not an enemy of google as such, but we rely much much on technology, rather searching our chambers of brains, we search google…
I suppose we are dragged slowly into the miocene epoch days, where only dinosaurs ruled. As we can compare “google” as a huge dinosaur which is sub-consciously ruling us….
How about?! View Google and other sites like an index that we can utilize to improve or add to our own thoughts. We used to read books to learn and listen to others to gain an opinion or to confirm our own. What if? You have more confidence and OWN our best judgment. That’s the best we can do. In the past we didn’t run to the library to confirm someone’s statement. So, in the present we do not have to open our PDA to confirm a statement. It’s only a statement which should not alter your best judgment regardless of whether the statement is true or not.
The problem is how society is easily manipulated by tricky methods of marketing. And this affects everything we do from how to make apple pie to who should be our president. Return to trusting our own voice and don’t let it change whether a statement is fact or fiction decide whether you like something or not!