The internet isn't making us dumber, its making us more efficient. I also don't think skimming on the internet equates to someone not being able to read a whole book. Is a person who drives five miles every day unable to drive 10? Please.
Doris Lessing argues we're a fragmented culture and that we know nothing of the rest of the world. Oh really? That's a hard pill for me to swallow after seeing how international efforts have pulled together in a big way to help with the Haiti relief efforts. I also know I'm smarter because of the internet because I've covered more intellectual research ground than I would have without it.
Nicholas Carr says the same thing...we can't read longer books and the internet is making us dumber. I just don't understand how you can make a statement like that without showing some numbers to back it up. Show me some proof other than Jay Leno's Jaywalking episodes.
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1 year ago
Agree 100% with you, Andy!
ReplyDeleteI love reading, period. I skim the news on-line in the morning and read classic literature books off-line before going to sleep. I especially liked your comment about how the Internet is making us more efficient. I would even go further and say that it makes us better educated. I do not think I would have knows as much as I do now, if it had not been for the Internet and all on-line resources available, including books!
You are right, some actual numbers should be put forth.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't it seem like every past generation talks about how lazy the next generation is? This is mainly due to the rise of technology such as the Internet.
I'm sure our parents had to hear about how they are lazy because they use the typewriter instead of writing with a pen. Now we are considered lazy/dumb because of spell check. I wonder what we will think about our kids..
This is merely a generational "turf" war except that in this case we're fighting for intellectual pride. Past generation's definition of "hard work" is very different than that of today's generation. Shruti made a great point: typewriter vs computers vs whatever tech our kids grow up with.
ReplyDeleteNot to say one is better than the other, but I agree with your point Andy about seeing some proof in numbers. We always tend to think in terms of "what if..." but the only problem with that is that no 2 era's have the same elements to them making it hard for a fair comparison.