To what extent does using Google’s search engine impede our semantic memory (a specific aspect of memory) or our ability to remember conceptual information?
To what extent does Google invade users privacy when scanning for advertisement information?
To what extent do companies trust Google’s advertising tools such as AdWords to help them obtain maximum exposure?
To what extent does Google maintain its privacy policy regarding Google Map’s Street View in European countries?
To what extent has the existence of Google changed the way our memory works?
I just thought of a question I may have more interest in:
To what extent has the existence of Google’s online social world effect communications?
For those of you whose research topics are connected with the issue of privacy, you will definitely want to read up a bit on differing definitions of privacy. The concept of privacy is one that has been much debated among scholars, in courts, and among legislators, especially as it relates to our lives online. Here are some resources to consult:
You should also take a look at the work on privacy that these two advocacy groups have done:
The claim that some make that Google is making people “stupid” is a very interesting argument to debate. While I believe people’s overall attention spans are generally shorter because of new technological innovations, I do not believe that they make people less intelligent. Before the computer and other similar inventions were created, many of today’s simple tasks would require hours of tedious work. College students working on a research paper for example, would need to spend hours at the library researching using only books, and reading endless amounts of text looking for the information they need. Having a better attention span with the ability to concentrate on reading text for long periods of time is what people needed to adapt to in order to be successful. In this day in age, people are just as intelligent. So much more information is available online and people are able to complete tasks or research in a quicker and easier way. I do not believe that the ability to focus on one specific text looking for necessary information for a long period of time defines how intelligent a person is. If anything, I believe Google could actually be making people more intelligent because of all the information it provides.
I’ve now graded the homework from the October 3 assignment where you were asked to find sources of background information on the subject of peer review. Please check your document in Google Docs to see my comments and your grade.
Now a days, if you want to know domething, you google it. It surely helps us find a lot of information you could not easlliy find without the web. However, there are opposing opinions about the use of the internet. Nicholas Carr tries to explore the problems the internet has put upon thi world. He tries to say that the use of the internet is playing with out brains. But, throughout the article, he contradicts his opinions. The way he writes also, seems to be mostly just hs opinion and his colleages who are literature people. Of course, if he asks the people with the same jobs as him, they’ll have similar says to this issue because they are so book friendly. His article really goes no where at the end. He does not have clear evidence to support that the internet is really making us stupid. He goes off track a little when he dicusses the plasticity of the brain. He shows that the brain can adjust to change and that we are uing a difernt part of the brain by usinf the computer. He fails to clearly show us a connection between his main purpose of the article. Overall, his article does not follow up with his title of the article.
Google is in fact making us less innovative thinkers however it in return makes our society a more efficient and knowledgeable community. The difference lies in the fact that a knowledgeable community simply contains vast amount of information and is able to apply it rather than provoke further thoughts. The information however if simply taken as an object will in fact make us more stupid. If you subtract all the other variables and simply focus on the information being read. However if you take the perspective of Google as a community exchanging ideologies and opinions it makes us more well rounded. The human element that google provides is far more expansive than any encyclopedia and may help the researcher get other perspectives and possible implications to a problem. At the same time one might question the interpretation of the word intelligence. It all basically lies in ones perspective of the word and whether it applies to profound thinkers or well rounded knowledgeable people. In my opinion it has made the everyday person more dependent yet well rounded. In the article there was a very strict interpretation of Google as an information tool which neglected the social and diverse aspect of it. The availability of information has gave access for everyone to get accurate facts at the expense of our innovative and ambitious minds.
