I had a conversation the other day with some friends about how we write essays. I remembered the day when the internet could not be used for research. Not only was it not allowed but also was not possible. The majority of my time would be spent reading books in the library. However, now that the internet is so prevalent my time management has also changed. I now spend the majority of my time editing and organizing a paper. As a result I learn less about the actual topic, having only briefly read a few sentences here and there. The paper itself is going to be better written and with better content but I’m not learning as much nor am I improving my literary abilities. Also since facts are so easily checked nowadays I am more conscious of having a correct date in my paper than having a really sound argument. Do you think that students are more or less intelligent as a result of internet access?
I had a discussion about this in one my CIS classes the other day. Basically I feel the internet is a great tool to use. Notice how I said tool. Meaning something to help you get the job done in a more efficient way and of course a quicker way. People take the internet and rely on it more heavily. When writing a research paper, they go in having no knowledge of the topic what so ever and tend to heavily rely on what the internet has to say. What they don’t take in to account that everything on the internet may not be factual. For example, Wikipedia contains information which can be edited and adjusted by just anyone.
I think the internet is a valuable and useful tool for knowledge. For example, if I am trying to do research or browsing along websites, I find myself jumping from page to page for hours reading and learning. I know if I was in the library I would only pick up the books i think i need but actually spend more time and pick up less knowledge. The internet leads us to so much information and helps with learning more in depth about a topic especially from all angles and sources. I also see the side when saying wikipedia can be false information, but if the right sources are used I think it saves time and gets the specific topics being looked for.
Writing a paper using the internet is obviously an easier and less time consuming way than using books and doing research. I think that people have different ways of learning wether is opening a book or reading an article online, to do a good job on a paper you have to have substantial information that will help the reader understand the point you are trying to prove – you can do that with or without the internet. So in my opinion people are not becoming less intelligent, lazier would be more like it.
I agree with Jocelyn24 ‘s statement because it was the same train of thought that came to my mind while reading the post. I always ask myself and people around me, “What it must of been like living in an age that had not involved the world wide web?” I for one think that school research papers would take 5 times as long as it does now. Also, you cannot bring up computers and internet without mentioning typewriters. Before there were computers, typewriters and handwritten documents were being checked for punctuation and grammar. This means that you had to be very precise with wording and the specific places that you dropped a (,). It also means that the person writing the paper has very good writing skills. In today’s day and age we have auto-correct that does almost everything for us. I say almost because even these programs have their flaws.
Honestly, i think people of the past were and still are better writers then today’s writers.
Jsappol and Jocelyn:
Yes the internet is a faster tool for research than going to the library and reading books. However, the internet give us to ease to scan an article for the one paragraph that has the information that we are looking for alowing us not to have the read the entire article. As a result we did not learn as much as we would have otherwise. This is why I thought that we are not only lazy but less knowledgeable/intelligent.
This reminds me of this excerpt from Plato’s, Phaedrus, on the invention of writing.
“But when it came to writing Theuth said, ‘Here, O king, is a branch of learning that will make the people of Egypt wiser and improve their memories; my discovery provides a recipe for memory and wisdom.’ But the king answered and said, ‘O man full of arts, to one it is given to create the things of art, and to another to judge what measure of harm and of profit they have for those that shall employ them. And so it is that you, by reasons of your tender regard for the writing that is your offspring, have declared the very opposite of its true effect. If men learn this, it will implant forgetfulness in their souls; they will cease to exercise memory because they rely on that which is written, calling things to remembrance no longer from within themselves, but by means of external marks. What you have discovered is a recipe not for memory, but for reminder. And it is no true wisdom that you offer your disciples, but only its semblance, for by telling them of many things without teaching them you will make them seem to know much, while for the most part they know nothing, and as men filled, not with wisdom but with the conceit of wisdom, they will be a burden to their fellows.”
I think a great scene showing the essence of this quote is the bar scene in Good Will Hunting.
You have to define intelligence before you can answer this question. Here’s one of my favorite quotes from my favorite author, Fyodor Dostoevsky, “He’s an intelligent man, but it takes something more than intelligence to act intelligently.” There’s a difference between being well educated and being intelligent, and even different types of intelligence. Everyone has different abilities and aptitudes. Albert Einstein once said “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” Would you argue that Mike Tyson, Michael Jordan, or Michael Jackson were not all as intelligent as someone like Stephen Hawking in their respective fields? Would you call Raymond, from the movie Rain Man, whose mathematical prowess and ability to recall information similar to those of a modern day computer, but was unable to understand simple concepts such as money intelligent? What about Forrest Gump and his saying “stupid is as stupid does”? The ability to retain and recall information has become a neat parlor trick at best since the advent of the internet. I feel that creativity and critical thinking are the best measures of intelligence; now how we would measure that is a whole other matter.
I think we all as a whole have become much smarter than we ever were but fall victim to negativity bias. I also believe that the internet has not made us less intelligent but rather less attentive and patient. We have become a society that has grown accustomed to instant gratification. We want things quick and we want it now. I applaud you if you even made it this far as I wouldn’t have bothered reading such a long comment myself. Eli Pariser touches on this subject in chapter three aptly named “The Adderall Society.” As Baruch Espinoza once said “All things excellent are as difficult as they are rare,” and intelligence and wisdom is without a doubt most excellent.*air guitar*
I never intend to write such long comments but I just have this urge to explain myself when I put thoughts down. I also use a lot of quotes because “someone else has already said it best, so you can’t top it.”