Is Google Making Web Surfers Dumber?

CommanderFrank

CommanderFrank

Cat Can't Scratch It
Joined
May 9, 2000
Messages
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Google is the Swiss Army Knife of the internet, making our lives much simpler in regard to internet use. As a result of all this pampering are we the better for it or is it doing more harm than good?


Google CEO Eric Schmidt recently hinted at his company's grand vision for the future of search, which involves Google giving you search results before you even think you want to search. The idea is that as you walk around your mobile device interrupts you and tells you what it thinks you will want to know. You won't Google it. Google will Google you!
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It could make me dumber, but if I google some deep searches then I work hard reading it and get smarter.
 
Until more people get smart enough to use Google for their simple questions, I'm not going to worry about them getting dumber from it.
 
I'm not sure how being able to access information faster could make a person dumber.

It just frees up brainpower to pursue more advanced information.
 
damn guys, check out this picture of a six-headed fire-breathing ladyboy demondog that google images knew I wanted you to see!
 
srangara said:
Until more people get smart enough to use Google for their simple questions, I'm not going to worry about them getting dumber from it.
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YES.

In fact, Google makes me look like a genius. I'm at the point where most, if not all, of the technical problems brought to me are resolved by a Google search. Maybe I should ask for a raise? :D
 
whenever I screw up the spelling of something I type out, I tend to type the word into google and it gives me a "did you mean..." which helps :D

Not that spelling equates to intelligence, I mean just look at all those kids in the spelling bees, they're freaks!
 
Harm.

It's a privilege. Before the internet, you had to do it all on paper and do it the teeth-grinding hard way of going to libraries, pulling out books, etcetera.

Now you have this! That much time saved due to a convenience that is merely just a privilege in life.
 
precariousgray said:
damn guys, check out this picture of a six-headed fire-breathing ladyboy demondog that google images knew I wanted you to see!
Click to expand...

k3861l.gif
 
Like people need help to get any dumber. Technology just enables them to display their ignorance and stupidity in more vivid and publicly available ways than ever before.

I like some things Google offers, but there's also a lot I just don't find interesting. I use their search function, Blogger, GMail, and Analytics. They're handy but I could find a replacement for all of them but search. I still remember using search engines before Google and would rather not relive those times :)
 
Nothing annoys me more than software telling me what I want to do for me.

Besides, the fact that google could potentially know enough about me to try and make these judgments kind of creeps me out.
 
Technically, this should allow people to free up resources in their brain that they can thereby use for more "creative" purposes.

But in order for that to happen, we'd have to teach them how to use them for that reason; and since most academic systems don't focus on that, no one is teaching them how to use those additional resources.
 
fattypants said:
I'm not sure how being able to access information faster could make a person dumber.

It just frees up brainpower to pursue more advanced information.
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Too many people believe everything they want to know is online. Too many people believe what they find online is correct.
 
It is a person's responsibility to retain information and learn. They are not making it easier to do anything you search for, they are not giving you a shortcut in most cases. Obviously, if you use Google to answer math questions, etc. that is a bit different and again, totally that person's responsibility to learn, not Google's.

If anything, I would say Apple has assisted in making people less intelligent more than Google, if either of them have. Since they literally do makes things easier for you, require you to be less intelligent to use some of their products since they are "intuitive". But even then, it is the user's responsibility to learn "how to do their work" and not just give the answer.
 
I suppose it is true that knowing information is available online makes you less likely to bother trying to retain it.

But this is a little bit like saying people who work in a multi-monitor environment are stupider because they can keep reference materials open on their secondary screen.
 
KillerFry said:
Technically, this should allow people to free up resources in their brain that they can thereby use for more "creative" purposes.

But in order for that to happen, we'd have to teach them how to use them for that reason; and since most academic systems don't focus on that, no one is teaching them how to use those additional resources.
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The government doesn't want the population to learn critical thinking :eek:

/conspiracy :p
 
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