Thread: Brain damage

There will always be things that change how we learn and think. I am sure computers caused similar lamentation and gnashing of intellects back in the day. As did TV and radio. The steam engine. The printing press. Books.

Give the interwebs time and I am sure we will move from the currently superficial to a more substantial usage and understanding. I mean really, books have had what? 1000 years or so? Longer? Come talk to me when we have lived with and used the internet for a similar time frame and tell me what it has done to people then.

James.

I believe the problem is, in part, a generational issue and the continuing technological evolution of society. Today's generation is wedded to the internet, just as my generation was wedded to television and the generation before that was wedded to radio and talking pictures.

Each of these technologies has improved our lives by providing access to knowledge that was previously unimaginable. But this has come at a cost. People who become dependent on visual or internet technologies to learn about the world may lose their ability to imagine the world contained in a book, magazine or newspaper. A person who becomes dependent on goggle to find the answers to their questions my become deficient in other information gathering skills.

My own experience in the classroom is that today's generation, while profiecient in some areas of what we would regard as being internet savvy are woefully inadequate when it comes to using the www to seek out real knowledge about the world that we live in. A colleague of mine in the law school at the university where I teach had to prohibit law students from using goggle to do legal research instead of Wes Law. The students didn't want to take the time or devote the energy to learn how to use a more in-depth search platform dedicated to their own future profession. Go figure.

I have encountered the same logic used by students to complete research or written assignments in my own classroom. I think it is the accessibility, familiarity with and ease of use that drives students to opt for goggle, etc. It is the internet quivalent of the Encyclopedia Britannica in my day. I had to be taught that the Encyclopedia was not the alpha and omega of all knowledge and that it was simply a general reference--and I think that goggle fits in the same category.

Sadly there has been a general dumbing down of folks in this country. A combination of things I guess. Poor education, poor attitudes about education. I think most people don't have necessary grey matter to make decisions concerning themselves and the world they live in. They just accept what is told to them without questioning it. It doesn't bode well for our country.

I'm of the "it's a tool" camp. Smart people use the tool for smart things, and stupid people use it for stupid things.

Originally Posted by hoglahoo

I don't think memorization inherently improves problem-solving skills

I'm not sure that is completely true.

I do think that memorising and retaining a lot of basic information enables us to solve problems more quickly.
You often see people reach for a calculator when many of us oldies would have already got the solution mentally before the first button was pressed.

In my job, and many others I suspect, time is of the essence and the less time wasted gathering basic information which could be stored in your head instead of a book or a computer, the better.

I also believe that if we have a lot basic knowledge, we become more accomplished at being able to think things through unaided and arrive at a solution.

I reckon those black cab drivers will be less likely to suffer from disease's like Alzheimer’s etc...


Mick

Why should people think when there are so many organizations willing to do it for them? Between the layers of government from city hall upward and the media(almost every article you read or hear is obviously bias one way or the other) all of the thinking has been done for you. Even corporate workplace policy. Modern intellectualism these days consists of nodding your head to what you are told. Its not like it was a hundred years ago when the simplest mistake could cost you your life and analytical thought was of absolute necessity.

I Being the young buck on here have notced that my generations has little common sence some of the kids i know will be telling me about an underage party they went to and then will say that they posted pics on there face book or whatever site they post on. Common sence tells you not to post any picture that might stir up trouble but thats where the common sence thing comes in.

I dont see how anyone could be dunb enough to post something that they know is not a good idea and then they will brag about it. I just wanna smack them up alongside the head and say heres you sign.