The study finds that when we know where to find information online, we are less likely to remember it or recall that information. Instead just relying on conducting a quick search.*Since when is not being able to remember something a sign of stupidity? The dumbest person in the world can also have the best memory, no? There's nothing contradictory here. And then there's the quote from Einstein: "Never memorize something that you can look up."** That sounds like the smart thing to do, at least from the standpoint of efficiency.
Stupidity is lack of intelligence. Intelligence is the ability to learn or understand or to deal with new situations. It's also the skilled use of reason. Another definition is the ability to apply knowledge to manipulate one's environment.
Is Google impairing this ability? I'd argue for the opposite. Google is becoming a virtual extension of our brain. While scary I think that's pretty cool.
But judging from my having to look up the definitions of dumbness, stupidity, and intelligence, maybe the author has a point.
* Is that a sentence fragment? Are news articles ruining our grammar?
** A classic appeal to authority. But I wonder, why do people cite Einstein for things other than physics? Because he was a brilliant physicist he was an expert in everything else? Let's cite someone else to help me out. Dear old Nietzsche to the rescue: "If one has become a master in one thing one usually for that very reason remains a complete bungler in most other things; but one thinks precisely the opposite, a fact experienced already by Socrates. This is the drawback that makes association with masters unpleasant." But I think that quote applies much more to Nassim Taleb than Einstein. You don't believe me? Try having a conversation with him about something. And it doesn't apply to me because I'm not an expert in anything!
No comments:
Post a Comment