In this three-part post series, I will look at life in the world today and analyze how it effects us. How increased technology has changed the way we think and communicate. How these effects from technology has completely changed our mindset and the way we need to be entertained and how I think our future will further be affected.
One could classify Google as the greatest invention of our time, or possibly the worst. As a college student, Google is great. Research for papers and presentations can essentially be centralized and prioritized on my computer, and I have access to so many journals and articles available online that I don't necessarily have to be in a library to do said research. And for the procrastinator in all of us, it allows us to put off that project until the night before. That way, with a computer and a couple red bulls, we can do our entire term paper complete with seven to ten scholarly sources in one night. Convenient? Yes. Effective? Most likely not. Hindering? Absolutely.
Be honest, how much of your History paper about immigrants do you truly remember? After all, you were hyped up on unhealthy amounts of sugar and caffeine; and you most likely copy and pasted and paraphrased a bunch of what you read in those articles in your paper without retaining much of the information. That's the beauty of Google. I don't actually have to learn it, I can just look up the information whenever I need it. But does that make us dumb?
No, we aren't dumb. We know a lot of information. A lot of the video games played today are intellectually demanding. It takes military strategy to succeed in Call of Duty or Halo. Some games like Star-craft or other online games take strategy to learn how to successfully build your army and destroy the enemy. Even games on miniclip or addicting games require some basic strategy and knowledge with physics or economics in order to win. But the problem is we aren't using this information appropriately. The kid who plays SimCity religiously knows how to run a good city. He is aware of the effects that high taxes has on a community. As time goes by, he will eventually learn the best decisions to make in order for his city to prosper. But will this kid become an economist or political leader who makes those same decisions in real life? Most likely not. But we need a kid with that type of knowledge, the one who knows how to make a city prosper, today. Our economy is not in good shape. (Granted politics is another obstacle in this whole ordeal, but that's a different topic).
We know a lot of information, but is that information useful in life? Is this information something that can help society? No. The common belief among older people is "don't trust young people." That's an extreme statement, and I think the reason why the older generations say that is because the lifestyles are drastically different. Our parents and grandparents didn't grow up with texting and facebook; it wasn't a social norm for them. And all this increased technology, texting friends all day, checking facebook during studying, and the constant use of google all hinder our ability to retain information. Which, by affect, make us, our generation, appear dumb.
So we continue to explore the digital age. In my next post I'll look more into how I think our brain is affected from this increased technology and the residual effects it has on us. Also keep in mind that everything you read is my personal opinion based on a few articles I've read and one documentary I've watched all based on this same topic. Links to which I will post at the end this series. These are not in any way facts about the digital age or scientific facts; but rather they are my educated guesses. I ask you to keep an open mind and stick with me as I walk you through a topic I feel rather strongly about.
"Education is a social process. Education is growth. Education is, not a preparation for life; education is life itself." - John Dewey
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