The Big Switch

Access to internet connectivity has facilitated faster access to information as well as global communication. The World Wide Web is giving us easy and cheap access to a lot of information; it is also changing the way people communicate with their colleagues. With the internet, Google, and Wikipedia at anybody’s call through tablets, laptops and smart phones, the task of committing facts to memory has become a blur; the web is only making the world dumber. The internet is slowly making humans superficial and scattered thinkers. Scholars who look for answers over the internet commit less to memory in comparison to those that get answers from other sources. These people store information outside their memory in the internet. In addition, the internet cannot be wholly be relied as an accurate source of information. There will always be a site or a page that validates our questions, but there is no guarantee that the information is true.

However, most people take information from the internet to be the absolute truth. Individuals who study texts full of hyperlinks understand less than those who read on physical books. Those who watch multimedia slides will remember little compared to those who read information in a more sedate way. Those who are constantly distracted by updates, emails and other multimedia messages will understand less than individuals who concentrate in their Our brains are always distracted and disoriented while using the internet. People can barely remember anything they read online, unless they commit it to their notebooks.

Furthermore, there is no guarantee as to the accuracy of the information. Simply put, the internet, and especially Google, is making us more stupid.