Comments on: Does Google Make Us Stupid? Let me count the ways

By: alittleclarity

alittleclarity — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 06:52:18 +0000

Hi Ted,
Coincidentally, I just saw something… today. But I was doing so much research, I only had time to think, “oh, hey, that’s like the Google post,” and then it was on to the next thing.

I will look for a couple more resources and send them to you/and post them tomorrow.
Thanks for stopping by!

By: Ted Burrett

Ted Burrett — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 06:47:53 +0000

After reading through this article, I just feel that I need more information on the topic. Could you suggest some more resources please?

By: Acts of Sedition, Contrition and Prosti..tition? Why we still need newspapers like the New York Times « Alittleclarity’s Weblog

Wed, 04 Feb 2009 09:19:34 +0000

[...] 26th issue of the New Yorker, Back Issues: The Day the Newspaper Died, is a bit of a slog (See: Does Google Make Us Stupid? Let Me Count the Ways). But it’s worth at least zooming through for the parallels between newspapers as our [...]

By: alittleclarity

alittleclarity — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 06:05:08 +0000

You’re right of course. I just remembered liking Atlas Shrugged at one point — ah, youth. Or less Google. Whichever it was. Thanks for the comment (and reassurance).

By: Christoph Dollis

Christoph Dollis — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 12:32:03 +0000

Atlas Shrugged is a tough slog. The Fountainhead was much better written.

By: Sarah Lafferty

Sarah Lafferty — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 17:38:38 +0000

I have thought about this a lot. I am leaning towards the idea that Google is not really making us stupid, but it is probably making us lazy. My first train of thought is that the ability to absorb long and complex passages does not necessarily equal intelligence, per se. I have always admired writers like Kurt Vonnegut and Dorothy Parker whose brevity (the soul of wit) was essential to their form. These writers managed to get very profound ideas across without turgid and lengthy prose leaving room in the spaces in between for quiet contemplation. Salman Rushdie and James Joyce on the other hand never drew me in. Too showy and didactic for my tastes. So people are wired differently for consuming information, regardless of the Internet. I do think it is worrying that people are becoming so dependent on Google and other on-line resources that they cannot imagine writing any kind of report or analytical document without consulting them. Two things are lost in the commoditisation of information – the joy of discovery and a natural, slower pace that gives room for contemplation and analysis.