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Is the internet making us dumber?

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This. Regardless of the medium it's presented in, knowledge is knowledge either way. Yes, I'd rather hold Da Vinci's, Einstein's, Locke's, etc, journals or works in my hands and read them that way, but what they convey and what they mean isn't just bound to the paper it was written on.
Certainly the format of knowledge (whether you read something in a book or the same thing from a website) has little or no influence on how well the knowledge gets across, but the internet is not just a different medium. The internet has everything. Compare that to a library A library is more limited in what it provides, and that's a drawback, but haven't everything available to you can be a drawback as well. You need to be more self-reliant on the internet, able to find the good information in a sea of unverified information. I'm not saying libraries are infallible, but you have to admit you're more likely to get accurate information more often in a library than from the internet. Anything can end up on the internet and pose as something of equal value to anything else on the internet.
 

Guy

just a guy
7,128
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This. Regardless of the medium it's presented in, knowledge is knowledge either way. Yes, I'd rather hold Da Vinci's, Einstein's, Locke's, etc, journals or works in my hands and read them that way, but what they convey and what they mean isn't just bound to the paper it was written on.
But what is knowledge if we can't remember it?

The internet is such a wonderful thing, but besides making us lazy, it also keeps us dependent upon it. Compared to doing the hard work or experiencing something for ourselves, I personally think we as people remember less of what we find on the internet than what we acquire outside or from doing the work that the internet would usually just do for us. I'll admit, I know I'm guilty of this myself.

For example, I could read about camping and the different techniques of how to tie a rope or build a tent online, but that doesn't mean I'll remember it once I'm out there doing it on my own. I think while the internet is a great source for information, it doesn't compare to the knowledge we gain from doing the hard work on our own.

Having said that, I don't think it's impossible to at least use the internet to its full potential so we can still retain that knowledge and use it outside of a computer. Use it like a calculotor though, and we're probably going to forget what we learned by tomorrow.
 

Scripturient

I think I've lost it.
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I would argue that the internet is now the ultimate tool for learning. The theory that the internet is "dumbing us down" is pure hokum. Much in the same way that books have beneficial and pointless reading material, so too does the internet. One can either pick up a physics book or 50 shades of grey. One can go to Icanhazcheezburger or they can take online classes. I think tools are what you make of them. So I think that the internet being the ultime communication asset, it is our responsibility to make the most of it.
 
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To some extent I would say the Internet is a very great and extensive 'library' of information. It honestly depends on the activities one person uses the internet for, and for many it's a resource. It wouldn't hurt to pick up a book or two though with internet usage.

I think the amount of time spent on the internet should be more controlled though especially at a young age otherwise it could make them depend on it too much in terms of learning.
 
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If anything, I think the internet is actually making us smarter. Depending on how you use it, of course.
With the internet, we have access to so much information that wouldn't be accessible by normal means. Although, I would say that through school I learn more vital skills, and through the internet I learn more...miscellaneous skills and knowledge. Although, like I said, it depends on how you use it.
I don't think it's good when you start to RELY on the internet for information and what not.
 

Crux

Evermore
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Well met Carchar.
I must say that I personally would prefer to read a real book as apposed to a computer screen.
But in truth it entirerly depends on how you're using the internet for whether it tempers your mind, or numbs it.
 
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  • Seen Aug 2, 2023
Is the internet making us dumber?...when we heard this question each one thought of something different.Someone at math problems,other at reading a book....so the internet make us smarter because we can find info about what we like and we can excel into that domain and that can make us smarter.
 
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You could also argue that the internet is misused in that whenever someone uses it, they are likely to sign into PokeCommunity, Facebook or Twitter.

I guess the Internet is a useful resource for information but it has certainly affected our level of concentration.

We need concentration to be high enough to efficiently concentrate. If we can't concentrate then we can't understand and take new things in.

People, in general, don't know how to use the Internet properly anyway. YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Google and Wikipedia are key sites for any average internet user. If not, THE only sites some people know of. It's a matter of understanding how to use the Internet too, and being capable of searching for and finding new information.

It's not the Internet, it's the people. Some people just don't know how to use the Internet.
 

Pichu2Pikachu2Raichu

Yep, that's me
310
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Uh, only if you spend your time on the net looking up stupid stuff it would make you dumber then you are now.

And I happen to know of quite a few sites that can do just that.
 
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K1ngQu33n

Poke K1ng
109
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11
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I feel the internet is making us smarter and as you mentioned, dumber. If it wasn't for the Internet, we'd all be bored... Wouldn't we? I would at least be dead if it was not for the internet, because I have nothing else to do at my house

The internet helps us and other children/youth in need of research for projects or homework assignments. It also helps us gather information that we do not know about! The internet also could make as dumber because were addicted to it and tend to misuse it for games at other things.
 

Caelus

Gone
2,691
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  • Seen May 26, 2013
Nope. While it might have dumb down the English language due to people not having enough time to fully type out words (Well I guess that's text but it's still very common to see people shorten words on the internet), it's also enabled us to learn about things we probably would not have known about from anywhere else. Take Wikipedia - yes I know people can edit the info there and it's not 100% fact, but they do a good job making sure it's as accurate as possible and you can learn a lot about our history from using it, as well as from several other sites dedicated to different subjects (History of Roman Empire, the Solar System, geography of the Earth, ect.).

Ultimately I think it's all dependent on how you use it.
 

ShinyUmbreon189

VLONE coming soon
1,461
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I believe it is. People don't realize how lost we'd be if we didn't have internet. We'd be completely lost, clueless of what's going on, it would be very hectic. This is the generation now I'm talkin about tho, older generations they didn't have internet so they had to think. The internet has all the answers right there in front of you. Takes no knowledge or brain power whatsoever to get the answer. So yes, it makes us seem less intelligent cuz were incapable of using our brain anymore.

Educations lacking because they teach you to rely on technology. Back then, you had to think to get the answer where now the answer is given to you even tho you put no effort in to get it. Get rid of internet see how intelligent we are then. js.

I've already stated that the internet is the easy way to get information but in reality most of the answers we get can be found out without internet. Whether it be books, school (even tho it's lacking they still teach well some teachers do, it's rare tho), music (music can be a good source of information), opening your mind and for once using your brain to figure it out yourself, etc. Using the internet is making people to lazy to get the answers alone and relying on a 3rd party or technology.

When you read books or get off your lazy ass to figure the answer out by yourself it sticks in your brain longer. If the internet shows you how to do algebra problems do you really thing a majority of them will remember a month later? No, but if they learn it through text books and teachers (if they teach correctly) then yes a majority will remember it). They'll remember even more if no calculator is involved cuz this is forcing them to use nothing but they're brain they were born with. A brain is made to use, not to neglect, getting answers from the internet is neglecting it because they aren't learning anything and they're looking for a faster answer.

Does the internet teach you how to speak English? No, does the internet teach you how to drive? No, does the internet teach you how to play musical instruments and sing? Not exactly, it's completely different hands on. Does the internet teach someone to be a parent? No, does the internet teach you how to do your job at work? No, does the internet teach you how to read? Not really. The internet has true and false/fiction, non-fiction with everything. The way people learn stuff on the internet may be true but may be false.

In other words, the internet will give you the answer but in a lazy way and low life piece of **** way. You won't remember how to do it in the future where if you learn it the legit way, you will. The way schools lacking and the way our society is, we'd be completely ****ed without internet. We wouldn't be capable of learning because schools don't teach anymore. I'm sorry, but the truth hurts, everything I said is nothing but truth. People can't handle the truth and if you reply back with ********, you obviously can't handle the truth.

People will wake up one morning having an issue or something and think they're having heart issues when it's nothing and they get all paranoid about everything because all the diseases or whatever have the same side effects. The internet is our best friend but at the same time our enemy. I don't like using the internet to find my answers, I prefer hands on and learning than visual or auditory and given the answer.
 
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I disagree. Having such a massive source of information that is interconnected through hyperlinks allows a person to easily create a web of associations. When I read a chemistry textbook, I learn about each reaction in a chapter. On the internet, I can find many examples of how these reactions are used in real life, and concrete examples about how one can be combined with another to synthesize a product. It's a proven fact that people learn better when they make meaningful connections between what they're learning versus rote memorization. If you learn from a textbook, you have to expend a lot of effort creating those connections from almost scratch, although I'll admit that would be an extremely valuable skill. The internet helps you make those connections much faster and more completely. There comes a time when you're developing an expertise in a certain subject when you start to feel like you get the big picture - but when you started it felt like you only had discrete concepts that didn't seem to fit with one another. The more you learn, the more clearer that picture becomes. The internet can help us accomplish that. You're not relying on technology per se, it's more of a force multiplier in terms of your learning ability. It's only something we rely on because of its immense utility that we could potentially lose. The higher we rise, the harder we fall, but we wouldn't be less than we would be without the internet.

For instance, I figured out what nutrition and working out was all about through the internet. No university course could cover such a wide range of material, and you even have 12 or so weeks to learn it. If all I had were books, I wouldn't know where to begin. You have to deal with metabolism, and basic chemistry to understand that; kinesiology, and basic anatomy to understand that; and then you'll have to use experiential knowledge to give yourself a context to understand your own health and fitness state. The internet allows you to quickly segue between one subject and the next - this benefits your learning because it's more likely the two thoughts you're trying to connect will still be in your working memory than when let's say, there's a 1 minute delay when you're moving from one book to the next, and looking through the index etc. vs Google.

That being said, the internet wouldn't help you develop critical thinking skills in itself, although it allows you to exercise it and improve it through practice. People who believe everything they read on the internet are probably the same people who unwittingly accept the opinions of the media, friends, colleagues and family. It gives people more opportunity to do/say/express something stupid, but it shouldn't make people dumber than they began.

The calculator example is interesting. For people who will specialize and become experts in math it's not a bad thing at all if you can't compute in your head, because you will be dealing with much more complicated concepts and you most likely have a calculator at your disposal anyways. For your average joe that wants to quickly estimate the cost of this week's shopping list at the grocery store, mental math is much more relevant.
 

Empty Pot

a new beginning...
1,234
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14
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I honestly feel if I were to grow up in a generation without the internet, I'd be quite stupid.
From playing video games like Runescape and WoW to teach me about many lifestyle skills.
To using google to make sure I know what I'm doing before I do it.
The internet has also shown me what I don't want to be, so I strive to avoid that.

Also, without it, I wouldnt know about much in the entertainment world ~
 

ShinyUmbreon189

VLONE coming soon
1,461
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If I may add something; it depends on the way one another learns as well. Some people don't pick up the subject as quick as others. Some need it explained multiple times in different ways to fully understand it, they may understand it but have holes here and they don't get while someone else gets it right out the gate. That doesn't mean the persons retarded or has a learning disability it just means that particular subject they didn't understand, they can have trouble then next subject learn it right then. With subjects especially through school lots of teachers can explain it differently if they're a good teacher, the internet is incapable of "teaching someone to understand it fully". It's reliable but at the same time unreliable information.
 
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Everybody requires critical thinking to make use of any source of knowledge effectively. The internet is probably the best source of knowledge, just simply from its sheer size and scale, and I accept that. Upon the condition that there is unreliable information, I would argue that if you consider the internet as a whole, there will be both radical and moderate expressions of opinions on both sides of an argument, whereas if you take any one source, it will be biased in one way unless you're reading some document that is either scientific, or written by an author for an educational and enlightening purpose so they made sure to add lots of counterexamples. So the internet, taken as a whole - like democracy at its core, which is not simply voting but the openness of opinion and the determination of the public good through debate, is fair. The internet is a very open and democratic institution, as we can demonstrate with our usage of this forum medium itself - how meta. Yes I am trying to slip in a cheap appeal to DEMOCRACY, but my points stands in that you can access expert opinion on both sides of the story.

On a more serious note, even misinformation can be valuable because it can show you just what exactly gets confused - because I feel that when it comes to certain facts or information, only some of it gets confused and not all of it - but anybody who disagrees to this please point out why, because I am totally on the limb of assumption as of this point. Anyways, if it is true that only part of the message gets confused and not all of it, then it can be very useful to us in that we can learn which aspects of any issue is most significant and as well why.

For example, it is a well cited "fact", circulated in no small part by the internet, that 1 in 4 college girls get raped. You would call this misinformation. But we can make positives out of a negative situation and ask ourselves "okay just why is this 'fact' presented as the way it is", and "who could be behind this". And of course the internet will supply a critique of this factoid like no other medium can. To me, this is what the internet so powerful. In fact, I did come up this factoid and resolve its whatthef***ery all within 2 hours yesterday night XD

If we take the case of a person who cannot use critical thinking properly and uses the internet poorly, we cannot blame the internet, for it is a only a tool and not making judgements itself. I recently learned (this happened a few years ago) that a book by John Green was considered to be entered into the English curriculum of an Ohio school district just to have it smacked down by ultraconservative-like elements for its sexual content and profanity, which to them made it pornography. Although teenagers are stupid, they are not that stupid, and are in fact in school for the purpose of developing their critical thinking skills in order not to use the internet as you fear they will. So the moral of the story is that it comes down to a person's own skill and judgement to use any knowledge effectively, and this should not belittle the value of said knowledge in any way.
 
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Yusshin

♪ Yggdrasil ♪
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It's really a case-by-case thing.

The Internet is a great resource tool and definitely makes acquiring information easier.

However,

It's what KIND of information you DO acquire that matters.

A lot of people use the Internet for "good" things like school work, learning about history, other countries, etc.

But lately, I've found that the Internet is actually a bad thing because of the information you do gain access to. As well, since it is so accessible, literally anything and everything is posted online (unlike back when few people had access to the Internet, circa '98, '00 (less common)) and it's hard to decipher what's true, what's exaggerated, what's biased, what's opinionated, and what's straight-out a big fat lie. Furthermore, since anyone and everyone has access to the Internet nowadays, you see a lot of junk and stupid humour online that I do believe is "dumbing" down this generation's youth. It's unfortunate, but going on Facebook and reading sex jokes and looking at images discussing ejaculation, "jizzing," sexist humour, etc. doesn't make you smarter; rather, it seems to render ignorance and stupidity acceptable, which is overall bad.

Again, Internet can be good, but how people tend to use it nowadays is for all the wrong reasons.

There's also the over-entitlement for "freedom of speech" where people think it's a God-given right rather than a privilege. Any discussion can be mature and open without becoming demeaning, racist, sexist, or otherwise insulting. I find myself reading more of these "entitlement" speeches online everyday via Facebook, Google, etc. where people say whatever they want, disregarding facts and evidence, and try to pass it off as true. If not that, they blatantly insult a race, idea, religion, sex, etc. and point out that under "freedom of speech," they have the "right" to do so. Not the case imo. Once you go from having a diplomatic, insightful and educated point of view on a topic to downright insults, it infringes on other people's "right" not to be treated as such or referred to in such a manner. It's a touchy thing.

Speaking of information without evidence, that's also a problem for people who are using the Internet for research purposes. So many people try to pass off what they say as truth with false evidence/fake testimonies or simply no proof whatsoever is why Wikipedia isn't a valid research site anymore. I remember in '07 when Wikipedia was #1 in school. Now, you're not even allowed to cite it because, again, "anyone and everyone an edit it, and who knows what's true or not." So sad.\

If it wasn't for the Internet, we'd all be bored... Wouldn't we? I would at least be dead if it was not for the internet, because I have nothing else to do at my house

Read a book? I never had TV and Internet was a fairly new concept to me until '06, '07 - around 14-years-old, and even then, it was dial-up speed. Back then I would do what kids generally should be doing: reading, studying, playing outside, exercising, learning by doing. I'm sure you have a nice book lying around or a library nearby.

When I moved back to Quebec at the end of September, I didn't have Internet until early February - no TV, either, or phone. I went to the library, read some books, studied, worked, etc. Didn't even really play video games. The Internet definitely is not a necessity of life; it just makes life easier in some ways, i.e. citing resources for school work, looking up the weather forecast, etc.
 
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♣Gawain♣

Onward to Music!!!
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In the right mind and hands it can. It already revolutionized the whole world, and it will and soon be in every person we know.
 
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