Maryann Wolf asks whether the Internet is dumbing-down the young:
How many children today are becoming Socrates’ nightmare, decoders of information who have neither the time nor the motivation to think beneath or beyond their googled universes? Will they become so accustomed to immediate access to escalating on-screen information that they will fail to probe beyond the information given to the deeper layers of insight, imagination, and knowledge that have led us to this stage of human thought? Or, will the new demands of information technologies to multitask, integrate, and prioritize vast amounts of information help to develop equally, if not more valuable, skills that will increase human intellectual capacities, quality of life, and collective wisdom as a species?
One word: Yes. I’m guilty myself. As a journalist, I’ve been trained to examine and reflect on all sources of information: What are their biases? Could they be wrong? Why are they stating what they’re stating? Is there other information available elsewhere that is more accurate and up-to-date? Still, I sometimes find myself typing a phrase into Google or Wikipedia and running with the first information that I find. (I never do this professionally, of course. It’s only for personal things.) And that is the complete antithesis of what thinking people — of any age – should do. It’s a triumph of speed over accuracy, laziness over quality.
But the Internet also has other negative effects. As Andrew Keen notes in his new book, “The Cult of the Amateur,” the Internet has discouraged, if not eliminated, creativity. People use their blogs to link to things other people have written. Most news outlets provide their content for free, while online advertising still has not generated significant revenue for most websites. People download music and movies without paying for them. The question that Keen asks is very worrisome: What is the motivation for artists and writers — and perhaps even journalists — to work if they are not paid for it? In Keen’s view, people are stealing art rather than creating it, and amateurs are replacing professionals:
[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=lN_n7I0PM3w]
And, as I’ve mentioned elsewhere, we are grappling with the Internet in nearly ever facet of our lives:
- Attention spans are becoming shorter and shorter as media becomes faster and faster. We are forced to multitask and an ever-increasing level.
- We work twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, and we take less time to rest and relax.
- Privacy is dead (see here, here and here).
- People spend more time alone than with other people (physically).
- Our ability to write properly is dying (see here and here).
I’m not a Luddite; I think the Internet will be a net benefit for humanity. Still, tools are tools, and they can have positive or negative uses. I can use a hammer, for example, either to build a house or to murder someone. People are going to need to recognize the Internet’s negative effects and adapt accordingly.
