Webupon

I hate to say it but Nick Carr is right.  The Internet is making people flat.

It seems almost impossible to find any meaningful insight in social media.  Online conversations appear to be deep and meaningful at first glance.  I stepped into a philosophy forum just to to see what was going on and I was quite intimidated by the vast knowledge that these people seemed to have.  On taking a closer look it was obvious that the majority of questions and responses were just regurgitations of various Google search results and Wikipedia articles.  We have become apparent experts on almost everything because the information is there for us instantly but original thoughts are becoming a thing of the past.

When my son started grade 5 a few years back, we were looking over the list of school supplies and one of the items on the list was a calculator.  I was baffled.  Why would a kid in grade 5 need a calculator?  The school thought was that they could cover more material in the class if they didn’t have to spend so much time on the basics like addition and subtraction.  WHAT????  Isn’t that the point?  My son hated my wife and I for a while, I’m sure.  We refused to buy him a calculator and forced him to learn how to add and subtract with his brain.  It dawned on me that we are doing very little in our society to encourage free thought and expression and we don’t try very hard to build even fundamental thought processes.

I love the Net.  I love the readily accssible information.  I love the way it brings me glimpses of places and cultures that I might never visit.  But I still love the feel of a book.  The smell of the pages and the texture of the cover.  I like the way the words are not projected at me, they are just there and I can choose to take them in.  None of it is forced or rushed.  The thoughts roll around in my mind and I’m not distracted by animated ads or the next link to click.  I like to let the thoughts simmer in my brain and mix with the other knowledge I have picked up along the way in life.  There is a certain rush when a new idea finds it’s place among what you already know and believe and becomes part of who I am.

Take time to think.  You don’t have to know everything.  Strive to build depth and character rather than building a massive collection of sound bites.  In the end, those people who can think on their own will stand out in a sea of mindless button clickers.