Monday, April 20, 2009

The Internet is "making us dumb" & "killing our culture"???...perhaps these proclaimers are just afraid of change!

Of course, as with everything in life, there are people that love it and those that hate it. In this case, it happens to be the internet. I personally love it but can see how there are people out there who believe that the internet has the potential to make us "dumb", such as Nobel Prize winner Doris Lessing. I mean the internet is replacing the conventional methods of obtaining information and contains a lot of information that isn't necessarily accurate by any means. However, don't you agree that it's pretty close-minded to not consider the many benefits that the internet brings? The internet opens everyone up to so much information at the tap of a finger--information in the past that you may not have had access to or would have taken a while to obtain. Yes, there is a lot of garbage out there, but as George the blogger pointed out..."Like any other media, the internet is what you make of it. Claiming that it makes you dumb is like saying literature makes you stupid because my grocery store sells schlocky romance novels at the checkout counter."

Ok now what do you think about the proclaimation that internet is "killing our culture"? If anything, the internet brings culture from around the world to us. Andrew Keen seems to not thing so. The man even loathes wikipedia...how can you hate wikipedia?!?! Wikipedia and Google are my lifelines! Anyhow, if you haven't heard of Keen check out wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Keen

Keen has some rather interesting things to say about his views...check out the video below of when he appeared on the Colbert Report:


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He also seems to have disdain for Web 2.0 primarily in that anyone can add content to the web. But isn't that the beauty of it? Do you really think that web content should be filtered by so-called experts? I do understand the concerns that the web is hurting many traditional forms of professional media such as print papers and forcing them to change. But is change always a bad thing? Yes, it can be painful, but it's essential to growth. To me, it seems that the people that oppose the openness of the web are just resistant to change and feel somewhat threatened. Technology in general has changed the world since as long as we can remember--whether it be the first automobile or the internet--and it will continue to change things so the best thing to do is embrace it!
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4 comments:

  1. WalterApril 20, 2009 at 8:51 AM

    Your title hits the nail on the head. Most internet critics are just reacting instinctively against change.

    Sure, Keen's arguments are [a tad] more sophisticated than that. But the reason he has an audience is that a lot of people just react against change, good or bad.

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  2. KristenApril 25, 2009 at 9:54 AM

    I definitely think the Internet has made me smarter rather then the other way around. Just yesterday, the landscape desginer was at our house going over our new plan. She pointed to a corner of our yard and said, "I am going to put Mahonia Bealei there." Huh? A minute later via Google Images, I knew what those suckers looked like, and said no way!

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  3. Lauren DianeApril 25, 2009 at 4:33 PM

    Something we can always count on in life is change! Why are people so afraid of new changing technology and using the Internet for the right reasons. Information about anything you are interested in searching is right at your fingertips. I think some people aren't looking at the Internet as a positive resource rather as a negative aspect in our society. I'm not really understanding why, but hey everyone has their own opinions.

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  4. BrightInspirationApril 27, 2009 at 8:17 PM

    As much as I agree with you that the internet5 opens up doors to knowledge. I can also understand how it can do us more than good. More harm than good specifically to the younger generation who would not be challenged enough to study the conventional way. the younger generation who would not always have a parent there to protect them from harmful information.

    Yes the internet is great but how we choose to use it is what will in big part determine the fate of the next generation.

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