Has the Internet Changed the Way We Think?

It's a good thing, but we as data processors must not allow the internet to take us completely out of the loop. There is good and bad information on the internet and it is up to us to separate the chaff from the kernel. This can only be accomplished by traditional thought processes. If we lose those processes because we abandon outselves 100% to rely on the internet, we may end up de-evolving. We can never allow the internet to become our master.

I don't know... I can't remember the advent of the alphabet, printing press or clock very well... but i remember the desktop computer, and world wide web. (more specific than internet, which was created by DARPA in the '60's) I also remember when there were no cell phones... for 6 years when I was a kid, we actually had a wooden crank phone, on a party line... (Balderson Telephone Exchange)

The internet will have some effect. There is a definite trend towards the increasing exchange of information. I don't know if this will improve the quality of that information, or the ability of users create comprehensible literature.

Eventually new languages may emerge, which support higher volumes of information to be transmitted more efficiently.

Chris

Reminds me of the following:

Young woman comes to jeweler and buys a watch. Three days later she comes back and complains it has stopped.

The jeweler takes the watch holds it to ear, winds it up and says:

"Nothing wrong with it, it works".

Woman. "What, you wind it up? It has no batteries? Why has nobody thought of this before?"

What ever is offered on the net should be looked at in a way that translates to the real world, life. It works both ways and this joke translates to many other applications. It is not the time registered that counts but the time spent creating something new.

Master and slave? Who cares, if it works it works for me, Ky.

WHOA! I thought Al Gore invented the internet?!?!?!?!?

He was an early adopter (in government circles), and a promoter and investor.

It boggles my mind that this crap about Al Gore is still around. He made (as far as I know) no technical contribution to the net, he didn't write any of the code, but his role in the Senate was critical to its timely development. People who say otherwise are operating at a Jr High level of word-play and a 'doo-doo-head' level of snarkiness.

I had read the wiki part on his involvement. I have no direct knowledge. I know he didn't 'invent' it. I am certain he misspoke himself, and have heard that he admitted that. That being said, he does seem to have had some contribution to its growth, if nothing else, than in marketing it within government circles, rather forrest gump like.

again, I have no direct knowledge. What would you say he contributed?

I have become an information junky that seeks instant gratification. The internet suits me well.

I has changed the way that I think. What used to take days or weeks of searching for information, I can now Google it and get a good starting place that leads me to what I need in short order. When I travel up north and I am cut of not only from the internet, but cell phone service as well, I felt naked and isolated. I thought to my self, how did I ever function before the internet. I want access to as much information as I can all the time.

I can only imagine how the average teenager would act if they tossed into a situation where there was no internet or cell phone service. They grew up with this stuff. It would make for a good sociological experiment.

As Ronseto points out, how we use the internet is our choice. There is an unprecedented amount of content out there. Some of it is enormously helpful and detailed, some of it very misleading and superficial. If people prefer the superficial stuff, that is because they have become comfortable with that style of 'information', probably through exposure to commercial television and low grade education. The internet allows us much more efficient in our pursuit of either of these choices.

Internet has given the people to interact with other people anonymously. This has brought about a new type of road rage called NERD Rage.

No longer do kids have social get togethers to go to the Public Library and work on homework assignments. There's not so much emphisis in knowing how to cite your works from a book but more is put into how to identify online references as being a credible source for information.

Kids aren't playing games outside like they used too. They prefer to play on the computer or xbox. There's even entire websites they can go to and watch cartoons that aren't available on TV.

When I was a kid, we used to have neighborhood BBQ's. I don't see that anymore. I really don't see neighbors interacting much at all anymore. Except for the ones that don't have internet.

People have become so attracted to communicating through the internet that their real life marriages are suffering from it. It is addictive and really does promote anti-social behavior.

So if you ask me if it affects the way we think, then I'd have to say yes it does and not in a very positive way either.

Anti-social behavior ??!!!! Why you &%#$!*& ............

Here is an interesting article on how the internet may be changing things. This is but one small aspect of the change but I find it a very real one.

While the net allows instant communication, instant data retrieval and provides instant connection to people all over the world it has actually decreased "contact" with our fellow human beings. I worry that this is not a good thing.

I met my wife 17 years ago on a BBS. Don't know if anyone remembers those things.

She had a very slow modem , I think it was a 25K, I had just upgraded to a 33.6K and found this BBS. Only 1 person able to log in at a time. This BBS had "Rooms" and "Private rooms", we started in the rooms and left messages, upgraged to the PV, left messages, created our own room and months later met for real and she was just up the road from where I lived. We hooked up and Life is Great! As for the internet, we sorta grew up with it. I use it every day at work and home. Mostly for electrical engineering where I work, my wife is on Ancestry and has gone back past the Mayflower to track down her ancesters, I believe she is past the year 1540. As for the internet changine the way we think. Not at all, has it enriched our lives? Yes, as long as you check the resources. There is much information out there, some not so accurate, much is. "You" need to decipher that info of which you seek. I still think the same way as I always have. I still think Einstein was Brilliant and his theories are top notch, I still think Nicola Tesla was one of the best inventors of all time, even if he was way beyond his time. I still believe perpetual motion can be achieved. That has not changed since I was 5 years of age. And I am still working on a few designs still. So the internet has not changed what I think, but it has changed the way I do things. Especially work related and my lap top in the ability to save files in a pdf format in files and get that information in seconds. I no longer have to remember anything, It is all right there on my screen. Einstein said once, if you can write it down, you have no reason to remember it to clog your mind, just read what you wrote. That works for me.

It is late, my brain is fried. So if I have grammatical errors or spelling errors, I appologize. I am older now and should have been in bed 2 hours ago. Thanks to the internet, this is probably my only real issue. I am still learning all I can. And I have to thank those that created CR4 and those on CR4 for posting and answering those posts. I learn something every hour I am awake! So thanks to the internet for sites like CR4!

Jim

"I still believe perpetual motion can be achieved."

The good news is that this is true! The bad news is that you need an entire universe, and nothing less, to make it work!

Your conviction is an ancient memory from before you were born, when you knew that a universe was no big deal.

Chris

The Internet is a marvel of "information" and "facts".. although as pointed out, some "facts" aren't really facts at all... just study statistics.

But to what avail? Most knowledge is just intellectual BS. Real knowledge is experience. Seek to find the answer to the "Mystery of Life." There is a wonderful "Internet" display at the Third Eye. Look for this "connection."

There are lies, than there are damed lies and than there are statistics!