‘Too much of anything is bad’ this is a very common saying and I feel that it suits the debate about Internet making us smart or stupid/dumb. As soon as I thought of this saying I knew it was a perfect fit, but the first question that came to mind is ‘who said that?’ My instinct is to immediately turn to the Internet and Google it!
So who should I reference when I’m using the saying ‘Too much of anything is bad’? According to Google quite a few people have made reference to this saying and modifications of this saying, but it appears that Mark Twain was the influence in this saying with his quote “Too much of anything is bad, but too much good whisky is barely enough”.
Well this is not quite what I had in mind for a quote – in fact it’s kind of disappointing as I really had no intentions on referencing ‘good whiskey’.
So, why don’t we get back on track here, is the Internet making us smarter or dumber? To begin thinking about this subject I read an article online called ‘Does the Internet Make you Dumber?’ by N. C arr. This article scared me as it is full of scientific facts about how the Internet is making our society dumber, for example the article states that
“The picture emerging from the research is deeply troubling, at least to anyone who values the depth, rather than just the velocity, of human thought. People who read text studded with links, the studies show, comprehend less than those who read traditional linear text. People who watch busy multimedia presentations remember less than those who take in information in a more sedate and focused manner. People who are continually distracted by emails, alerts and other messages understand less than those who are able to concentrate. And people who juggle many tasks are less creative and less productive than those who do one thing at a time.”
By the time I was finished reading this article I was nearly convinced that I should turn off my SmartTV and return my new Galaxy S3 cell phone, as surely both of these devices is holding me back from my full potential! HOWEVER, I did neither of these things. I proceeded to watch Netflix on my SmartTV while Tweeting, text messaging and emailing on my Galaxy S3 AND I opened the link to another article called ‘Does the Internet Make you Smarter?’ by C. Shirky because to be honest, I like the Internet, my cell phone and social media and I DESPERATELY want Internet to be making me smarter…..cause I’m just not ready to give it up. In this article the author compares the media revolution to the 17th century and the invention of the printing press.
“The case for digitally-driven stupidity assumes we’ll fail to integrate digital freedoms into society as well as we integrated literacy. This assumption in turn rests on three beliefs: that the recent past was a glorious and irreplaceable high-water mark of intellectual attainment; that the present is only characterized by the silly stuff and not by the noble experiments; and that this generation of young people will fail to invent cultural norms that do for the Internet’s abundance what the intellectuals of the 17th century did for print culture. There are likewise three reasons to think that the Internet will fuel the intellectual achievements of 21st-century society.”
So what do I think? I return to the partial quote which states that ‘too much of anything is bad’. I think that the Internet is no exception to this rule – too much Internet is bad. HOWEVER, just the right amount of Internet is good. I think that we should utilize the Internet and tools that use Internet into our classrooms because it is an irreplaceable tool, it allows for information searching, it allows for information creation and BEST of all it allows for information sharing. I think that if used correctly, the Internet can help make our society SMARTER!
So who should I reference when I’m using the saying ‘Too much of anything is bad’? According to Google quite a few people have made reference to this saying and modifications of this saying, but it appears that Mark Twain was the influence in this saying with his quote “Too much of anything is bad, but too much good whisky is barely enough”.
Well this is not quite what I had in mind for a quote – in fact it’s kind of disappointing as I really had no intentions on referencing ‘good whiskey’.
So, why don’t we get back on track here, is the Internet making us smarter or dumber? To begin thinking about this subject I read an article online called ‘Does the Internet Make you Dumber?’ by N. C arr. This article scared me as it is full of scientific facts about how the Internet is making our society dumber, for example the article states that
“The picture emerging from the research is deeply troubling, at least to anyone who values the depth, rather than just the velocity, of human thought. People who read text studded with links, the studies show, comprehend less than those who read traditional linear text. People who watch busy multimedia presentations remember less than those who take in information in a more sedate and focused manner. People who are continually distracted by emails, alerts and other messages understand less than those who are able to concentrate. And people who juggle many tasks are less creative and less productive than those who do one thing at a time.”
By the time I was finished reading this article I was nearly convinced that I should turn off my SmartTV and return my new Galaxy S3 cell phone, as surely both of these devices is holding me back from my full potential! HOWEVER, I did neither of these things. I proceeded to watch Netflix on my SmartTV while Tweeting, text messaging and emailing on my Galaxy S3 AND I opened the link to another article called ‘Does the Internet Make you Smarter?’ by C. Shirky because to be honest, I like the Internet, my cell phone and social media and I DESPERATELY want Internet to be making me smarter…..cause I’m just not ready to give it up. In this article the author compares the media revolution to the 17th century and the invention of the printing press.
“The case for digitally-driven stupidity assumes we’ll fail to integrate digital freedoms into society as well as we integrated literacy. This assumption in turn rests on three beliefs: that the recent past was a glorious and irreplaceable high-water mark of intellectual attainment; that the present is only characterized by the silly stuff and not by the noble experiments; and that this generation of young people will fail to invent cultural norms that do for the Internet’s abundance what the intellectuals of the 17th century did for print culture. There are likewise three reasons to think that the Internet will fuel the intellectual achievements of 21st-century society.”
So what do I think? I return to the partial quote which states that ‘too much of anything is bad’. I think that the Internet is no exception to this rule – too much Internet is bad. HOWEVER, just the right amount of Internet is good. I think that we should utilize the Internet and tools that use Internet into our classrooms because it is an irreplaceable tool, it allows for information searching, it allows for information creation and BEST of all it allows for information sharing. I think that if used correctly, the Internet can help make our society SMARTER!
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