Would our forefathers be turning in their graves as we ignore our dust collecting books and turn solely to Google (or Bing if you're that way inclined) for our research or day-to-day question? With millions, and millions, of books at our finger tips, we choose the most convenient option. And why not? We humans have reached the point, that we can ask our phones to Google our questions, to check a recipe and find the answer to complicated sums. And it's remarkable, our progress over millions of years has reached this point and it's impressive. It's easy and it's useful. We save trees, we save brain cells, we save speech, we save ink, and most importantly we save our time. Why wait weeks waiting for an appointment with your local GP to find what that weird spot is on your toe? You can diagnose yourself on a flaky website and later panic that you only have days left to live (in most cases untrue so no need for concern). You can become mindbogglingly famous via the web, you can make money and start a successful business or career. The world, and all the information and people of this world, is at our finger tips, literally. Mothers and fathers respond their children's questions by "Google it," not "We'll go to the library" or "We'll discuss with the Professor". We contact our relatives living thousands of miles away, you can carry your daughter in your pocket and have deep conversations, you in the UK, your friend in Tokyo. Information has never come so quickly, nor has it ever been so easy to find. Scratch wasting weeks researching using countless books just type it into a search engine, or even easier: ask your phone.
Our lives have been made remarkably easier, but our minds have become remarkably smaller. The blood-sucking spider is not drinking our blood but drinking our ability to research and think for ourselves. We are parched of thinking. At what point will we hover on floating chairs and only communicate via screens. Yes, I am imagining Pixar's Wall-E but watching that film many people realized the dead end path we are headed, a pessimistic view, but perhaps it is right. With environmental awareness at the focus point perhaps we will eventually have to migrate from Earth to hover in space. I realize I am drifting (pun intended) from the topic of 'Internet addiction' but I do carry a point, we are losing awareness of the things that are occurring around us. With life changing, revolutionary happenings in Gaza and Ferguson most of our attention was focused on the 'Ice Bucket challenges' plastered on our Facebook pages and YouTube channels. We are becoming second-hand thinkers, most students (as I am one) will Google their essay topic before writing it, we are given our opinions and we are getting lazy.
All things aside however I don't think I could go a day without logging on. Where else will I find the answer to how we harvest fish eggs or whether or not you can bake a parsnip cake? The internet is valued, and after all, it is bad luck to kill a spider.
Attractive but deadly.
(By Holly Mann)
