Andrew Benton

Google is NOT White Bread for the Mind

Jan 14 at 11:11am by Andrew Benton

I recently read a short post on Mashable.com that was titled “Google is White Bread for the Mind, Says Teacher”. The article isn’t too in depth, but it basically comes down to a teacher banning the use of Google and Wikipedia as forms of research for projects in her class. FTA:

The story goes like this: professor Tara Brabazon, from the University of Brighton, is unhappy about their students taking the easy route and using Google and Wikipedia for their research. She calls this phenomenon “The University of Google”, saying that “The education world has pursued new technology with an almost evangelical zeal and it is time to take a step back and give proper consideration of how we use it. Too many students don’t use their own brains enough. We need to bring back the important values of research and analysis.”

The author of the post goes on to link to his article “Why Google is Making Us Dumber”. He has the following to say:

Let’s face it: we’re not exactly becoming brighter by using Google. In fact, in the traditional education sense, we’re getting stupider, at least with certain types of tasks. However, we’ve learned to do something else. We’ve learned how to use Google to get information. It sounds like an evolutionary step, a natural progression. Instead of using your brain, you’re using something else - something that works faster and easier. It will be interesting to see how this - if it keeps up, and my bet is that it will - will affect our ability to think in the future.

While I think both arguments hold weight, I think that ultimately Google is not making us dumber, just a hell lot more efficient. If they would have used the word “lazy” instead of dumb, I may agree with them, but I think both titles can replace “dumber” with “more efficient”. My reasoning for this is through a look at our history of learning, and how we as humans condense knowledge over time to make it easier to digest.

While I think Stan’s example of memorizing that 1LB is 0.45 kilograms, I think his point is lost to most ears for a simple reason. Why? Why should we be required to memorize that 1Lb is 0.45kg? There is something to be said for memorizing really important things, like birth dates of loved ones, facts and information for your career, what your yearly income was for 2007, when your last oil change was, etc. I don’t believe however that for what people generally use Google and Wikipedia for makes us dumber. It truly just makes information sharing and learning more transparent. It makes knowledge that would traditionally waste a persons Saturday in the library, instantly available, thus allowing them to continue on with things that truly matter… like life.

So, I guess what I’m trying to say is that while Google and Wikipedia can make us lose track of the ancient form of research that included 4 Tons of books, which google tells me is 3,628,738.96 grams, it is a change in both society and education. It is a change in the way we think, learn, discover and grow. But then again, isn’t that what the Internet and evolving societies are all about?