Fearing the Unknown

It is human nature to often fear the unknown. The internet has been a recent phenomenon (within my life span), and, as with any new invention, people seem to either love it or hate. There are the people who argue against the internet and all the bad and harm it can bring. How it is lowering the human race's intelligence and ability to interact with one another. Then, on the flip side, there are those who argue the exact opposite. Instead they argue that the internet and technology is enhancing our knowledge and ability to strive forward to new and better places. These two extremes can be seen in the  articles "Is Google Making Us Stupid" by Nicholas Carr (click here for the Carr article) and "Does the Internet Make You Smarter" by Clay Shirky (click her for the Shirky article).

Personally, I believe the Shirky makes the better argument, and that while the internet does pose some dangers, it is ultimately a tool that can be used for more good than bad. Shirky starts off his article with addressing one of the common fears of the internet; "digital media have made creating and disseminating text, sound, and images cheap, easy and global." However, Shirky also address that decades ago this exact same fear was brought up for books. Yes, books. The esteemed source of literacy that today is now considered correct and proper; the form that the younger generation is losing touch with.

"The case for digitally-driven stupidity assumes we'll fail to integrate digital freedoms into society as well as we integrated literacy," states Shirky. While this is true, this concern however can apply to any form of literacy. Just a because a person reads a book or a printed newspaper article does not mean that they will process the information and integrate the information into society. (Shirky illustrates this point with his line that states, "the issues isn't whether there's lots of dumb stuff online - there is, just as there is lots of dumb stuff in bookstores.") Reading things online or watching something is so distant, so of course no one is going to process and integrate the information, even if it is valuable. False! People will seek out the information they desire and process it as need be. A student can go online, find, read, and analyze the academic article they need for a class, and then in the next minute tab over to YouTube and watch mindless videos about the various things cats do. The YouTube videos does not make the student any less literate, nor does reading the article online say anything about the reading skill. The two mediums are simply means being met to fulfill the student's need at the immediate moment.

Shirky ends his article with, "there is no easy way to get through a media revolution of this magnitude; the task before us now is to experiment with new ways of using a medium that is social, ubiquitous and cheap, a medium that changes the landscape by distributing freedom of the press and freedom of assembly as widely as freedom of speech." We should not be scared of this new way of passing along information, and instead embrace it and learn from it. Figure out the "bad" of the situation and move forward with the good. The internet is a wonderful tool that should be used to take steps forward and create a new kind of education.