How is the Internet Changing the Way We Think - Case Study Example

The internet is a part of our daily lives. How is the internet changing the way we think today and in the future? Introduction The Internet saves both time and money, but most of all it communicates. Communication is a necessary part of all societies. The process and methods of communication among people has evolved over the years. Sometimes this has taken place gradually, but often communication has made great leaps, as when writing emerged in the Middle East more than 3000 years B.C.E. Inventions and discoveries brought about revolutions in the way society interacted, or lifted the level of communication to another height to be explored. Writing is an important example, as it was a link back to spoken language, and today, if the Internet is to be utilized then, the user needs to be literate and aware of how the words they read sound orally. How does the Internet change the way people think? It is obvious that the Internet is altering the way people shop, but how is it changing them in other ways? Nicola Carr ( 2010) asked "Is Google Making Us Stupid” meaning that she felt that having Google means that humanity is no longer capable of concentrating on long pieces of text such as the classic novels (Cited by Brockman , 2010). Yet psychologists Chablis and Simons ( Cited by N.V., The Economist, 2010) state that despite the huge change in available technology, the way the human brain is wired has not changed at all, and the same article points out that children’s brains are wired long before they touch a keyboard, So, in the physiological sense, the brain hasn’t changed at all, even if some of the behaviour it produces, and the thinking behind them, had altered. On the other hand Foreman (Cited by Brockman , 2010) does think that changes are occurring , and discusses “the replacement of complex inner density with a new kind of self”. This he felt was evolving because everything is instantly available, and because we suffer from information overload. Dyson, a science historian, also cited by Brockman ( 2010), questioned whether the cost of these wonderful machines might be people who are less capable of thinking. MacIntyre ( 2010) says that using an Apple IPod, with its deliberately intuitive nature, creates a fusion between the human mind and the machine. For the first time in human history a vast amount of knowledge is widely accessible, not just from distant places, but also at every level of society. Review staff from the New York Times (2010) cite Dalrymple, who believes that the human mind will in time no longer be the main repository of knowledge. He describes how professionals in the past gradually acquired knowledge and experience over many years, the long established guild and apprentice system. Today anyone with a reasonable brain, and the ability to think critically, can find out what they want to know just by focussing on relevant information. This means that it will become more important that an employee knows how to focus upon the matter in hand, and to access knowledge, perhaps by using lateral thinking, than the knowledge he actually has in his head. That is of course a generalisation. There will always be tasks that require expertise, such as surgery, but even these can be helped by using the Internet to acquire knowledge; to enhance skills; to observe best practise and to interact with others in their profession in virtual conference rooms. This fits in with Pettie’s idea ( 2012) that the Internet is just the latest way of dealing with an old problem , which is how to acquire, filter, store and retrieve knowledge, as well as exchanging it. There is a difference in the present age in that on the Internet comments and questions are often actively encouraged, and in fact add to the value of the site. Pettie (2012) does however point out that Brockman’s question is ‘How is the Internet changing the way you think?’ rather than asking ‘How are you changing the Internet?’ the implication being that it is the Internet which is changing us, rather than the other way round. Is that really true if the Internet is a human creation? The first users of the Internet were government and military employees ( Strickland 2014), but today it is available to everyone who can access a computer. So perhaps a better question might be ‘How is the Internet changing society?’ If everyone has access to the same sources of information then they can react to them, whether by protesting about some government move , just getting to know about some new fashion trend, or sharing a joke with a friend living miles away. In the early days skilled programmers wrote programmes, but today most people use programmes written by others, and interact with them in complex ways. This can be likened to the way people used books, but would not be able to write or print one, and how later they used such things as radios, television and so many other machines, whether or not they knew how to create such a machine. This means that people delegate many options to others, from how a story ended to how time is displayed on our desktop, or the way languages are used. So individuals and societies link their lives to technology, developed perhaps in a country far away, often the United States. That must have an effect upon the way people in other countries think about certain matters, whether political or otherwise. So values and ethics may be affected in either negative or positive ways, unless they are very aware of what is happening and its subtle complexities. The Internet is a tool which can be used by many people, and groups in an almost infinite number of ways, but the majority operate in a technical world beyond their own understanding of its intricacies. Strawn,( 2014) explains how Internet hasn't only changed how science is done, , but permits entirely new avenues of research, and explains how researchers can use Internet-based data to quickly manipulate and control with ease massive sets of data. Yet the Internet does not change the basic information which was always there in some form or another. People are coming up with the same ideas and data as before. The information is simply available to more people and they can interact with it. This would have happened anyway, but, by using the Internet, the number of people involved increases and so there are more to discuss ideas and to react to them. This makes the Internet a powerful political tool. Movements are able to collect members, promote new ideas, or knock down old ones, as in the Egyptian revolution of 2011(Kanally 2011), where the Internet was used to propagate opinion, to give information and to generally communicate and organise, whereas in the earlier revolution of 1919 this would have been done by word of mouth, posters , newspapers and to some extent perhaps the telephone or telegraph. So it is a communication progression , rather than something completely new. because it changes the way society communicates. Some see the changes which have taken place in recent times as having a negative impact, thinking that people become more interested in what is happening elsewhere, , than they are concerned about what is happening right next to them. However according to Maskett ( 2014) the opposite is true. He cites Wellman as saying that “panic about the rise of the social media is largely overhyped and misplaced.’ Note that word ‘largely’. There will always be exceptions, just as there are in so many areas of life. Wellman, a sociologist, has researched the subject and found that relationships were enhanced by increasing the volume of contact. Wellman also found that, in most cases, time spent online would perhaps otherwise have just been spent watching television, rather than taking time from other social activities. Maskett also states that the online world is not entirely separated from everyday life, but interacts with it. E-mail and other social media methods of communication are not either better or worse than other methods, but just different, just as writing a letter is different from talking to someone face to face, but with methods such as using Skype , Facebook or e-mail response is much quicker, in some cases instantaneous. Backes (2014) describes how the level of communication has never been so wide or so deep, or as easy. She then asks whether the Internet has actually changed society at all, or has it simply supplied a fresh way to express what had always happened. This easy communication can however have a negative impact far wider than it might have done in previous generations. A faux pas will soon reach the world, rather than just be known to a very few. Others see changes they do not like, such as the fact that many young people only read books needed for school work. However if computers had been invented before the printing press would they have despaired as those same youngsters gave up the Internet in order to waste their time reading board and paper books? The e-book , often downloaded from the Internet, in many cases means that there are more , rather than less, readers, and instead of scribbling in margins can insert notes, find text by searching and of course read them on holiday, as they fit easily into any luggage and save on their weight allowance. Shirkey ( Chapter 2, 2010) lists positive things about the Internet, including the possibility of wide collaborations , and wider than ever access to knowledge. However he includes also a number of disadvantages such as its ability to distract. Most of its users would agree with his list , but how they deal with it, perhaps deliberately allowing themselves to be distracted at times, is up to each one. Moore however (2009) has a list of fifty things ‘killed by the Internet.’ The list includes the value of memory. People used to memorise poetry, or perhaps their interest lay in knowing sports statistics in minute detail. Now there is far more poetry and sports statistics available to them. These, and other data, can be accessed these things whenever wanted. On page 4 Shirkey (2010) looks back to when writing was in the hands of a minority of educated scribes. They earned a living simply because of their literary ability. When books began to be printed the ability to read and write also increased. The skills of scribes were no longer a premium. Later something similar happened to printing. Having the apparatus to produce books or papers could make someone a lot of money, but now anyone can publish their thoughts daily in a blog, or on such sites as Facebook. Shirkey feels that models which have served for hundreds of years are being discarded, so the question is perhaps whether the new models are of more value than the older ones or not. Conclusion The Internet was born only a few years ago, yet many of its users today were born after it became widely available. The Internet has now become a basic resource in many aspects of life, and has bought many changes, both to individuals and to wider society, as it has become ever more accessible and usable. However, as to whether or not it is changing the way people think, is Stirkey right when he says ‘It is too early to say.’? ( Stirkey, page 5, 2010), whereas Backes’ article ( 2014) seems to state that any change has already taken place, rather than continuing. However, whether or not it is the Internet changing people, or it is a case of people changing and controlling the way the Internet is evolving, remains a matter of debate. As for the fact it has altered the way society communicates, operates and organises itself, that can be seen every day in any number of situation. References Antliff, A., 2013, 10 ways the Internet has changed the world, What culture, [Online] Available at http://whatculture.com/technology/10-ways-the-internet-has-changed-the-world.php [Accessed 11th October 2014] Backes, L., 2014, How the internet changed society [Online] Available at http://www.techi.com/2012/05/how-the-internet-changed-society/ [Accessed 11th October 2014] Brockman, J., 2010, How is the Internet changing the way you think? The Edge Annual Question, The Edge, [Online] Available at http://edge.org/annual-question/how-is-the-internet-changing-the-way-you-think Accessed 10th October 2014 Carr, N., 2010, Chapter 1, Brockman, J. 2010, How is the Internet changing the way you think? [Online] Available at New York, Harper Collins, Accessed 10th October 2014 Chablis, C. and Simons D., 2010, Cited by N.V. in The Difference Engine: Rewiring the Brain, The Economist,[ Online]. Available at http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2010/08/internet_changing_way_you_think Accessed 10th October 2014 Kanally, C., 2010, Egypt: Timeline of key human rights violations since the 2011 revolution, Middle East Eye, ,[ Online]. Available at http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/egypt-timeline-key-human-rights-violations-2011-revolution-872433931. Accessed 10th October 2014 MacIntyre, B., January 28th 2010, We need a dug-out canoe to navigate the Internet, The Times Online, [Online] Available at http://edge.org/annual-question/how-is-the-internet-changing-the-way-you-think Accessed 10th October 2014 Maskett, S., 2014, Don’t Fear the Network: The Internet Is Changing the Way We Communicate for the Better, Pacific Standard, [Online] Available at http://www.psmag.com/navigation/nature-and-technology/networks-changed-social-media-internet-communication-82554/ Accessed 10th October 2014 Moore, M., 2009, 50 things that are being killed by the internet, The Telegraph [Online] Available at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/6133903/50-things-that-are-being-killed-by-the-internet.html Accessed 10th October 2014 Pettie, A., 30th January , 2012, How Is the Internet Changing the Way You Think? ed by John Brockman: review, The Telegraph, [Online] Available at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/9041858/How-Is-the-Internet-Changing-the-Way-You-Think-ed-by-John-Brockman-review.html Accessed 10th October 2014 Review Staff, January 19th 2010, Idea of the Day, The New York Times, [Online] Available at http://edge.org/annual-question/how-is-the-internet-changing-the-way-you-think, Accessed 11th October 2014 Shirkey, C., 2010, Chapter 2, The Invisible College in Brockman, J. 2010, How is the Internet changing the way you think? New York, Harper Collins, Strawn, G.2014, A Constellation of Opportunities, in ‘The Internet , changing the way we communicate’, National Science Foundation, [Online] Available at https://www.nsf.gov/about/history/nsf0050/internet/opportunities.htm Accessed 11th October 2014 Strickland, J., 2014, How did the Internet start? Available at http://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet/basics/internet-start1.htm.Accessed 11th October 2014 Stumble Upon, 2014, Available at http://www.stumbleupon.com Accessed 11th October 2014 Read More

This means that it will become more important that an employee knows how to focus upon the matter in hand, and to access knowledge, perhaps by using lateral thinking, than the knowledge he actually has in his head. That is of course a generalisation. There will always be tasks that require expertise, such as surgery, but even these can be helped by using the Internet to acquire knowledge; to enhance skills; to observe best practise and to interact with others in their profession in virtual conference rooms.

This fits in with Pettie’s idea ( 2012) that the Internet is just the latest way of dealing with an old problem , which is how to acquire, filter, store and retrieve knowledge, as well as exchanging it. There is a difference in the present age in that on the Internet comments and questions are often actively encouraged, and in fact add to the value of the site. Pettie (2012) does however point out that Brockman’s question is ‘How is the Internet changing the way you think?’ rather than asking ‘How are you changing the Internet?

’ the implication being that it is the Internet which is changing us, rather than the other way round. Is that really true if the Internet is a human creation? The first users of the Internet were government and military employees ( Strickland 2014), but today it is available to everyone who can access a computer. So perhaps a better question might be ‘How is the Internet changing society?’ If everyone has access to the same sources of information then they can react to them, whether by protesting about some government move , just getting to know about some new fashion trend, or sharing a joke with a friend living miles away.

In the early days skilled programmers wrote programmes, but today most people use programmes written by others, and interact with them in complex ways. This can be likened to the way people used books, but would not be able to write or print one, and how later they used such things as radios, television and so many other machines, whether or not they knew how to create such a machine. This means that people delegate many options to others, from how a story ended to how time is displayed on our desktop, or the way languages are used.

So individuals and societies link their lives to technology, developed perhaps in a country far away, often the United States. That must have an effect upon the way people in other countries think about certain matters, whether political or otherwise. So values and ethics may be affected in either negative or positive ways, unless they are very aware of what is happening and its subtle complexities. The Internet is a tool which can be used by many people, and groups in an almost infinite number of ways, but the majority operate in a technical world beyond their own understanding of its intricacies.

Strawn,( 2014) explains how Internet hasn't only changed how science is done, , but permits entirely new avenues of research, and explains how researchers can use Internet-based data to quickly manipulate and control with ease massive sets of data. Yet the Internet does not change the basic information which was always there in some form or another. People are coming up with the same ideas and data as before. The information is simply available to more people and they can interact with it.

This would have happened anyway, but, by using the Internet, the number of people involved increases and so there are more to discuss ideas and to react to them. This makes the Internet a powerful political tool. Movements are able to collect members, promote new ideas, or knock down old ones, as in the Egyptian revolution of 2011(Kanally 2011), where the Internet was used to propagate opinion, to give information and to generally communicate and organise, whereas in the earlier revolution of 1919 this would have been done by word of mouth, posters , newspapers and to some extent perhaps the telephone or telegraph.

So it is a communication progression , rather than something completely new.

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