Is the Internet killing our resourcefulness?

chillidoggy

You have a problem, what do you do? You can't visit the library, cos they're busy getting shut down all over the show. So, the first thing is, you turn to the Internet to see if you can find an answer. Years ago, we had no such resource, and as a result struggled to solve problems. Now it seems, we struggle no more. Even those of us with scant knowledge on a subject can receive coaching on, say, the use of an oscilloscope, to fix stuff we never would have been able to before.

Is the Internet killing our ability to solve problems by ourselves, or it is enhancing it? It may increase knowledge, but apart from the art of conversation making a return, I wonder what would happen if it was switched off?

Fretwired

I'll do a Google search and get back to you later ...

Chalky

Its good that the internet is a force-muliplier for our problem solving.

Its bad that too many people think the 'rightness' of a particular solution is somehow democratic - "5 places say A is the best answer but only 1 place says Z is the best answer. So A must be the right answer." If you think like this, please don't work in a job where the safety of others depends on your work...

stickyfiddle

chillidoggy said:

Is the Internet killing our ability to solve problems by ourselves, or it is enhancing it? It may increase knowledge, but apart from the art of conversation making a return, I wonder what would happen if it was switched off?

Both, depending on your attitude. A lot of people I work with ask questions that I can find the answers to within the first page of an appropriately-worded google search.  Our ability to get answers to questions is now exponentially greater than it was even ten years ago, never mind 30. 

thomasross20

Google? I just ask you guys...

Sporky

chillidoggy said:

Is the Internet killing our ability to solve problems by ourselves, or it is enhancing it?

Depends what you mean by solving a problem ourselves; if going to a library to look up the answer is solving it yourself then so is researching it on the inferweb.

Not many people, I'll wager, could figure out an oscilloscope without any instructions.

I think the greatest disadvantage of the inferweb is that it can, if you let it, stop all sorts of pub arguments because you can just look up whether a tiger can swim faster than a badger. There'll be a video.

Nikko

thomasross20 said:

Google? I just ask you guys...

That's just Googling by proxy

breakstuff

Years ago you had to have a cunning ruse to get your hands on a jazz mag and now all you have to do is turn on your laptop,so yes,in this respect we have become less resourceful.

Sporky

Nikko said:

thomasross20 said:

Google? I just ask you guys...

That's just Googling by proxy

The proxy server at work blocks Google.

So I have portable Chrome running in proxy-bypass mode.

If that's not internet-inspired resourcefulness I don't know what is.

Clarky

I still prefer books to the web when it comes to learning something important

anyone can write anything on the web.. it's not proof read by peers etc prior to publishing

I think in areas that matter to me, I've found books to be largely more reliable / accurate

menamestom

The issue I see most is that some people who seemed to miss out on decent formal education believe they are some how educated by their time studying at 'the university of google'. Youtube videos, Netflix documentaries are all great but without critical thinking and scepticism the information gained does not pass through an 'evidence filter' and becomes absolute truth to them without question. It's a shame, because many of these people are intelligent, but end up mistrusting he education system in the belief it has an agenda of brain washing them, when the information they have gained through the google route has done exactly that.

stickyfiddle

Sporky said:

Nikko said:

thomasross20 said:

Google? I just ask you guys...

That's just Googling by proxy

The proxy server at work blocks Google.

So I have portable Chrome running in proxy-bypass mode.

If that's not internet-inspired resourcefulness I don't know what is.

What's the rationale for that? I can understand blocking youtube, facebook, etc, but google is incredibly useful. Do they let you use Bing?

Sporky

I think it was a category error or sommat - we're allowed Yahoo and a variety of other search engines.

I s'pose I could check if they've fixed it...

scrumhalf

Having completed my formal studies in the era of pen and paper and libraries, what Google has done is to treat all resources with equal validity.

We used to know which books were worth reading on which subject. Now there is just this mass of, mostly, data and numptiness whcih passes for learning.

Danny1969

I always get phone calls that go something like "my laptop \ iPad \ phone won't power on, I've googled it and it sounds like a chip has gone, I'm sure that's all that's wrong so it won't be expensive will it? "

I just think if google has made you such an expert do you really need me ?

I find the net a fantastic resource, years ago we had to look up transistor equivalents and IC's in big ol books which cost a fortune and had to be constantly updated. Now if you need a pin out of a strange IC you can normally get a datasheet pdf off the net. 

Like anything though if it's important you don't just take the first result as gospel, you get a 2nd opinion. Especially from sites like Wikipedia  

octatonic

The Internet is probably humanity's greatest achievement but critical thinking skills are required more than ever to assess the information it presents.

DesVegas

Hive mind ftw!

The internet helps resourcefulness as it's so easy to 'surf' deeper into applications for oscilloscopes or where to buy oscilloscopes or what is the best oscillascope for my budget or which oscilloscope did David Gilmour use in 1976 etc etc

Sporky

octatonic said:

The Internet is probably humanity's greatest achievement

Only someone who doesn't own a ratchet-hammer could think that.

http://uncrate.com/p/2011/12/wera-koloss-ratchet-xl.jpg

Phil_aka_Pip

I think it has increased the researchfulness of most of us. Need to know something? Look it up. Need to find out how to do something? Look it up. You don't just leave the problem and hope you will meet someone in the pub on Friday who can help you solve it. When you look something up there are often several urls to look at, and those might have other urls so you could follow a chain of interesting stuff. And because it's all so easy you just follow it. It's not like walking round the library looking for a book that the one you've just looked up has referred to.

Phil_aka_Pip

Sporky said:

The proxy server at work blocks Google.

That is stupid beyond belief. My boss expects us to google things if we don't know how to do them

fretmeister

Sporky said:

octatonic said:

The Internet is probably humanity's greatest achievement

Only someone who doesn't own a ratchet-hammer could think that.

http://uncrate.com/p/2011/12/wera-koloss-ratchet-xl.jpg

I was about to say vaccines, but after that...