has the internet made us smarter or stupider?

[Howard]

Smarter

 

[rh71]

I think both. Lazy for sure, but forum advice about many topics has saved me time and money many times over. Can't overlook that.

 

[dmcowen674]

has the internet made us smarter or stupider?

on the one hand, i feel the vast quantity of knowledge available in mere seconds has made many people smareter (myself included).

but on the other hand, i see comments on youtube and yahoo and it appears that most internet denizens have the IQ of a walnut.

this internet, it's a conundrum.

Regardless of knowledge it has brought out the hate in people.

 

[SampSon]

The internet likely has provided little aid to the development of complex thought process and original thought/ideas.

The access to vast amounts of information, basic and possibly complex, has been increased dramatically.

Think of the internet as a non-sexy librarian.

 

[Nebor]

Regardless of knowledge it has brought out the hate in people.

Oh yeah. Absolutely. Because I'm sure minorities go look at stormfront.org and exclaim, "God damn internet! Why can't they just put a flaming cross in my yard like the old days?!"

 

[zCypher]

It's just a tool.

 

[ThatsABigOne]

It has made me more corrupt.
Take this test : If you see anything other than a sleeping puppy the internet has ruined you!

If this picture is looked at more broadly, I see a penis. :whiste:

 

[PliotronX]

Generally smarter, but ambition and wherewithal are a different story. OTOH I know plenty of technophobes who are lazier than any internet-savvy person in my realm of acquaintances. The internet is not a one-size-fits-all kind of tool; we can seek out nuances and trivia of any subject to our hearts content or just dabble a bit and move on. It can be a time waster beyond any imaginable timesuck of the past but I don't see how anyone can say it has not contributed positively to collective intelligence or in productivity.

 

[shortylickens]

It's just a tool.

Umm, no, it isnt JUST a tool.

Read some books on the subject. Its changing the way we think, much like radio did for the older generation and the TV did for Boomers.

 

[Sho'Nuff]

I think it has made the more intelligent among us more aware of just how stupid the bulk of the general population is.

 

[mmntech]

Jared Diamond out forward a very compelling theory in his book Guns, Germs, and Steel. He states that hunter and warrior societies are in general smarter. This is because they evolved for quick thinking. Natural selection favours more intelligent individuals, where as our sedentary/agricultural society evolved for disease resistance over intelligence.

I have done numerous non-scientific studies within my own society to back up proof that intelligence is dropping, and that densely populated areas have a negative effect on intelligence. For example, I saw a lady the other day purchasing $3 a bunch organic broccoli, when regular broccoli was on sale for $1.

So in general, I believe that people living in densely packed societies (aka city folk) are in general less intelligent. Especially those from Toronto. The Internet factors in here because they read all sorts of stuff on there, and are too dumb to filter out bullshit from reality. Hence they lady paying three times for food, when the regular variety was just as good.

 

[shortylickens]

That was one of the points made early in The Shallows.

When we were running around looking for berries and animals to kill and stuff, we had to switch gears quickly. Had to be on the lookout for multiple different threats, had to know where they typically hung out, had to watch for food, including stationary (berries) and things that would run from us (bunnies, deer) so the quick thinkers, especially people who could shift their focus quickly and effectively and still gets lots of good info or formulate a plan on the fly, were the ones who survived.

 

[Veliko]

Neither.

 

[Fenixgoon]

what i do know from comments on youtube is that it has given a lot of dumb people the opportunity to say something

 

[brianmanahan]

Umm, no, it isnt JUST a tool.

Read some books on the subject. Its changing the way we think, much like radio did for the older generation and the TV did for Boomers.

shorty i never took your for a "read books" kind of guy. i'm impressed.

 

[destrekor]

sometimes i wonder if we will eventually do like they did in dune, and outlaw all computers because of their detrimental affect on society

yeah but... those ones caused a war. they killed a baby, man.

our computers haven't pissed us off that much yet.

 

[Saint Nick]

Stupider -- it makes me second guess every decision I make :|

 

[DrPizza]

I pondered the OP's question a little more. There are a lot of "words" that really aren't words in the English language. But, because of widespread usage of these terms on the Internet, they are growing in acceptance. Apparently, if we divide the population into two groups of equal size, above average, and below average, the lower half finds it perfectly acceptable to be called "stupider" rather than "more stupid."

 

[destrekor]

Generally smarter, but ambition and wherewithal are a different story. OTOH I know plenty of technophobes who are lazier than any internet-savvy person in my realm of acquaintances. The internet is not a one-size-fits-all kind of tool; we can seek out nuances and trivia of any subject to our hearts content or just dabble a bit and move on. It can be a time waster beyond any imaginable timesuck of the past but I don't see how anyone can say it has not contributed positively to collective intelligence or in productivity.

One could argue that it, because of laziness like you mentioned (or addiction), it definitely has contributed negatively toward our civilization; that is not, however, to say it has not contributed positively in such a way as to outweigh any detrimental effects. It's simply one of those things that brings about both some good and some bad.

I think it has made the more intelligent among us more aware of just how stupid the bulk of the general population is.

That's one truth. I hate people now. Thanks, Internet!

Umm, no, it isnt JUST a tool.

Read some books on the subject. Its changing the way we think, much like radio did for the older generation and the TV did for Boomers.

Agreed. There has been quite a bit of research documenting a change in our thought-patterns, in the way we catalog information in our brain, and how much detail we remember.
We still retain the genetic/neural ability to grasp a large amount of detail surrounding any single subject/object/idea/concept; that is, however, something we have also let the internet do for us, and we instead just create "placeholders" in our brain. Suffice it to say, that is what various research has shown to be happening. Instead of remembering a great amount of detail that we can relate to others as we converse with them, we use placeholders that essentially act as keywords with which we locate the data on the internet whenever necessary.

That was one of the points made early in The Shallows.

When we were running around looking for berries and animals to kill and stuff, we had to switch gears quickly. Had to be on the lookout for multiple different threats, had to know where they typically hung out, had to watch for food, including stationary (berries) and things that would run from us (bunnies, deer) so the quick thinkers, especially people who could shift their focus quickly and effectively and still gets lots of good info or formulate a plan on the fly, were the ones who survived.

That is one concept that I haven't really thought about in detail: how we shift our thought-patterns and sensory perception when in our more feral/natural state.

Do you think that the internet may play a role in a regression toward a more feral state of mind?
Our tribal tendencies have never disappeared, in fact, we may encourage them to blossom in some ways. I'd be curious to see how scholars debate the topic of other intrinsic patterns of thought, and how they have determined [or how they have been impacted by] the course of our technological advancements.

 

[brianmanahan]

I pondered the OP's question a little more. There are a lot of "words" that really aren't words in the English language. But, because of widespread usage of these terms on the Internet, they are growing in acceptance. Apparently, if we divide the population into two groups of equal size, above average, and below average, the lower half finds it perfectly acceptable to be called "stupider" rather than "more stupid."

its like 1984, but 30 years later!

 

[Fritzo]

It's "more stupid", not "stupider."

 

[SlitheryDee]

It hasn't made anyone dumber, but I think the internet has shown us just how many dumb people there are.

 

[corwin]

on the one hand, i feel the vast quantity of knowledge available in mere seconds has made many people smareter (myself included)

I think this says it all:whiste:

 

[dmcowen674]

It hasn't made anyone dumber, but I think the internet has shown us just how many dumb people there are.

True, when there was some doubt it is all erased when they type.

 

[PingSpike]

on the one hand, i feel the vast quantity of knowledge available in mere seconds has made many people smareter (myself included).

but on the other hand, i see comments on youtube and yahoo and it appears that most internet denizens have the IQ of a walnut.

this internet, it's a conundrum.

Just because the information there, doesn't mean anyone is going to use it, read it or even then understand it. If you set a chimp down in front of a internet connected PC do you think the chimp will become more intelligent or that you'll just end up scraping fecal matter out of the keyboard? We have all this information, but what are the most popular online activities? Gossiping and moaning about trivialities facebook, watching skateboard accidents on youtube and getting viruses from questionable pornographic websites.

We're no more stupid than we were before. Its just that before those people posted on yahoo answers they lived in a shed somewhere and you never had to interact with them.