On Wednesday 16 Sep 2009 6:09:48 am Deepa Mohan wrote:
> We are probably the only species on earth which has the ability to have
> this "extended memory" storage of information
Tell you how Google is helpful. The word for information stored in the
environment (such as a book) is "meme", just like "gene" stores genetic
information I recall reading that word in Richard Dawkins book, "The Selfish
Gene" and a quick Google confirms (via Wiki) that Dawkins was the likely
inventor.
> though the preliminary tests..... I have found the Mastermind quizzes
> insufferable..limited, obscure ("my special round is on the use of the
> comma in Tolstoy" and then the person answers some unutterably unheard-of
> questions on this topic, set by some unutterably unheard-of people), and SO
> elitist and stuffed-shirt...even those general round two minutes were
> unfair, because I have sometimes counted 8 questions and sometimes 16 in
> that time span, when the contestants were answering promptly.
LOL! Dead right!
My personal feeling is that Google has added considerably to my general
knowledge. I am less sure about what it does to kids. I believe that for
humans it is important to teach/learn that all knowledge cannot be in one's
own head - but for for what is unknown people need to be taught how to find
the information they need.
We do teach children certain things. For example teaching a child that a
doctor needs to be consulted for ill health is a pointer towards where
information is available. The doctor in turn has colleagues, literature and
the internet to search for information when he is up against something odd
and unusual. The key point here is knowledge of where the information might
be found.
The second, and IMO even more important factor is the ability to ask oneself
if one really knows something. A lot of myths and half-baked knowledge is
imparted almost unconsciously in childhood and remains unquestioned thoughout
one's life. The desire to to ask oneself if one's own knowledge is accurate
is the first step towards gaining knowledge. Finding a source for information
is second to that.
Just my thoughts.
shiv
