No Internet ?

The Internet

Would we be able to survive without the internet? Now that anything that we want to know is at the tip of our fingertips, would we be able to go back to the olden days of researching in an encyclopedia? I know that libraries still exist, but they definitely are not set up in the same way that they used to be set up. I remember having to go up to the cabinets at the library and having to look up what section of the library I needed to go to in order to find that certain book that I was looking for. Anytime that I am curious about something, now, all I have to do is Google it. I mean, isn’t that just crazy? We have so much information at our fingertips! I can only imagine how things will be even 10 years from now.

Do you see this as a good thing or as a bad thing? like the fact that I can Google something when I cannot figure out how to use a product or when I cannot figure out how to use a program or if I want to listen to a certain song, or even if I need to fix something. All I have to do is Google or YouTube an instructional video that will help me through it. It has most certainly come in handy for quite a few of my assignments. As a matter of fact, I would ask other students in my classes how they were able to complete their assignments and most of them would tell me that they did a search on Google or YouTube in order to get their assignments done. It didn’t take long for me to catch on as I found it quite handy myself.

Does that meant that we can all learn how to do anything that we want to learn just by a simple search? Obviously, we don’t all learn in the same way and just because I see someone being able to fix a phone on a YouTube video, doesn’t mean that I will be able to do the same thing. I might try and break it in the process. There is nothing better than experience, but at least having someone virtually show you how to do something beats trying to figure things out on your own for the most part.

Do you think that this makes us less patient people? Do we think less for ourselves? Are we using our brains less because of this or are we using more of our brains because we get to find out the answers to our questions?  Is it more difficult for us to think for ourselves since we are always reading so many people’s opinions? I wonder these things sometimes. I am a very curious person and I didn’t used to be able to get all of my questions answered, but now that I know that I can ask the internet, does that mean that my imagination is suffering?

I’m not by any means complaining, I mean, I remember having to wait to log in to the internet and hearing that annoying sound as you waited to connect to the internet. I literally stopped typing so that I could Google that sound. Play it above if you are not familiar with it, or if you want a reminder! It took me one search to find it. Easy! Can you imagine waiting 28 seconds to even connect to the internet now? We wouldn’t have the patience for that nowadays. I don’t think that we would, anyway. I mean, we would if we had no other choice, but given the choice, we would not go back to those days.

Do we even know how to communicate with each other in person anymore? Are we becoming more and more anti-social? Are we all just hiding behind our computer or phone screens stating our opinions without holding back because we will never meet the people that we end up insulting? So many times, I have left out my political views off social media because 1. I don’t want to offend anyone and 2. I don’t want to get attacked for sharing my opinion. There are many times; however, that I have seen people post their opinions on other public forums and sometimes I can’t even believe what someone chose to write. It’s like those people forgot about empathy or they just don’t care about insulting someone that they don’t know. Should we have to think twice before posting our opinions? Are we more ourselves when we are allowed to speak our minds in front of a group of friends than we are in front of our computer screens, or is it the other way around?

What affect is this having on us, do you think? Please share your thoughts below as I would love to hear your opinions.

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