Computers and The Internet Have Changed The Way We Learn About ..."EVERYTHING"..(please read)

[Stuart G]

....(very short)...............

In the old days, (say 2000) before everyone got computers & internet, you had to go to the library for extensive
research. You had to look around, find the correct magazine or research material, take it off the shelf, take a look,
put it back & get another one.

....Now, you get the research from any newspaper or periodical, by sitting at your computer, and using "GOOGLE"
You can find anything, anywhere, and look at most TV stations without getting up to change the channel or go
to a shelf somewhere in your house or library.

...If you think things have NOT CHANGED A WHOLE LOT,... you are not old enough to know, or whatever??

[Bobstandard]

1. I'm so old..

I remember the time before copy machines!

[Stuart G]

3. Well........That makes two of us. I also remember those times. I go totally back to..........

Are you ready ????....Black & White TVs ...and the original broadcasts of ...I Love Lucy...(in the 50s)

[global1]

2. I'm 73 y/o And I Have Wondered Where I'd Be Today If I Had Access To A Computer & The.....

Internet when I was in grammar school, high school and college. I didn't have access to a computer until I was about 12 years into my career after college.

One of my bosses strongly recommended I get computer literate at the time or I'd be looking for a new job.

I'm glad he gave me that ultimatum. Since then on - the computer and the internet played a very important role in my march up the career ladder and even gave me the courage to start my own company.

If I had the computer in my early years - I can't imagine what an impact that would have had on my life and career.

[MerryHolidays]

4. That's the positive aspect of the internet...the negative is the immediate dissemination of lie

Social media has been one of the most valuable weapons that authoritarian leaders have. That and state-controlled media.

[yonder]

5. And that ease has resulted in the decline of knowledge comprehension and retention, IMO.

Where we once had to invest in learning something, we can now afford to retain it only as long as necessary - reacquiring it is only a couple of clicks away.

Who hasn't had to look up something again that they only just learned a week or so earlier? I'm as guilty as anyone and don't know if it is attributable to age-related memory loss or the now effortless ease to learn it in the first place. And that's where the danger is too I think. Homogenized, easily available information also lends itself to a decline in critical thinking skills. I'm fortunate in having tons of experience in many different things along with an intact and healthy curiosity, but have to increasingly work at not taking things at face value.

Thanks for the post.