Has the internet made us smarter?

House of Wax

House of Wax

Active member
Interesting question I saw posed on another forum. Thoughts?

I say no. And i don't say that lightly.

The internet can be an absolutely amazing thing. I'm all about doing things myself and the internet has given me access to information to accomplish many things I wouldn't be able to otherwise. Butttt......

I feel like the internet, and social media specifically, is contributing to the decline of morals and humanity at an accelerated pace.

That may be 2 completely different topics though.
 
It has regarding the corruption, lies, and spin of main street media. I get all my info from the Internet now. I never again will watch CNN , fox, msnbc, or network news.
 
Purely smarter as in knowing more stuff, yes for sure the internet has made a huge difference. If you define smarter as in more intellectual (or a higher intellect) then I would have to say for some yes but society as a whole NO.
 
People are stupid now days. Are they stupider than ever before? I dont know, but I would dare say yes. The internet and all these apps has made things to easy for people. Now everyone wants everything given to them. And if you don't believe people are stupid, go read youtube comments or comments after a news article. I also think people are extremely rude now days also. Not just on the internet, but in public also
 
Oldfordisbetter said:
People are stupid now days. Are they stupider than ever before? I dont know, but I would dare say yes. The internet and all these apps has made things to easy for people. Now everyone wants everything given to them. And if you don't believe people are stupid, go read youtube comments or comments after a news article. I also think people are extremely rude now days also. Not just on the internet, but in public also
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Amen brother. Seems like the population in general is becoming more and more self centered and rude at a rapid pace
 
Interesting question. I think yes, we have gotten smarter. We no longer have to wonder about basic known facts and have them available easily so we can concentrate on more important dilemmas; however this also adds to our laziness because it makes it easier to not worry about actually retaining the knowledge.

I also happen to think people were just as dumb and rude throughout history but the internet is the equivalent of giving the village idiot a microphone and letting them run wild with it.

Smarter than ever? - here's one study from the APA that says American IQs(if that's your thing) have been steadily rising. No proven correlation but interesting still.
 
A lot less common courtesy..... IMHO

respect is earned, but common courtesy is a pillar of civility....... (again imho)
 
Are people becoming more stupid or are we just more exposed to stupid people? The Internet and social media are so readily available today every idiot in the world can navigate it. All they have to do is watch a YouTube video lol!

Oldford:

I definitely agree that everyone wants everything given to them. It's scary to look at the next gen. Everyone is so sensitive you can't criticize them and you owe them everything.


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House of Wax said:
Interesting question I saw posed on another forum. Thoughts?

I say no. And i don't say that lightly.

The internet can be an absolutely amazing thing. I'm all about doing things myself and the internet has given me access to information to accomplish many things I wouldn't be able to otherwise. Butttt......

I feel like the internet, and social media specifically, is contributing to the decline of morals and humanity at an accelerated pace.

That may be 2 completely different topics though.
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I think the internet has made it very easy for someone to be more knowledgeable on pretty much any subject they'd like, but I wouldn't really say it makes them smarter, and it definitely doesn't do anything for common sense. My wife and I are building our home addition mostly ourselves and without access to all the info online I don't think it would have been as easy for us to do as it has been.

I do totally agree with the "decline of morals and humanity at an accelerated pace".
 
Well, I keep telling people that I fear the silly film, Idiocracy, is looking to be more plausible as time passes.

I do believe the internet is a great resource, but I find it's overwhelmingly full of crap. Tosh.O will always have material for his show.
 
i think it depends on the person. some people use the internet to gain knowledge, some people use it to play around on social media/gaming, some people just watch pornography.
 
Strictly dependent on the individual. One of those (literally) subjective things. All a matter of what you do with it.

To me, the Internet is the newest version of the Library at Alexandria and it saves me many, *MANY* hours of grunt-work at the local brick-and-mortar libraries. No more poring through the Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature and all those micro-fiches, no more stacks of Xeroxes! No more need to buy countless books that aren't available at the Library or that I want to always have on-hand. That alone has simply *changed my life*. And I'm a retired guy; I can only wonder at what a diff it must be for younger people.

The issue of how it might affect morality/etc. is a whole 'nother topic, and every generation since time immemorial has bemoaned how "things are getting so much worse". Heh heh, I myself question what sort of person might have their moral standards lowered by the mere (easier) availability of [whatever]. Likewise, all the [individuals] spouting off online don't bother me, I simply pay them no heed.
 
JustJesus said:
Well, I keep telling people that I fear the silly film, Idiocracy, is looking to be more plausible as time passes.
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I'm afraid the timeline is rapidly increasing. Wasn't it like the year 2500 in the movie? I'm pretty sure by the year 2050 it will be just like the movie...
 
I work with two gentlemen that seem to know something about everything due to the internet. When it starts off with, "they say....". I tend to take it with a grain of salt. I wish we could just remove warning labels for roughly a month. Maybe that could be long enough for natural selection to take its course.
 
Sliding scale, the spread of information has grown but so with it mis-information... an the mis-information spreads exponential more then the correct information.

Some humans weren't mean't to discover fire let alone the internet, just my take.
 
The Driver said:
Some humans weren't mean't to discover fire let alone the internet, just my take.
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But I'm sure glad the discovery happened anyhow ;)

It's a tricky question IMO, the "making info easily available to everybody", but a lot of the stuff that people are *shocked* about was always available tothose who bothered to look for it. It's just that absent the internet, most people didn't know how to do the research or were too lazy/easily distracted.

Regarding all the mis-information out there, I like to hope (eternal optimist me...) that the need for Critical Thinking will some day assert itself but so far it doesn't seem to be a Hot Topic for most people. ("Hey, nothing wrong with how I think!")

The thing that makes me :rolleyes: about the internet is how *so* many people spend so much time on [stuff] that simply has no benefit to them or anybody else. It's like Talk Radio and [crappy] TV...it's all just time wasted on preaching to the choir or reveling in outrage. There's *so much to do* in life but people waste their resources on that [stuff]. Heh heh, I know a lot of people who would put Autopia in that category!
 
XxBoostinxX said:
I work with two gentlemen that seem to know something about everything due to the internet. When it starts off with, "they say"...
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I suspect that asking about the veracity of that "information" doesn't get you very far ;) I also suspect that when those guys discuss something about which you have expert knowledge they're invariably *wrong*.

Though I *AM* in favor of everybody knowing "something about everything and everything about something" as Heinlein (IIRC) put it.
 
This is a great thread. Very good points. The Internet is an amazing tool when used correctly.

Not to spin off but I often wonder what the Internet and technology will be like in 20 years. I am 34 and have grown up watching it go mainstream. It's hard for my parents to keep up so I help them a lot. I wonder when my daughter is older if she will have to help my wife and I or if it will be easier for us because things are evolving more gradually.


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RaskyR1 said:
I think the internet has made it very easy for someone to be more knowledgeable on pretty much any subject they'd like, but I wouldn't really say it makes them smarter, and it definitely doesn't do anything for common sense. My wife and I are building our home addition mostly ourselves and without access to all the info online I don't think it would have been as easy for us to do as it has been.

I do totally agree with the "decline of morals and humanity at an accelerated pace".
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How true that is, and how dangerous is a little new knowledge and no common sense to go with it.
 
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