As much as I like think that I know a lot about anything (I don’t), it’s always important to remember the fundamentals. Like this nugget I learned way back in grade ten computer class:
“Garbage In, Garbage Out”
This lesson was taught to us with the thinking that the computer was just a machine. If you put garbage in, it’ll spit garbage out. A simple and sweet adage (or disgusting depending on how you look at it), just how I like it.
Recently though, this lesson has resonated with me again as I dive deeper into The Shallows, by Nicholas Carr. He tries to uncover the answer to an important question in our age of information: “As we enjoy the Net’s bounties, are we sacrificing our ability to read and think deeply?” The brain after all is a computing device (albeit not a Von Neumann machine). If we spend all day on the internet inputting Facebook, Twitter, Digg, reddit, WoW, porn… into our brains, what happens to it? Garbage in…
The result just can’t be the same as someone who spends their time reading (entire) books and interacting with real people. For me, my brain is one of my most important assets. I’m going to make sure I put something useful inside, so I don’t have garbage coming out.
Thanks for reminding me about wasted time. My latest guilty pleasure is tech sites like gizmodo and engadget, I spend altogether too much time there.
I have to disagree slightly when it comes to books though. Although the medium is more conductive to intelligent thought, a lot of books are still garbage, or spend 100+ pages reiterating what amounts to a single blog entry of content. Especially now with The advent of blog marketing, you can find good content on almost amy medium. Im finding the only surefire way to filter for good content is after the fact.
You’re right there are tons of websites that have really good information. The problem isn’t the content but what type of thinking the medium is conducive of. The web is made for (that is, encourages) short attention spans and shallow but wide accumulation of information. While good for certain things, it’s definitely not the best medium for deep thought and introspection. Of course not everyone uses it for this, but that’s like saying junk food isn’t having a negative effect on people’s health because used in moderation it can be a delightful delicatesse. The web is a useful tool but I think it’s important that we don’t accidentally mold our minds to fit the kind of thinking it so seductively promotes.