Tools That Change the Way We Think

"Back in 2004, I asked [Google founders] Page and Brin what they saw as the future of Google search. 'It will be included in people's brains,' said Page. 'When you think about something and don't really know much about it, you will automatically get information.'

'That's true,' said Brin. 'Ultimately I view Google as a way to augment your brain with the knowledge of the world. Right now you go into your computer and type a phrase, but you can imagine that it could be easier in the future, that you can have just devices you talk into, or you can have computers that pay attention to what's going on around them and suggest useful information.'

'Somebody introduces themselves to you, and your watch goes to your web page,' said Page. 'Or if you met this person two years ago, this is what they said to you... Eventually you'll have the implant, where if you think about a fact, it will just tell you the answer."

-From In the Plex by Steven Levy (p.67)


Extensive use of technology, media, and internet often changes our thinking for the worse, rather than expanding it. Both technology and the internet is full of potential, but I think that we don't always know how to use it successfully. I love the internet and I use it all the time, for an array of things. Yes, social network sites are often distracting but they can bring people together. Also, the internet has helped me get a lot of information. If I need help in any subject, I can start searching around and usually find something. For example, when I don't understand my physics homework, I research some of the topics, and often find practice problems and all the information I need. The other day I was in a conversation about how exactly cell phones work, and since no one was sure, we looked it up instantly and were able to learn something new. We have grown up with technology and so we are more easily able to adapt to it, whereas explaining cell phones or computers to my grandparents is more trouble than it's worth. I think that if we expand our use of the internet from the random, silly things to the more important, thought provoking things then our thinking will expand rather than contract.