2 ms·

I feel I don't really understand the last line, in that I cannot find any disadvantages- Google being so widely available means that people stop caring about m

by verall 8y ago

I feel I don't really understand the last line, in that I cannot find any disadvantages- Google being so widely available means that people stop caring about memorizing things that are easily googleable, but that is pretty orthoganal to "actually learning". Google being available makes this distinction clear. If it can be easily googled for, it's a fact and remembering facts is for paper and bits. Most things aren't on google. Use your brain for the hard stuff.

tspike 8y ago
The real challenge will be if you suddenly find yourself without Google one day. One big solar flare.. [1] [1] https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/03/110302-solar-flares-sun-storms-earth-danger-carrington-event-science/ https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/03/110302-sola...
- bookofjoe 8y ago
  There are people who believe an EMP — either intentional or otherwise — will one day bring the planet to a "The Day the Earth Stood Still" halt.
echelon 8y ago
I disagree. It's more about how often or how deeply you need to leverage information. Having facts in one's brain for immediate integration and synthesis matters to the translator or chemist, for instance. By having information in your brain, your subconscious self will have worked out how to apply it in clever and novel ways as an extension of your problem solving capacity. You can see it in your daily life too - for instance, you might occasionally find yourself programming with a new container or data structure library. The interface is hopefully simple enough to figure out at a glance, and you can look up things you don't know. But you'll likely move slower than if you had known the tool like the back of your hand. And more importantly, the lack of familiarity prevents your brain from being able to fully work at the level of the problem, since it's now forced to juggle with all the new information about the shape and behavior of the API.

by verall 8y ago

tspike 8y ago

The real challenge will be if you suddenly find yourself without Google one day. One big solar flare.. [1] [1] https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/03/110302-solar-flares-sun-storms-earth-danger-carrington-event-science/ https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/03/110302-sola...

bookofjoe 8y ago
There are people who believe an EMP — either intentional or otherwise — will one day bring the planet to a "The Day the Earth Stood Still" halt.

echelon 8y ago

I disagree. It's more about how often or how deeply you need to leverage information. Having facts in one's brain for immediate integration and synthesis matters to the translator or chemist, for instance. By having information in your brain, your subconscious self will have worked out how to apply it in clever and novel ways as an extension of your problem solving capacity. You can see it in your daily life too - for instance, you might occasionally find yourself programming with a new container or data structure library. The interface is hopefully simple enough to figure out at a glance, and you can look up things you don't know. But you'll likely move slower than if you had known the tool like the back of your hand. And more importantly, the lack of familiarity prevents your brain from being able to fully work at the level of the problem, since it's now forced to juggle with all the new information about the shape and behavior of the API.