Pros and cons. You can still selectively investigate things without looking them up. And sometimes you run across things you can't really find online. I think

Pros and cons. You can still selectively investigate things without looking them up. And sometimes you run across things you can't really find online. I think the way we relate to people in other countries has changed somewhat due to contemporary technology. We've gone from "encountering the Other" to "encountering distant cousins" - having additional slices of shared modernity. It's not entirely bad, and people and outlooks and cultural norms are still be very different around the world. (When I first went to Japan, I could barely communicate there and everything was mysterious and exciting a la Lost In Translation, but with my current language level and familiarity, there's still fun in wandering slightly less touristed areas and chatting with the locals. Whether they're familiar with foreigners or not, it's generally an interesting exchange to learn about their experiences, like with the Hokkaido man who singlehandedly built Japan's northernmost lotus pond to try to improve the tourism potential of his hometown, or the Sasebo jazz bar owner who took me to a tiny bar in a cave-like bomb shelter.)