{"id":2986,"date":"2012-03-06T14:14:39","date_gmt":"2012-03-06T19:14:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bygeorgejournal.ca\/?p=2986"},"modified":"2023-01-10T22:21:27","modified_gmt":"2023-01-11T03:21:27","slug":"3-top-posts-of-2011-on-becoming-google-stupid-a-digital-dummy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bygeorgejournal.ca\/?p=2986","title":{"rendered":"3 top posts of 2011: On becoming Google-stupid, a digital dummy"},"content":{"rendered":"

As we become more computer dependent, there is an emerging argument that we are fast becoming intellectual mutants. Does increased screen time equate directly to a devolving humanity?<\/p>\n

A few nights ago, our family saw an interesting and frightening CBC documentary entitled \u201cAre We Digital Dummies?\u201d <\/a><\/em>This is worth every minute of your time!<\/p>\n

As we cope with our wired world, we\u2019re at the point that we\u00a0must begin probing whether we can think for ourselves and socially interact? Are we all fast becoming \u201cGoogle-stupid\u201d?<\/p>\n

Herbert Simon, Nobel Prize winning economist, wrote: \u201cWhat information consumes is rather obvious. It consumes the attention of its recipients. Hence a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention.\u201d\u00a0And for those who believe that information is power, Albert Einstein warned: \u201cInformation is not knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n

The documentary and these learned reflections took me back to a previously written article that was first published in the By George Treasury<\/em>.\u00a0\u00a0In this\u00a0excerpt, we make a few suggestions for dealing with our modern day info-glut.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It is the amount of data that a person is expected to absorb that is scary. Consider that a daily edition of the N.Y. Times contains as much information as the average 17th century person would have come across in an entire lifetime. At our workplace, the average corporate worker receives 191 messages \u2013 51 phone calls, 39 e-mails, 16 internal memos, and 20 items of outside mail.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The amount, and pace are becoming unbelievable. We offer some hints on how you might avoid receiving so much\u2026 and give yourself some healthy \u2018headspace.\u2019\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n