I do not know how aware they are of it, but the young of today have so many things going for them. Consider this, with their access to internet, the world is practically at their feet; unlike during our growing days until the decades up till the 90s, when one had to practically scrape it out just to learn or discover anything as easily as they do now. Though that may be something that’s a bit of an exaggeration, one just has to accept that nowadays, almost anything could easily be had at a moment’s notice. The common saying, one only has to “Google” it, captures that exactly.
If one needed directions or get the address of a place, you can just Google it. Do you want the complete (and accurate) lyrics to a song, pronto? Or the complete audio and text transcripts of any TED episode? Do the same. No hassle. In short, the net is everybody’s ally and has become an unbelievably fathomless source of knowledge at one’s fingertips. As such, no one can deny that as a tool, which the internet really is, it has become the go-to device of all peoples, literally-dictating how we generally function and go about the day.
In the same light, as with all advances in development, there are downsides that appear to exist, although they’re not the focus of this piece. As it is, despite the net’s being too-good-to-be-true, just the same, let’s set aside these for the moment, save one.
Already there are some warnings by social scientists and experts alike they’ve noted a change on how we process thinking. This is especially true among those who grew up (born with) with internet already up. While this observation is extremely controversial and still premature, considering the net’s existence as blanketing only a few generations, it has gotten a nod from some quarters especially among education people. In a nutshell, they note the young people are becoming too reliant on tech, often their capacity to analyze and act on situations are in question. As a result, a side reaction is the tendency to be complacent.
As all these is really beyond us mortals (and net victims), I’d just like to put in my cent’s worth. May what scientists and experts think about the whole thing just go rot for the time being. As far as I’m concerned, I’ll just wait for their final say and decision on the matter. For the meantime though, some advice for the young. In order to prevent the dumbing they have warned us about, dive instead into more constructive pursuits beyond that screen in front of you; study martial arts or any sports for discipline, play chess for critical thinking or read actual books. Also, go out and play. Through all the above, that’s still the best medicine.
