Is Google Making Us Stupid?  The portion of the essay that I chose to highlight was: “In Plato’s Phaedrus, Socrates bemoaned the development of writing. He feared that, as people came to rely on the written word as a substitute for the knowledge they used to carry inside their heads, they would in the words of one of the dialogue’s characters, “cease to exercise their memory and become forgetful.” And because they would be able to “receive a quantity of information without proper instruction,” they would “be thought very knowledgeable when they are for the most part quite ignorant.” They would be filled with the conceit of wisdom instead of real wisdom.””

The reason I chose to comment on this portion is because although the author made some very compelling arguments about the affects Google has on our mental processes, I think it pertinent to consider whether our fears over these real or perceived limitations are based on truth or the traditional skepticism that surrounds change. However, I am one to believe that in spite of its many benefits, society has digressed in many areas due to the integration of technology into everyday life. People are losing their ability to effectively communicate, human interaction is limited, and perhaps to add to it all, we are sacrificing our greater intellectual ability in order to stay relevant in today’s new world.