The Internet Makes Us Stupid...?

I believe the people who believe the Internet is making us stupid, are actually the people who are making everyone else stupid.

Namely Nobel Laureate Dorris Lessing. In the article "Nobel Laureate Says The Internet Makes Us Dumb, We Say: Meh" She argues that people who use the computer are becoming dumb. I believe she refuses to accept new technology that has proven to help people as a means of communicating information. The internet has given access to information that was not available without the network of the Internet.

In the article "The Digital Emporer Has No Clothes" Andrew Keen argues that with the creation of web 2.0 people are also becoming dumb as any person has the ability to post information which shuts out professionals. Keen believes that since web 2.0 has opened up the internet to everyone that they are inherently less reliable. I believe that web 2.0 has altered the way news is shaped, users post information and other users can act as fact checkers at a faster rate than traditional news sources.

The Internet has strengthened our ability to gain knowledge rather than weaken it. Lessing and Keen have not fully adjusted to the benefits that the Internet offers, instead they stick to a traditionalist approach which will keep them jaded from the real benefits.