Expanding Knowledge

A couple weeks back, we discussed how Carr believes that the Internet is affecting our memory capacity. Carr says that the more we use the Internet, the less information we retain because it is right at our fingertips. I disagree with Carr. I think that the Internet has actually expanded our memory and knowledge. Yes, lots of people don’t even bother memorizing anything anymore because all they have to do is open their phones and search for the subject. But I find, especially with myself, that because of everything I can look up on the Internet, I remember more.

            A lot of what I look up on the Internet is useless fun-facts that I pull up out of nowhere in random conversations. Some of the facts have even proven to be useful, but more often than not, I’m just showing how much of a geek I am. However, because I am always thirsting for knowledge, whether it is useful or not, I find that my brain has expanded and I can fit more knowledge in it than I could years before. Of course, this also has to do with my being older and using the Internet a lot more than I used to. For instance, I can tell you off the top of my head about 60 – 70 of 113 elements on the periodic table just from their abbreviation (note, I am a music major that got a C in Chemistry in High School). I can identify most soundtrack composers by just listening to a bit of a title theme of a movie.

            The Internet has provided me with enormous amounts of information that I love taking advantage of. And therefore, my brain has absorbed more than it ever possible could from reading out of a textbook (which does not make learning exciting in my opinion). My memory, though not the best at some times, has definitely grown from using the Internet for a good portion of my life.

~Liz Langelier