Tools That Change the Way We Think

"Back in 2004, I asked [Google founders] Page and Brin what they saw as the future of Google search. 'It will be included in people's brains,' said Page. 'When you think about something and don't really know much about it, you will automatically get information.'

'That's true,' said Brin. 'Ultimately I view Google as a way to augment your brain with the knowledge of the world. Right now you go into your computer and type a phrase, but you can imagine that it could be easier in the future, that you can have just devices you talk into, or you can have computers that pay attention to what's going on around them and suggest useful information.'

'Somebody introduces themselves to you, and your watch goes to your web page,' said Page. 'Or if you met this person two years ago, this is what they said to you... Eventually you'll have the implant, where if you think about a fact, it will just tell you the answer."

-From In the Plex by Steven Levy (p.67)

• I believe that the extensive use of technology has changed my thinking in a positive manner. Because it is much easier to research something, I want to learn more because it is much faster to do so. I admit that there are plenty of distractions when using the internet but I think that with time it will be easier for us to control ourselves from being distracted. It will only take time and practice to keep ourselves from getting distracted. If we set priorities of whatever it is that we want to accomplish, it is more difficult to get distracted. I do this and it works for me. However, there are times when I do get distracted and start looking up random stuff on the web. Even then I think it's a somewhat positive thing to get distracted. I am still learning, it may not be what I am supposed to be focusing on at the moment but it's still valid. Learning knew information has been made easier/faster but I don't necessarily think that easier/faster means that we are getting lazier.It just means that we are getting the ability to accomplish more in a less amount of time. Not only that, but to access more information in general. Before smart phones and 2.0 existed, learning and doing research was perhaps a more tedious task because it required more effort and time. Now it's much easier to do this, so I think that it motivates others to strive to learn more rather then make them lazy. It only makes information more available to us. It can turn into something that may potentially make us lazy but as long as we have control, technology can only contribute to our learning in a positive manner.