Online Debate Competition #3 - Does Internet kill our ability to think?

@lal-R60Xjx • Jun 15, 2014

Well, what I think is there is nothing like Internet is killing your brain. When do you search the web? When you have a question, right? What does that mean? It means you are thinking.

So, I don't think it is killing our ability to think. Instead, Internet is providing us with answers and options to think beyond limits. It in fact ignites another little flame which can be a solution to a hundred different problems.

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Yordan Vasilev

@yordan-vasilev-zpbAVx • Jun 15, 2014

I don't think it kills the ability to think. Maybe just makes us lazy in search and find. It also helps as being the probably the biggest source of free information, so if someone needs to learn or find something - it makes it easy.

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@ramani-VR4O43 • Jun 15, 2014

Internet and search engines are just tools. What is between the two ears is what thinks. It can use any tool creatively.
The problem comes when people intentionally avoid thinking and look for a quick fix.
So long as the net is used as a tool as a virtual library, it can help thinking. As an old timer I am still partial to books. I do use the net a lot for current data on materials processes. It is a very useful adjunct to creative thinking provided it is used as such.

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@CrazyBoy • Jun 15, 2014

I believe that, somehow internet is killing your ability to think. Because of easily available solution source, we do not even attempt to think or put it some efforts, right?

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Pensu

@pensu-8tNeGU • Jun 15, 2014

No, it doesn't! If anything, it helps humans to think further. It tells you what has already been done and what more can you think about. Imagine a world where everyone is just a frog in a well. Nobody knows what's going on around the world. People will keep developing same theories again and again. Internet gives you the chance to know what limit has been breached and then you can think ahead of that.

And of-course, who can forget resources! Tell me any other medium which will give you access to that much resources on the tip of your fingers. Plus you get a chance to communicate with people who are interested in the same thing, that makes your thinking ever broader. The only thing is, you should know how to use it for your benefit!

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@sanyam-Nl7Zqc • Jun 15, 2014

Well folks! I disagree to the fact that internet is killing our ability to think. Wait, before you disagree with me, and let me give you a quick example.

CrazyEngineers, You’re accessing this site almost daily, reading through various discussions, participating in them and “expanding” your knowledge.

Note here, that Internet surely provides you with instant access, it may seem like that it’s killing your ability, but as I say, you’re solely responsible for how you use a resource. Considering for example, Nuclear weapons were made to “protect”, medicines were there to “cure” but we know many people use them in exactly opposite way.

Internet is useful, if you’re using it in the right way. It’s not only just a “source of information” as the old traditional books, but it provides much more capability than it. For instance, you need to learn how to code, traditionally, you would just pick up a big book on programming and start reading it. You’ll spend plenty of time just going through the pages, rather than actually doing what’s needed. I’m implying to practice to code and improving upon the skills. While on the other hand, when we see internet world, you can find a lot of interactive web exercises which would help you to quickly lean by “actually doing”.

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Dhevishathya Rajaram

@dhevishathya-rajaram-LALiSR • Jun 15, 2014

Ofcourse not...we, the human beings are not able to know things as much as the internet resources has...surfing the net is useful in many areas like realtime updates,research,education,communication and also in many financial aspects...so in my view internet is a treasure trove and it's not killing our ability to think...😀

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@ramani-VR4O43 • Jun 15, 2014

On the down side I do see a lot of students trying to use various fora to get answers to assignments or homework without putting any effort. Some even tell honestly that they were out partying and have a hangover or whatever and ask 'can you please please, God Please help me out?'.

That can be told about any tool/resource.

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@satya-swaroop-YDeBJM • Jun 15, 2014

Yes, I agree with your opinion that books are a source of knowledge that no internet can replace but when you think about it the internet has helped us get through books and the information faster. For example take the book by Dale Carnegie “How To Win Friends and Influence People”, instead of spending my time going through the entire book I can learn the things he has to say in a précis found on the internet.

On the other hand if we check the dark side, we often find that Internet manages to corrupt our thinking process. People look up symptoms on websites such as WebMD and come to a conclusion that they are suffering from a life threatening illness.

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@sarathkumar-FEGRPw • Jun 15, 2014

Satya Swaroop Dash
Think ? No. Remembering things Yes. When it comes to analytical topics no amount of AI can replace our brain.

From the first instance when i saw the topic too thought that AI can't replace human capability to think but the truth is that it only enhances the skill/thoughts. Before the innovation of internet, all we do is read newspaper, hear radio and see television to know whats happening around the world but we should note that those information were limited and if we had'nt got the answer we got in books in library we decide that the thing we searched didnt exist but in today's modern era, we can cross check the news we had got and explore more.
Internet is vast and we can do a lot more than exploring news happening around us.For instance, Internet has been a platform to explore, learn and share to others. Consider our own CE in which we have been discussing without which we would be doing other things.Here we post doubts, projects, etc but it doesn't mean we are not thinking.Its a platform to apply our thoughts that we had thought.

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@gurwinder-6v01b4 • Jun 15, 2014

NO. its not killing our thinking ability. it increase the power of thinking. sometimes it tells us new thing which we cant think before. keep us update.

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@sanyam-Nl7Zqc • Jun 15, 2014

One example is, just two days back, I was searching for how to make a circular div in CSS, how to have icons of facebook, twitter etc. on a webpage etc. I quickly made a search on the net, and I was flooded with a lot of information. Now it could depend on me, whether I just quickly copy + paste what I needed, or I could read more about it, and search more, how is it actually working and then imply it on my own. Right?

So, as you see, basically we are solely responsible for how we’re using the information.

Because books also provide you with the same information, but books may be limited in a particular topic, but that’s not the case with Internet, you can find plenty of blogs with helpful posts on a particular topic.

You can learn so much fast with Internet as it actually makes your learning 10x faster by providing interactive environment.

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@rajni-E46Rlm • Jun 15, 2014

How many students refer books or think twice before checking Internet for the solution??

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@ramani-VR4O43 • Jun 15, 2014

Stephen Leacock, one of the best humourist of the early 20th century wrote that after going througha medical encyclopedia, he felt that he was suffering from everything except housemaid's knee and felt cheated.

You do not need the net for such anxieties.

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@lal-R60Xjx • Jun 15, 2014

Oh yes! People are expected to use their common sense and intelligence while using a resource like that, where informations cannot be validated fully. Even then, something, may be a solution, you find on the internet, makes you think how genuine it can be. Unless from a trusted source, you'll have to question its truth value.

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@ramani-VR4O43 • Jun 15, 2014

I am sure that Plato, Aristotle and Einstein if alive now would use the net to further their thoughts.

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@sanyam-Nl7Zqc • Jun 15, 2014

lal
Well, what I think is there is nothing like Internet is killing your brain. When do you search the web? When you have a question, right? What does that mean? It means you are thinking.

So, I don't think it is killing our ability to think. Instead, Internet is providing us with answers and options to think beyond limits. It in fact ignites another little flame which can be a solution to a hundred different problems.

Yes, I simply agree to this. We search, when we have questions. But there are two sides of the coin as I previously mentioned, one way you can quickly complete your homework as #-Link-Snipped-# sir said, that's obviously misusing internet rather than actually get benefit from it. Other way is go in detail of what you're actually wanting to know.

Detail here doesn't need to mean very very much detail, but detail means to me to that point where you "actually" understanding, what a particular topic is all about.

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Ankita Katdare

@abrakadabra • Jun 15, 2014

I think there's a lot of difference between 'the ability to think' and 'learning something new'. Let us not mix them both when keeping our arguments.

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@rajni-E46Rlm • Jun 15, 2014

Seems like most of us disagrees with the fact, Then what about the following recent research...

"the internet is fundamentally changing how our brains work and how our minds function. It was proved in an experiment that the way in which we interact with texts is evolving as use of the internet increases, which in turn affects our ways of thinking, both at a conceptual level and a biological level, and sees these shifts in our mental lives as potentially problematic."

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@satya-swaroop-YDeBJM • Jun 15, 2014

#-Link-Snipped-# #-Link-Snipped-# Yes you are absolutely right.

It seems the most of us are disagreeing with the topic, so lets us try to put some points on the other side.

When it comes to the actual thinking process involved in our day to basis I have a very good example.

During my college days I was interning at a small software firm, the programming head asked me to develop a chat application which should have all the chat features like people online, auto refresh blocking and so on. I immediately took to the internet to find the solution but while I found millions of code but nowhere could I get the programming logic. So I decided to use my own logic and insert some lines of code from the internet for various parts.

So as you have seen in the above example the fast internet has put up solutions to help us put less strain on our head but our minds know better.

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@sanyam-Nl7Zqc • Jun 15, 2014

Rajni Jain
How many students refer books or think twice before checking Internet for the solution??

Yes, people may check books, but as I said, it entirely differs from person to person, one may just prefer a quick look from internet and complete his "homework" other may want to go through the article in a book, to understand a particular topic, if he doesn't understand what's actually going on (like I sometimes feel, mostly with electrical and computer science topics), he can search on the net what's the particular topic is all about.

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@sarathkumar-FEGRPw • Jun 15, 2014

Satya Swaroop Dash
On the other hand if we check the dark side, we often find that Internet manages to corrupt our thinking process. People look up symptoms on websites such as WebMD and come to a conclusion that they are suffering from a life threatening illness.

Yes i had also searched about the medicines that i had been prescribed but it doesn't mean i am coming to a conclusion by myself. It helps us to know out of box since medicine is a field where doctors go for step by step method to diagonize problem. Many doctors had concluded to a specific terms with little diagnosization. I had experienced a similar situation were i met a dermatologist for a problem at back of my ear but he only saw me one time and came to a decision that i had a cholesterol stone near my ear and he gave some medicines. All turned worse and it got bigger. I searched for it over internet and i read a lot and peculiar diseases which pushed me to consult another doctor and i got cured.

Note that there a lot of people who go by nearby shop and say symptoms and ask the pharmacists to give medicine for them. So its not with the internet but its with the people.

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@lal-R60Xjx • Jun 15, 2014

Rajni Jain
How many students refer books or think twice before checking Internet for the solution??

I'd consider refering books and searching the internet kinda same. About thinking twice, that is the same when you refer the book or search the net.
Or educate me. How does searching internet and referring books differ? Books probably limit the amount of information they give, could that be it?

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@CrazyBoy • Jun 15, 2014

A.V.Ramani
I am sure that Plato, Aristotle and Einstein if alive now would use the net to further their thoughts.

Do you think that Steve jobs would have found something on internet before inventing Apple products?

Or Internet would have helped Newton thinking why apple falls down?

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@satya-swaroop-YDeBJM • Jun 15, 2014

SarathKumar Chandrasekaran
So its not with the internet but its with the people.

Thats the thing with every resource, its what people do with it whether they use it for good or bad use.

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@gurwinder-6v01b4 • Jun 15, 2014

if i want to know how thing work. if i have a book with full information and picture about the topic and other side i have a laptop with fast net speed. then i will go for laptop. where i can see picture in the book other side i can see videos regarding topic.

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Anoop Kumar

@anoop-kumar-GDGRCn • Jun 15, 2014

If you are in ocean, catch the fish you wanted and back to work or, dive further to enjoy a new coral reefs.

Internet just made us to find information and collaborate easily. while on downside this is a maze of information you might lost what you are seeking.

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@rajni-E46Rlm • Jun 15, 2014

Seems like we are dragging the topic in a different direction,

I think there's a lot of difference between 'the ability to think' and 'learning something new'

Let us not mix them both when keeping our arguments.

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@sanyam-Nl7Zqc • Jun 15, 2014

Satya Swaroop Dash
#-Link-Snipped-# #-Link-Snipped-# Yes you are absolutely right.

It seems the most of us are disagreeing with the topic, so lets us try to put some points on the other side.

When it comes to the actual thinking process involved in our day to basis I have a very good example.

During my college days I was interning at a small software firm, the programming head asked me to develop a chat application which should have all the chat features like people online, auto refresh blocking and so on. I immediately took to the internet to find the solution but while I found millions of code but nowhere could I get the programming logic. So I decided to use my own logic and insert some lines of code from the internet for various parts.

So as you have seen in the above example the fast internet has put up solutions to help us put less strain on our head but our minds know better.

Yes, this can happen, but I (personally) particularly, tries to think, and that's what we should actually do.
Right?

Because, we have resources, access to all the information in the world in just a few clicks. But how we make the "use" of our resource is what makes it different.

Rajni Jain
Seems like most of us disagrees with the fact, Then what about the following recent research...

"the internet is fundamentally changing how our brains work and how our minds function. It was proved in an experiment that the way in which we interact with texts is evolving as use of the internet increases, which in turn affects our ways of thinking, both at a conceptual level and a biological level, and sees these shifts in our mental lives as potentially problematic."

Yes, it changes how our brain works, may be affecting our ways of thinking as the research suggests. But that's because of our own fault.

Yes, indeed, just copy + pasting is what people prefer in today's world.
They feel so lazy to just understand about the topic, rather they just want to go through a quick process to accomplish their "small-term goals", rather focusing on their "long-term goals" , and that's what making the whole difference.

That's what is responsible for killing the thinking of "some" people who are so lazy to grab proper information and use the internet "effectively".

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@lal-R60Xjx • Jun 15, 2014

Anil Jain
Do you think that Steve jobs would have found something on internet before inventing Apple products?

Or Internet would have helped Newton thinking why apple falls down?

Probably Newton might have found a way to increase the bandwidth!

It doesn't make sense to think it that way. A person thinks when he/she encounters problems. Necessity is the mother of invention, not the Internet. Internet doesn't stop you from thinking anything. Rather it boosts!

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Dhevishathya Rajaram

@dhevishathya-rajaram-LALiSR • Jun 15, 2014

I agree that i am not refer book or think twice before searching the net...but the solutions which i get from the internet makes me think and i think it's a much beneficial way...😀
am also using the internet to complete my homeworks and for complicated assignments...i know it's not a proper way...but reading a proper text book and extracting things which i want then learning it and applying it is a really impractical way to complete my assignments in one day sir #-Link-Snipped-# 😀

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@ramani-VR4O43 • Jun 15, 2014

Just as passive watching of a TV can dull one's thinking so can time spent on social sites (like FB) stop one thinking. Scoring brownie points or likes become the goal.

The problem as I see it in this debate is more semantic.
CEans are generally serious engineers. Though they take time out for a bit of fun and frolic, most of the time the net is used to serious purpose as #-Link-Snipped-# suggests.

There is no gainsaying that the net is of great use to speed up creativity. That certain aspects of the net act as anodyne is also proven. Many medical institutions abroad and here have special divisions looking into net addiction.

Are all of here talking about the same thing in this discussion?

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@CrazyBoy • Jun 15, 2014

No doubt that internet have hell lot of things that are beneficial to human being. However, how many of you agree that time has came when we go search internet first before applying our own mind?

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@anoop-FRTf1L • Jun 15, 2014

When you look at this from an adult point of view, you might be absolutely right about the internet being useful in all its glory.

But, as mentioned, below things do look different from a young mind's point of view.

"Exposure to the internet and availability to 'instant' information has increased significantly in last 5 years, especially in adolescents".

To an adolescent or young teenager, his/her eyes are just starting to open. He would get lots of information if he searched the internet, but how on earth would he/she get to know information that is not easily found or forgotten? If he/she has an idea about what he/she wants to 'find' through 'searching/'browsing' the internet, then the task is easier.

But, is that so in reality?

I would like to cite an example that took place in my own life:

My dad never bought me a computer until I joined 7th Grade of School as I 'had' a subject in school. I started asking him for a computer from 2nd Grade of School onward. My dad had mixed thoughts. If he had then bought me a computer and an Encarta Encyclopedia CD collection, I was good to go with School Assignments and necessary stuff.

But my dad thought differently (and I heard him say this to a friend of his), "If I'd bought him a computer and an Encarta Encyclopedia Collection, he and his sister would have just wasted time playing games or taking just the necessary information out of the computer. But instead, I bought them a 3 set collection of Britannica and Other Encyclopedia which they read regularly and get a lot of information from, which would help them think."

Yes, i remember how I got a lot of extra information from the real printed Encyclopedia collection back at home - history, things of the past, things you don't get to read on the newspaper or at school, etc. Even though I don't remember all of it, I still have hints of what I need to search for on the internet when a topic comes to my head. I would think of stories that took place in the past and other interesting observations - this has helped a lot in future in terms of thinking about various topics - writing an article with cited examples from the past, learning the different culture of different places and thinking about how life would be in those areas, etc.

For eg: Ventriloquism - how many of you knew what this is back in 2nd Grade of School? How many of you know it now without actually looking online?

Now, this has also significantly increased my 'affinity' towards books. You may see, you've e-books for that. But seriously, how long can you read from an e-book? I tried, and I did not enjoy the experience.

Even 90% of the old content here at CE is not known by me. I don't know even 1% of what's there on the internet. But, I have a collection of memories of what was there on the A-Z labels of my Encyclopedia.

Now think about it? Is internet really a good 'first' source of information? - The answer is 'No'. So how does the thinking improve?

Before, we used to observe things around us and reason with - WHAT, WHY, WHEN, HOW questions, now we just Google it!

Before there was an inner satisfaction to finding a solution, or thinking for a minute or two and finding the meaning of a word from the dictionary, now just search it online. This is definitely a case not-good for adolescents.

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@sarathkumar-FEGRPw • Jun 15, 2014

Rajni Jain
How many students refer books or think twice before checking Internet for the solution??

Ok lets put it like this. Is it wrong to go straight to internet to learn what we want and consume our time?
Advantages:

We can quick scan the webpages the subject/topic we want to know.
Easy to zero in the topic
Availability of more images and video reference to explore the complicated topics. Eg: a gear box operation is more complicated when we refer book alone .
We are independent- We don't want to ask for help from others in some situations and that is the place internet gives us a helping hand
A platform to start ups to showcase their products.
To raise funds for kickstarting projects and share the artworks

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@CrazyBoy • Jun 15, 2014

Topic says "Does Internet kill our ability to think?"

Most of us in the discussion are saying that internet is giving us so many solution, don't we think that our ABILITY to think is vanished as we got the cooked-up answer?

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@satya-swaroop-YDeBJM • Jun 15, 2014

Here is a fact that we have completely over looked.

Internet helps us in collaborative projects that means we can put learned minds from across the work together and find solutions.

There you go it helps us to think better.

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@sanyam-Nl7Zqc • Jun 15, 2014

Anoop Kumar
If you are in ocean, catch the fish you wanted and back to work or, dive further to enjoy a new coral reefs.

Internet just made us to find information and collaborate easily. while on downside this is a maze of information you might lost what you are seeking.

Completely agree with this. It depends on the user, how he wants to use the internet, he can actually quickly catch up a fish (info) you wanted, or can dive further (researching about your topic so as to understand it's true meaning).

Yes, it may sometimes seems like you're actually lost in this vast ocean and deviated from what you were actually looking about or searching about.

The thing is, as I previously mentioned, you need to understand a topic in detail (so much detail, as much is sufficient for you to understand what's going on in the particular topic)

lal
Probably Newton might have found a way to increase the bandwidth!

It doesn't make sense to think it that way. A person thinks when he/she encounters problems. Necessity is the mother of invention, not the Internet. Internet doesn't stop you from thinking anything. Rather it boosts!

Well, we could just traditionally search the books, but getting a book on a particular topic, you've to search, then if you need to refer another sub-topic, may be you need to look out for another book.

But with Internet, you can quickly get a vast amount of information at just a few clicks. If you need to go in for a sub-topic, you can quickly navigate easily.

I'm not saying that books are too old , or too mainstream stuff, but I believe one should always first refer books. May be a particular topic could not be explained in a newbie way as a student wants, so he can search on the net.

It happens with me many times, I then make a search, sometime it happens I couldn't figure out a particular thing, and understand the topic in an "easy way" which I as a newbie would understand, then internet always provide me with forums like CE, where people help me out. I remember till now, how I've come up with questions like "Why a flying wheel is named so?" on CE, while I was not finding a "particular" answer to my question.

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@ramani-VR4O43 • Jun 15, 2014

Something urgent has come up. Before signing off this is to reiterate, the net can be used responsibly to further individual and group (spread across time zones) to come up with creative output quickly.

Used irresponsibly it can dull thinking and lead to psychological problems.

(Admin: Please leave me out of any evaluation)

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@rajni-E46Rlm • Jun 15, 2014

OFFICIAL MODERATION: We are discussing "Does Internet kills our ability to think"

We are not discussing that Internet is good for human being or not, No doubt Internet is an asset.

We are debating if "Internet does kill our 'ABILITY' to think?"

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@gurwinder-6v01b4 • Jun 15, 2014

if you are reading a books and a doubt comes where will you go? to whom you will contact? i think maximum people go for internet. if books can give us everything then why net?

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@sanyam-Nl7Zqc • Jun 15, 2014

Anil Jain
Topic says "Does Internet kill our ability to think?"

Most of us in the discussion are saying that internet is giving us so many solution, don't we think that our ABILITY to think is vanished as we got the cooked-up answer?

Cooked-up solutions, Right sir.

We get cooked-up solutions, but that doesn't restrict you to explore further. Isn't it?

You can always search more, and go in depth till you understand what you are searching for.

Satya Swaroop Dash
Here is a fact that we have completely over looked.

Internet helps us in collaborative projects that means we can put learned minds from across the work together and find solutions.

There you go it helps us to think better.

Exactly! Great points coming here !

Well there are Organizations like Mozilla, where you can simply contribute and learn how to work in a team environment.

They can provide us a platform to learn things, and moreover how actually the stuff works in real time environment.

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@sanyam-Nl7Zqc • Jun 15, 2014

Gurwinder Singh
if you are reading a books and a doubt comes where will you go? to whom you will contact? i think maximum people go for internet. if books can give us everything then why net?

Nope. You can always search up different books. But the problem here is, you need to find them either.

While, net can get you vast amount of information in just a few steps.

Indeed, it makes us lazy by not going to library to search up for books, but then everything in occurs a cost, you need to travel, and in my case, I may be traveling for 1.5-2 hours to reach a library. Then what's the use? And it can happen, that I may not get the book I'm looking for, or even if I get, I may not able to understand the topic from that too...

I can certainly try, but then internet can provide it way easily.

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@CrazyBoy • Jun 15, 2014

Sanyam Khurana
Cooked-up solutions, Right sir.
We get cooked-up solutions, but that doesn't restrict you to explore further. Isn't it?
You can always search more, and go in depth till you understand what you are searching for.

Do we do that always?
Take a situation, You are stuck at a point while doing coding. Without applying much of the mind, first thing 90% of the engineers do is to search net to get the solution or probably a ready made code snippet?

A easy solution, right? Helpful? surely it is. Internet does give us the solution as well.

But don't you think it killed our ABILITY to think before searching internet for the solution.

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@CrazyBoy • Jun 15, 2014

Ask mods how many emails they gets for ready made projects?
because internet become a tool which helps user stop thinking and getting a ready made solution (became a tool that can "preserve your mind" 😁)

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@satya-swaroop-YDeBJM • Jun 15, 2014

Anil Jain
Most of us in the discussion are saying that internet is giving us so many solution, don't we think that our ABILITY to think is vanished as we got the cooked-up answer?

Getting cooked up answers is not bad. For example in a triangle know that p^2 + b^2 = h^2 thanks to Pythagoras. but when it comes to tri-sectiing a angle of a triangle I have to put up my mind into use because I have used the internet and found that there is no such answer to it. Human mind is made for thinking.

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@harshad-ukH5ww • Jun 15, 2014

Anil Jain
Do we do that always?
Take a situation, You are stuck at a point while doing coding. Without applying much of the mind, first thing 90% of the engineers do is to search net to get the solution or probably a ready made code snippet?

A easy solution, right? Helpful? surely it is. Internet does give us the solution as well.

But don't you think it killed our ABILITY to think before searching internet for the solution.

I second you CB ! Most of the time when we are doing coding and some error pops-up you usually go to the google type the error phrase and go to first link of stack overflow and figure out the solution for that error.

Instead of that if coder tries to figure it out itself and try to figure out the actual logic mistake he is doing then he will also come to some alternate idea of functions and also helps to clear the fundamental knowledge also.

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@CrazyBoy • Jun 15, 2014

lal
I'd consider refering books and searching the internet kinda same. About thinking twice, that is the same when you refer the book or search the net.
Or educate me. How does searching internet and referring books differ? Books probably limit the amount of information they give, could that be it?

Internet can you how circuits works, right?
It can not give you a solution that how a new circuit that has not been invented yet will work.

YOU need to apply your mind there, believe me, internet doesn't even allow you to do that.

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@gurwinder-6v01b4 • Jun 15, 2014

if internet kills our ability to think. then why we all join CE and we all are hear? it means it not killing our ability to think, its increase over thinking power.

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@anoop-FRTf1L • Jun 15, 2014

The main focus here is the 'extra' information you get when you search for something on a book/encyclopedia. Eg: I want to search an information which starts with the letter 'T' (ex: Train) on an encyclopedia/dictionary, and I look it up and I might find another exciting information within a dictionary/encyclopedia that also happens to start with letter 'T' (eg: Tyrannosaurus, Twister, Transylvania). For me this is a new 'discovery' and I have just gained a new topic as 'food-for-thought'. Agree?

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@harshad-ukH5ww • Jun 15, 2014

Anil Jain
Ask mods how many emails they gets for ready made projects?
because internet become a tool which helps user stop thinking and getting a ready made solution (became a tool that can "preserve your mind" 😁)

I again second you CB !
Now a days just because of internet students are not THINKING for innovative project but they SEARCHING for innovative project. And that is the only reason we get common issue with all students "Our faculty reject the topic". It is actually for 60 of students 5-10 students surf on internet, started thread on CE and then submit project name to Faculty by this way they are not thinking their self about what they can make their own.

No doubt there are threads which really comes after thinking a lot and asking for some help but they are in minority.

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@CrazyBoy • Jun 15, 2014

Internet helps us in one thing greatly... How already invented concepts, theories, documents, codes, engines, circuits, methods will work correctly?

It stops us in thinking how we will build new concepts.

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@sanyam-Nl7Zqc • Jun 15, 2014

Anoop Mathew
When you look at this from an adult point of view, you might be absolutely right about the internet being useful in all its glory.

But, as mentioned, below things do look different from a young mind's point of view.

To an adolescent or young teenager, his/her eyes are just starting to open. He would get lots of information if he searched the internet, but how on earth would he/she get to know information that is not easily found or forgotten? If he/she has an idea about what he/she wants to 'find' through 'searching/'browsing' the internet, then the task is easier.

But, is that so in reality?

I would like to cite an example that took place in my own life:

My dad never bought me a computer until I joined 7th Grade of School as I 'had' a subject in school. I started asking him for a computer from 2nd Grade of School onward. My dad had mixed thoughts. If he had then bought me a computer and an Encarta Encyclopedia CD collection, I was good to go with School Assignments and necessary stuff.

But my dad thought differently (and I heard him say this to a friend of his), "If I'd bought him a computer and an Encarta Encyclopedia Collection, he and his sister would have just wasted time playing games or taking just the necessary information out of the computer. But instead, I bought them a 3 set collection of Britannica and Other Encyclopedia which they read regularly and get a lot of information from, which would help them think."

Yes, i remember how I got a lot of extra information from the real printed Encyclopedia collection back at home - history, things of the past, things you don't get to read on the newspaper or at school, etc. Even though I don't remember all of it, I still have hints of what I need to search for on the internet when a topic comes to my head. I would think of stories that took place in the past and other interesting observations - this has helped a lot in future in terms of thinking about various topics - writing an article with cited examples from the past, learning the different culture of different places and thinking about how life would be in those areas, etc.

For eg: Ventriloquism - how many of you knew what this is back in 2nd Grade of School? How many of you know it now without actually looking online?

Now, this has also significantly increased my 'affinity' towards books. You may see, you've e-books for that. But seriously, how long can you read from an e-book? I tried, and I did not enjoy the experience.

Even 90% of the old content here at CE is not known by me. I don't know even 1% of what's there on the internet. But, I have a collection of memories of what was there on the A-Z labels of my Encyclopedia.

Now think about it? Is internet really a good 'first' source of information? - The answer is 'No'. So how does the thinking improve?

Before, we used to observe things around us and reason with - WHAT, WHY, WHEN, HOW questions, now we just Google it!

Before there was an inner satisfaction to finding a solution, or thinking for a minute or two and finding the meaning of a word from the dictionary, now just search it online. This is definitely a case not-good for adolescents.

Agree with this !

Again the thing which comes here is , it depends entirely on how we use internet !

May be just look up for cooked-up solutions as #-Link-Snipped-# said, or search more.

Anil Jain
Do we do that always?
Take a situation, You are stuck at a point while doing coding. Without applying much of the mind, first thing 90% of the engineers do is to search net to get the solution or probably a ready made code snippet?

A easy solution, right? Helpful? surely it is. Internet does give us the solution as well.

But don't you think it killed our ABILITY to think before searching internet for the solution.

I agree to you, most people would have done that ! But internet surely doesn't restrict us right there, even if we get the ready-made code snippets, instead of just copy-pasting them, we can try to understand the logic behind them, and then can just try to come up with our own solution.

Agree that many people won't follow it, but then it's their own mistake, some people are still there who prefer to make an efficient use of internet. They do search things and restrict themselves from copy pasting 😀

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@satya-swaroop-YDeBJM • Jun 15, 2014

We can say that our laziness forces us to find an easy way. It’s like my mathematics teacher used to say that if I teach you how to solve a problem you might forget it but if you find the solution yourself you would remember it for a life time.

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@gurwinder-6v01b4 • Jun 15, 2014

if everybody here agree that internet not killing our ability to think. then why we are giving examples to each other? who is here who is not agree?

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@CrazyBoy • Jun 15, 2014

Gurwinder Singh
if internet kills our ability to think. then why we all join CE and we all are hear? it means it not killing our ability to think, its increase over thinking power.

You have joined CE because internet is giving you information that already exists.

Believe me, internet is imbibing the habit of getting the ready made solutions and stopping you to think beyond that.

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@sarathkumar-FEGRPw • Jun 15, 2014

Anil Jain
Do you think that Steve jobs would have found something on internet before inventing Apple products?

Or Internet would have helped Newton thinking why apple falls down?

May be Newton would have been a CE member and would have discussed with us about the same topic [IMG]

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@CrazyBoy • Jun 15, 2014

Gurwinder Singh
if everybody here agree that internet not killing our ability to think. then why we are giving examples to each other? who is here who is not agree?

I Don't

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@CrazyBoy • Jun 15, 2014

SarathKumar Chandrasekaran
May be Newton would have been a CE member and would have discussed with us about the same topic

You wouldn't even thought that apple can fall down.

As you can get only that information which is available on net; for thinking that something can fall down, internet can not help you.

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@CrazyBoy • Jun 15, 2014

Satya Swaroop Dash
We can say that our laziness forces us to find an easy way. It’s like my mathematics teacher used to say that if I teach you how to solve a problem you might forget it but if you find the solution yourself you would remember it for a life time.

Is internet becoming a tool that supports our laziness?
in terms killing our ability to think?

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@harshad-ukH5ww • Jun 15, 2014

Sanyam Khurana
I agree to you, most people would have done that ! But internet surely doesn't restrict us right there, even if we get the ready-made code snippets, instead of just copy-pasting them, we can try to understand the logic behind them, and then can just try to come up with our own solution.

Here I would like to say that if you look at some code and you try it yourself and it's working and I bet you are not going to try any other logic for that.
Where I was working previously my friend+boss used to visit employee if they have any doubt he used to help in sorting out the problem.
I like his way he clearly say no for google when you got any error. He used to come to our desk and ask us to explain the logic I put and we used to explain and in between he used to ask why you use can't you use this function so at that point it puts you to do some brainstorming.

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@rajni-E46Rlm • Jun 15, 2014

Official Moderation: Last 25 minutes before we will conclude the discussion.

Meanwhile, have anyone of you read following book --
Do recommend to read this.

The Shallows: How the Internet Is Changing the Way We Think, Read and Remember.

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@sanyam-Nl7Zqc • Jun 15, 2014

Harshad Italiya
I again second you CB !
Now a days just because of internet students are not THINKING for innovative project but they SEARCHING for innovative project. And that is the only reason we get common issue with all students "Our faculty reject the topic". It is actually for 60 of students 5-10 students surf on internet, started thread on CE and then submit project name to Faculty by this way they are not thinking their self about what they can make their own.

No doubt there are threads which really comes after thinking a lot and asking for some help but they are in minority.

Sir, this is because, many times, colleges just reject a particular project, that even restrict the students.

For instance, say a person A is interested in Web Development, he came up with an awesome creative idea, made his project, while time to submit, he simply got rejected just because college don't accept website !

And this thing surely left me drenched in sweat !

The student out of fear, ain't so much into other domains, need to search a project, or tries to find a ready-made one.

I completely agree that this is WRONG. Completely wrong.

But then, students can be made aware in advance, what they actually have to submit.

I also agree that some people without any knowledge or hard work, simply tries to search a project rather than put in efforts to what he knows.
But at the same time, I feel sorry for people who put in efforts, make a project about what they know and get rejected just simply because of some stupid shit that website isn't a project !

Anil Jain
You wouldn't even thought that apple can fall down.

As you can get only that information which is available on net; for thinking that something can fall down, internet can not help you.

Agree, but then internet is just for helping 😀

Depends on your usage ! Just spend time observing things around and who knows we have a next Newton or Einstein with us ? 😀

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@harshad-ukH5ww • Jun 15, 2014

SarathKumar Chandrasekaran
May be Newton would have been a CE member and would have discussed with us about the same topic

No then Newton was busy in creating thread called "Why Apple is falling down?"

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@gurwinder-6v01b4 • Jun 15, 2014

is anybody there who is not agree with the topic? please come out

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@sanyam-Nl7Zqc • Jun 15, 2014

Harshad Italiya
No then Newton was busy in creating thread called "Why Apple is falling down?"

Oh yes, and CEans coming up with idea of Gravity 👍

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@harshad-ukH5ww • Jun 15, 2014

Gurwinder Singh
is anybody there who is not agree with the topic? please come out

There are lot of you see Page 1 and 2. 😀

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@anoop-FRTf1L • Jun 15, 2014

Sanyam Khurana
Again the thing which comes here is , it depends entirely on how we use internet !

Internet is useful. It is. But it does not help stimulate thinking in adolescents. Mainly this is because, the young mind is wild and unguarded. If you look around you, you'd see that about 80% of the kids in adolescence these days don't know anything beyond 'graspable' information or 'whats seen on the television'. Not everything online might appeal to them. Just a few glance-able information.

It is only after they get into a college that they start to somewhat 'think' about future/world/subject/topics. In such a scenario, internet is a good side-kick, but never a good teacher to an adolescent. Get them some books to read and they'd know better.

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@CrazyBoy • Jun 15, 2014

Harshad Italiya
No then Newton was busy in creating thread called "Why Apple is falling down?"

Also most of the folks, would have copied that stating that as apple always falls down.

Without even thinking about gravity and wouldn't have thought that there are places in the universe where apple may not fall.. 😁

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@gurwinder-6v01b4 • Jun 15, 2014

Harshad Italiya
There are lot of you see Page 1 and 2. 😀

no i think they are agree now. they should come here

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@satya-swaroop-YDeBJM • Jun 15, 2014

My final statement:

Most of us agree to the fact that internet has never stopped us from thinking nor has it ruined our thinking. It’s the laziness that stops us from thinking beyond the rational.

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@CrazyBoy • Jun 15, 2014

in Adolescence you read and you follow, you do not challenge everything, do you?

Did you ever think that there can be more water below the earth than in sea?
Probably never, as Internet do not give you that information.

Check out that scientists that do not follow internet blindly have found a news for that. So internet is a good source of information that kills your ability to think.

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@CrazyBoy • Jun 15, 2014

Gurwinder Singh
no i think they are agree now. they should come here

Page 3 and 4 speaks reverse of that...

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@anoop-FRTf1L • Jun 15, 2014

Anil Jain
Also most of the folks, would have copied that stating that as apple always falls down.

Without even thinking about gravity and wouldn't have thought that there are places in the universe where apple may not fall.. 😁

We'd all be 'discussing' about Apple falling down, and would not have found an answer. As they say, 'too many cooks spoil the broth', 'too many minds can't discover at once!!!'

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@sarathkumar-FEGRPw • Jun 15, 2014

Ankita Katdare
I think there's a lot of difference between 'the ability to think' and 'learning something new'. Let us not mix them both when keeping our arguments.

It may look different from first instance but there is a co relation between ability to think and learn something new. If you don't learn new things, it may limit you to little options to think. Everyone think differently and one's thought may provoke a new idea in others mind. I may rewrite the old quote in a different manner: Learning is the mother of invention.

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@sanyam-Nl7Zqc • Jun 15, 2014

Gurwinder Singh
is anybody there who is not agree with the topic? please come out

Every topic has two aspects as two sides of the coin.

I previously also mentioned, it just depends on people how are they using the internet.
Internet doesn't restrict anyone.

But most people try to just copy paste stuff, get the things done, and enjoy ! Using the internet in just the opposite way, for what it was meant to be.

Internet is surely killing their mindset, their ability to think, but not for everyone !

We all are provided with brains, we need to use them !

Use them efficiently, I would say. Na, not just searching for cooked-up solutions, but rather do searching.

Anoop Mathew
Internet is useful. It is. But it does not help stimulate thinking in adolescents. Mainly this is because, the young mind is wild and unguarded. If you look around you, you'd see that about 80% of the kids in adolescence these days don't know anything beyond 'graspable' information or 'whats seen on the television'. Not everything online might appeal to them. Just a few glance-able information.

It is only after they get into a college that they start to somewhat 'think' about future/world/subject/topics. In such a scenario, internet is a good side-kick, but never a good teacher to an adolescent. Get them some books to read and they'd know better.

Yeah, in adolescence people may not search effectively. Books, surely come to rescue at that time. Moreover, Internet, I think should not be available or should be available in a restricted monitored environment, because of the adult content, that can be mistakenly accessed, and leads to a different direction.

But as a grown up, we have enough IQ to think what's good for us and what's not ! We can surely restrict ourselves from getting cooked-up solutions and search/ research and "expand" our knowledge ! 😀

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@CrazyBoy • Jun 15, 2014

Sanyam Khurana
Internet is surely killing their mindset, their ability to think, but not for everyone !

Bingo... Here you go buddy !
It does, right?

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@harshad-ukH5ww • Jun 15, 2014

And as internet provides you easy platform by forum and like that so people are not thinking for very general question and they simply starts a thread and they are totally dependent on that thread. Instead of that if they put some of their own logic and try to think what can be wrong and then start a thread with the conclusion that he/she get after thinking of some points then it would be better for both reader and themselves.

We missed a lot of great and talented CEans just because of some repeated silly questions.

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@anoop-FRTf1L • Jun 15, 2014

SarathKumar Chandrasekaran
Learning is the mother of invention.

Learning is not the Mother of Invention. Necessity is, as is rightly said! What have you invented with what you've learned? The 'Wheel' was invented because there was a need. A new computer language/new phone/new tablets were all invented because there was need to simplify things.

This 'need-for-something-new/simple' is the greatest niche anybody can discover! And learning just helps gets the raw materials ready for it.

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@rajni-E46Rlm • Jun 15, 2014

Official moderation: Last 10 minutes, I would request everyone to use last 5 minutes in concluding and giving summary statement.

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@sanyam-Nl7Zqc • Jun 15, 2014

Anil Jain
Bingo... Here you go buddy !
It does, right?

It does, but for only for some people who are "lazy" enough to don't apply their brains and can't think of their good !

Others can simply research on the net and get access to tons of articles / researches on a particular topic, surely that would help in enhancing their knowledge.

One can simply do a copy paste, on the other hand, one who really "wants to learn" could go further 😀

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@CrazyBoy • Jun 15, 2014

Anoop Mathew
Internet is useful. It is. But it does not help stimulate thinking in adolescents. Mainly this is because, the young mind is wild and unguarded. If you look around you, you'd see that about 80% of the kids in adolescence these days don't know anything beyond 'graspable' information or 'whats seen on the television'. Not everything online might appeal to them. Just a few glance-able information.

It is only after they get into a college that they start to somewhat 'think' about future/world/subject/topics. In such a scenario, internet is a good side-kick, but never a good teacher to an adolescent. Get them some books to read and they'd know better.

I can not agree more to it,

Internet is a tool that is one of the best invention and is the biggest tool for the information. However it has a darker side as well and without our knowledge that is killing our ability to think beyond the limit as well, or thinking at all?

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@harshad-ukH5ww • Jun 15, 2014

Conclusion:
Killing is not exact word but Internet is surely overriding your mindset and approach to the Solution.

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@CrazyBoy • Jun 15, 2014

Sanyam Khurana
It does, but for only for some people who are "lazy" enough to don't apply their brains and can't think of their good !

The debate topic doesn't ask if it does for one or for all...
If it does, it does.. 😀

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Dhevishathya Rajaram

@dhevishathya-rajaram-LALiSR • Jun 15, 2014

Now a days the google generation spend a lot of time online...that does'nt mean we're breeding a robtic generation whose main social contact is a web based one and we are losing the ability to think...my final words...internet does'nt affect or ruin our thinking ability...😀

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@CrazyBoy • Jun 15, 2014

Internet has another darker side as addictive social media as well, that completely overpowers our ability to think... 😲

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@sanyam-Nl7Zqc • Jun 15, 2014

In the last, I would just like to conclude, that Internet is killing our ability to think, and it's not.

It just depends on who is using it, for what manner, and if he's using it efficiently and effectively.

Right?

Of course, we have old traditional books, and they are a good source of knowledge. But sometimes, they restrict us in one manner or the other. May be we ain't able to grasp the "true" meaning of a topic.

I've been constantly stressing on "People" who use internet.
It depends on them how they are actually using internet, they can simply grasp a piece of information, do their work and move on, not considering the fact that they are slowly killing their ability to think themselves. (Internet is not responsible, they themselves are responsible)

On the other hand, there are people who are in a state to find what's good for them. They can search on a particular topic, till they really know the true meaning of the information they are searching for.

So, at last I would just state that Internet isn't killing our thinking, but rather providing with a vast ocean of knowledge, which can be used either to destruct our thinking or to enhance our thinking ability and expand our knowledge. 😀

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@CrazyBoy • Jun 15, 2014

Finally I would say, though the internet has been around for just 20 years, and I also agree that it is hard to imagine life without it. It is certainly one of the biggest invention that had happened for the mankind. However, Internet has just became a source of instant access to vast amounts of information.

It is also a fact that our dependence on the internet has a darker side as well. With its constant distractions and interruptions, skill of providing readily available information, it is turning us into scattered and superficial thinkers.
This has completely killed our ability to think.

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@gurwinder-6v01b4 • Jun 15, 2014

time up. At the end i agree internet not killing our ability to think. and it helps us to increase it. i learnt lots of think on internet(really). who is not agree till now i think after this they will go to internet to search about this topic. 😁 😁 dont be serious enjoy 👍

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@anoop-FRTf1L • Jun 15, 2014

Rajni Jain
There is a new buzz that says, "Exposure to the internet and availability to 'instant' information has increased significantly in last 5 years, especially in adolescents".

The art of reading from books, spending hours in Library, seems to be a age old thing. Internet had made job of searching enormously easier and that too with-in seconds.

However do you think It is for good?

Lets discuss that,

With respect to the actual question, as a young adult who has gone through adolescence and it's limitations, I would say that Books teach you what your parents can't and what the internet does not always expose. You can get wild with information from every source when you refer an encyclopedia. Though the way you get it may seem little slow, it is still the most effective method of gaining knowledge. You can't omit the amount of information you get at once from a Quiz book. Show me one internet website where you can see information content?

When you participate in a quiz, do you just make up possible questions to answer, or just read newspapers from one end to the other, or would you refer to a Quiz book/Encyclopedia?

How many of you have learned fun facts from Ripley's Believe it or Not, or from The Guiness Book of World Records. You won't get all this information at once (in most cases) on the internet.

A book intrigues you to think in ways beyond your imagination because of the variety of glance-able content that you swipe past. Does this happen with the internet? The answer is 'No'. Hence, the ability to think past your knowledge is limited.

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@sanyam-Nl7Zqc • Jun 15, 2014

Anil Jain
The debate topic doesn't ask if it does for one or for all...
If it does, it does.. 😀

lol, but then there are nucleur weapons, medicines/drugs, which are used, both as an advantage and good purpose and a bad purpose, that doesn't mean they are bad.

You can't state that if a drug is damaging, or it's addicting, then it's bad. It may be used as an antidote for some to cure.

I hope you understand my point. 😀

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@sarathkumar-FEGRPw • Jun 15, 2014

Conclusion: Internet has been a backbone for thinking process and it saves time for learning and helps to think .

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@rajni-E46Rlm • Jun 15, 2014

Official Moderation:

It's 8:30 PM, and we are concluding the debate.

We have some awesome points. Points added after this will not be considered for evaluation.

However keep the ball rolling and pour in your comments.

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Kaustubh Katdare

@thebigk • Jun 15, 2014

The winners will be announced tomorrow at 12 noon tomorrow (June 16, 2014).

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@rajni-E46Rlm • Jun 15, 2014

Views from Moderators / admins (that did not participated) on the topic, are welcome.

#-Link-Snipped-#,
#-Link-Snipped-#,
#-Link-Snipped-#,
#-Link-Snipped-#,
#-Link-Snipped-#

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Kaustubh Katdare

@thebigk • Jun 15, 2014

The length of this thread speaks for itself. 😀

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@gurwinder-6v01b4 • Jun 15, 2014

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@rajni-E46Rlm • Jun 15, 2014

Kaustubh Katdare
The length of this thread speaks for itself. 😀

My Bad 😁

I was asking about your views what do you think about -- "Does internet kill our ability to think" 😛

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Aditya Singhal

@aditya-c0XZn4 • Jun 16, 2014

in a way yes.
coz today if I m stuck on a problem ,I'll quickly search it on the internet and will find the perfect answer and sometimes we don't spend much time to solve it on our own.
but on the other hand it has some benefits too like internet saves my time in solving that problem ,I got more information about the problem and I have alternate approaches to that problem.
it depend on us how we use the internet.

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@harshad-ukH5ww • Jun 16, 2014

aditya01
but on the other hand it has some benefits too like internet saves my time in solving that problem ,I got more information about the problem and I have alternate approaches to that problem.
it depend on us how we use the internet.

It saves time and later that makes you addicted as you always go with saving of time option and you realize the actual things when you don't have internet and you want to find out the proper approach to solution.

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Ankita Katdare

@abrakadabra • Jun 16, 2014

If Thinking = Remembering (What we know), Internet is making me a spoilt child.
These days I don't even try to remember the silliest of definitions, correct spelling, formulae, names of characters/books/theorems.
The constant thought is that I am connected to the Internet 24x7. WiFi at home and work makes it SO easier to access the vast pool of info - that it feels futile to remember stuff.

But I know it affects brain immensely. When outside, I really try to remember the name of the book and I just can't recall. Remembering is a habit that is getting fast killed thanks to connectivity.

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Gloria S. Akins

@gloria-s-akins-vXlGzE • Jun 16, 2014

When you have youtube to see, wikipedia to learn, then who wants to remember things. Yes, internet has so far destroyed the ability to think. But if you have to search new things on internet so need thinking.

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Aditya Singhal

@aditya-c0XZn4 • Jun 16, 2014

Ankita Katdare
If Thinking = Remembering (What we know), Internet is making me a spoilt child.
These days I don't even try to remember the silliest of definitions, correct spelling, formulae, names of characters/books/theorems.
The constant thought is that I am connected to the Internet 24x7. WiFi at home and work makes it SO easier to access the vast pool of info - that it feels futile to remember stuff.

But I know it affects brain immensely. When outside, I really try to remember the name of the book and I just can't recall. Remembering is a habit that is getting fast killed thanks to connectivity.

i don't think ,thinking only means remembering .
and there is no need to remember definitions ,formulas ,book names when u can easily get them on internet.
I guess thinking here means to think about an idea or to develop your own solution.

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Anand Vardhan

@anand-vardhan-6ckgdB • Jun 17, 2014

Well, I "think" it doesn't kill our ability to think but makes it faster. Being a student of the internet era I don't really know what is it like spending hours in library with books, but I suppose using the internet is faster and specific. No doubt books can help us connect more to the subject, but talking about thinking ability, Internet can really prove to be of great use. For instance if one wants to prepare a technical project he/she can use CE (😉) but that one, instead, goes searching for stuff in some library, now this will surely take much more time. But if Internet is used, that time can be utilized for preparing stuff. The more topic one sees, the more one thinks about the new ones (I suppose).

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Anand Vardhan

@anand-vardhan-6ckgdB • Jun 17, 2014

*topics one sees (correction)

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