In "Plato at the Googleplex", Plato says, "Google is gathering information. It's not clear it's gathering knowledge." it reminded me of a conversation my class had with my biology teacher. He brought up the point that we live in a world where we are expected to compete, on an intellectual scale, with a computer. It doesn't sleep or eat. All it does is constantly compile data. How does one compete with that? The answer is you can't. Instead do something a computer is horrible at, be human. Think about things from a human perspective. We are not unemotional, logical robots. We make decisions based on our emotions, our gut. We can look at a situation and deduce from it certain facts. We can problem-solve and think things through. We can come up with crazy complicated inventions and ideas that might fail, but then again might just work. We are not restricted by an algorithm, are minds are truly infinite. So instead of trying to stuff your brain with memorized facts and statistic after statistic, learn how to take the facts the computer so conveniently provided and make your own deductions and conclusions. Use the information you have to create real knowledge and progress. Use your resources wisely. Don't waste time on memorizing and holding on to information a two second google search can provide. That's not what the world needs. It needs thinkers, doers, and innovators. We need crazy to make the impossible a reality. As amazing as a computer is, it still has nothing on the human brain.
This quote also stuck out to me as well. I actually intend on using it. It speaks to what I tell everyone who comes to me and says they are struggling with a class even though they do the readings. I always start by explaining to the the difference between reading the text and comprehending it. Often times this difference is the solution to their issues.
ReplyDelete(H3) I definitely agree with Stephanie on the reading vs. comprhension debate. That's why I always used to argue against tests in school. A multiple choice test, A B C or D,doesn't judge someone's knowledge, just how well they can pick the correct letter. I always liked the idea of a discussion instead because you get to explain your ideas and maybe, even if you're not right, you can still be on the right track or explain a different way of approaching a problem, like showing your work.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the human mind is limited by what it can do though so if the best we can do is to compile algorithms then that's what we are we are only as great as what we can create as far as knowledge goes.
ReplyDeleteThis was a super inspiring thing to read and was really beautiful. It is so inspiring to think not of how inferior we are to computers, but how we excel at thing that they cannot even consider let alone factor into their networks. It was really nice to have this positive break in amidst of all of this.
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