Does the Internet make us stupid or smart?

Published Apr 14 2008, 06:42 PM by Ian Donnis

Yes, kids, it's time for another installment of are we the butt of technology's cruel joke?

What's worse: that there's a chain e-mail making the rounds, falsely claiming that Al Gore gave Oliver North a hard time when he tried to warn the world about (wrong again) Osama bin Laden?

'Threatened? By whom?' the senator questioned.

'By a terrorist, sir' Ollie answered.

'Terrorist? What terrorist could possibly scare you that much?'

'His name is Osama bin Laden, sir' Ollie replied.

Or that none of the people sending this along this nonsense spent the few seconds needed to find a bevy of sites debunking it?

What's better: that a viral video of an assault by young girls is the rage of the Internet, or that, thanks to the wonder of hypertext, we can see the changes made by the founders as they were working on the Constitution?

You be the judge, dear readers.

Filed Under: Technology, National security, Terrorism

Literal-mindedness knows no bounds

Taxing times for Rhode Islanders

1 Comments

joe bernstein said:

The internet is a medium,like clay,or paint or airwaves.It is what you make of it.I initially thought it would have a negative impact on book reading,but it does quite the opposite-it can enhance the reading experience by giving instant access to others who would like to discuss what you read with you,or reviews,commentaries,etc. The internet also gives the same access to myriad technical questions.The caveat is-know the source of your information,or at least vet the source with one you trust' I have personally had a lot of questions answered by doing research on the internet.I'm not talking about controversial issues here,just ordinary learning. I've also managed to communicate directly with a surprising number of people I have no practical expectation of meeting.(Ham radio anyone?)

April 15, 2008 12:55 AM