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geek_goddess · 06-29-2008, 06:58 AM

In modern times, we are constantly inundated with a mass of facts, snippets of stories, and technicolor images. We become distracted, our minds learn to hop wildly from one bit of information to another. We respect the ability to do this with ease, and are in awe of people who can apparently "multi-task" like a ten-armed Hindu goddess. We crave for more speed and breadth of information than we crave for depth of knowledge. This, in turn, further reinforces the availability of knowledge in this form. Our newspapers have shorter articles, our websites have a number of advertisments flashing at us from various parts of the page. The language we see around us appears to be increasingly devoid of vowels.

The human mind is spectacular in it's ability to think deeply. To create language, poetry, art and philosophy. This world has a rich cultural heritage; and the objects and ideas valued the most are those which require the greatest labour, skill, and depth of emotion and thought. Whether we consider the Taj Mahal, which took 22 years and 20,000 workers to build, or the theory of gravitation, which required a great mind to be in isolation at a young age, humans infer the greatest value upon those ideas and objects which are Platonic in their expression of the abilities of the human mind.

However, today we seem to be moving towards a world where the very definition of what it means to be human is changing- we no longer look for depth of thought, which is the exclusive inheritance of humankind. We now compare ourselves with our machines. How fast can I be? How much more information can I store, for immediate retrieval? These are the questions we now ask ourselves in our quest for knowledge.

In this process, our entire lives and ways of thinking have changed, and these changes are further reinforced by newspapers, television and the internet. The people behind the scenes here know what sells-and also, they are themselves going through the same changes in their framework for knowledge. Thus, one sees many more stories and much less analysis in the news. Books are shorter, images more explicit, not inviting thought. The main goal of a book is to appeal to the reader by being readable- which is in direct proportion to how short the book is. An image should not make you reflect on life; an image which holds your attention long enough to do this is potentially harmful- a reader could get caught up in it, and this would distract him from the various other quanta of information that he must process.

No man is an island; we cannot disconnect from the world entirely and still consider ourselves part of humanity- the trick is to maintain a balance between being up to date with what is going on, to prevent one's complete ostracization from today's information obsessed society, and yet be able to find the drive to think deeply about the world. For eventually, this is where we have an advantage over our mega computers.

Jeanette · 07-02-2008, 06:19 PM

It would help if you would include the original question or statement that you're commenting on.

rajas · 07-05-2008, 04:17 PM

I too think that you should write complete issue sentence.

May i suggest -
no doubt,depth of the knowledge is imp.But,equally the application of knowledge is very imp.Technology is the application part.one will accept a very useful technology even if it is based on superficial base of knowledge.so,its the usefulness which makes a difference.

Hope this is relevant!please tell me if it is not relevant.

06-29-2008, 06:58 AM	#1 (permalink)
geek_goddess Eager! Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 76	technology vs focus - please rate, comment In modern times, we are constantly inundated with a mass of facts, snippets of stories, and technicolor images. We become distracted, our minds learn to hop wildly from one bit of information to another. We respect the ability to do this with ease, and are in awe of people who can apparently "multi-task" like a ten-armed Hindu goddess. We crave for more speed and breadth of information than we crave for depth of knowledge. This, in turn, further reinforces the availability of knowledge in this form. Our newspapers have shorter articles, our websites have a number of advertisments flashing at us from various parts of the page. The language we see around us appears to be increasingly devoid of vowels. The human mind is spectacular in it's ability to think deeply. To create language, poetry, art and philosophy. This world has a rich cultural heritage; and the objects and ideas valued the most are those which require the greatest labour, skill, and depth of emotion and thought. Whether we consider the Taj Mahal, which took 22 years and 20,000 workers to build, or the theory of gravitation, which required a great mind to be in isolation at a young age, humans infer the greatest value upon those ideas and objects which are Platonic in their expression of the abilities of the human mind. However, today we seem to be moving towards a world where the very definition of what it means to be human is changing- we no longer look for depth of thought, which is the exclusive inheritance of humankind. We now compare ourselves with our machines. How fast can I be? How much more information can I store, for immediate retrieval? These are the questions we now ask ourselves in our quest for knowledge. In this process, our entire lives and ways of thinking have changed, and these changes are further reinforced by newspapers, television and the internet. The people behind the scenes here know what sells-and also, they are themselves going through the same changes in their framework for knowledge. Thus, one sees many more stories and much less analysis in the news. Books are shorter, images more explicit, not inviting thought. The main goal of a book is to appeal to the reader by being readable- which is in direct proportion to how short the book is. An image should not make you reflect on life; an image which holds your attention long enough to do this is potentially harmful- a reader could get caught up in it, and this would distract him from the various other quanta of information that he must process. No man is an island; we cannot disconnect from the world entirely and still consider ourselves part of humanity- the trick is to maintain a balance between being up to date with what is going on, to prevent one's complete ostracization from today's information obsessed society, and yet be able to find the drive to think deeply about the world. For eventually, this is where we have an advantage over our mega computers.

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07-02-2008, 06:19 PM	#2 (permalink)
Jeanette Got it Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 126	It would help if you would include the original question or statement that you're commenting on.

07-05-2008, 04:17 PM	#3 (permalink)
rajas Trying to make mom and pop proud Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 20	I too think that you should write complete issue sentence. May i suggest - no doubt,depth of the knowledge is imp.But,equally the application of knowledge is very imp.Technology is the application part.one will accept a very useful technology even if it is based on superficial base of knowledge.so,its the usefulness which makes a difference. Hope this is relevant!please tell me if it is not relevant.

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