An Interconnected World

As we have been talking in class the past week, the main topic that has been dwelling on me is the idea of our interconnected world. A world where just a couple of decades ago the way that humans communicated, connected, and interacted with each other was completely different. Within my generation it is difficult for me to imagine what life would be like without the Internet or the portable electronic devices which so many of us rely on daily. Has this change also effected the way we learn? I believe it has. Without the use of the Internet the act of finding information takes up so much more time. The fast paced ability and multi-tasking of every college student is what separates us from past generations.  In the past people would study and major in one to two areas during undergrad. It is not uncommon now for someone to have several major areas of study along with a couple minors. I remember one of the first things that one of my professors said to me in one of my first classes here at Ball State. "What you learn this year and next will most likely be obsolete by the time you graduate." This is a true statement. The world changes at a rapid pace. I believe this is what we need to understand. The discussion we had on Wednesday about the two goals in which the university has for us directly relate to this idea. First of course is the development of proper educated citizens, which without gaining that you can't expect much in this current job market. And second more importantly critical thinking. Critical thinking involves using  skillful judgement to obtain the essential meaning or truth. With an ever changing world we must always continue to learn, and without critical thinking one would never be able to teach oneself.