Monday, February 13, 2012
Intellectually Unpacking
Today, I liked Dr. Mike's comment about "intellectually unpacking" certain types of content. In terms of information access, technology, specifically the internet, has been a floodgate for those thirsty for knowledge. Wikipedia, for the most part, is a vast wealth of knowledge for the common man. The power not only to attain information via the internet, but also have the freedoms to go in and add information of one's own gives a supreme freedom to the common man with internet access. This creates an open marketplace of ideas. With information at your fingertips via technology, the Digital Divide is growing shorter and shorter every day. There are so many countries where there are whole populations without access to information technology. What would life be like if you couldn't remember the specific year a major war began? Today in class, no one could tell Dr. Mike what year the Civil War began until someone opened a web browser on their laptop and used technology to answer a question. Now, while this information technology opens many doors for people seeking valuable information, there is also the concern that the evolution of education may lead to the discontinued use of printed sources and a lack of ability to seek out information in an "analog" fashion (i.e. using a library to find information in printed sources). But even in that light, I think it's almost impossible to place a price on the value of technology's freedom of "intellectually unpacking."
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Agreed! I remember in elementary school I rebelled against learning math. I knew that I wanted to be in life and it didn't involve any sort of complicated math. I didn't want to waste time learning it or remembering it when I could be doing something else more useful with my time. I told my mom I would just carry around a calculator. Do I suck at anything other than simple math? Hell yes. Has it caused me any problems? Not at all. My teachers threatened me and told me I would need it someday, but I've always had a calculator. It doesn't mean that math isn't important, it just isn't important to what I want/need to accomplish in life and I'm okay with that. I can't learn everything, it's impossible. That's the downside of learning, you have to keep studying it or you will forget it and I don't have the time to continue refreshing my memory on math that I don't use often.
ReplyDeleteThis isn't just about math, there are many other subjects that I know very little about. Last night my friend was shocked how poor my geography skills were. She said, "You are so smart, I expected you to know." I do excel in certain areas of study, but how can I be "smart" in everything? The fear that technology is making us stupid is laughable to me. The access to information just gives me the ability to focus my attention somewhere else and help me attain an even higher ability than if I had to spread myself across dozens of different areas of expertise.
I think the concern that no one was able to tell the exact year that the Civil War began, while honest and true, isn't nearly as bad as many would think. Without looking it up, I know it took place around the 1860. (Looking it up, my estimate was close, 1861.) I actually remember in one of my history classes that he said he didn't care too much about the DATE as much as he did about the cause and effect of the sequences of major events in history.
ReplyDeleteAs long as you know that the Civil War was fought after southern states began leaving the union out of fear of losing their slaves, and that the result of the Civil War ultimately was the abolition of slavery in the United States, that's all that needs to be known by the general populace. Leave it to history buffs to know the dates and battles.
I'm not saying it isn't valuable to know the specifics of history, but that to the general public, it would mostly be a bunch of facts that don't directly matter. If you're a historian, you should know details of history. If you're a scientist, you should know specifics in your field.
To English majors like us, we should know about how to form sentences and words. We don't necessarily need to know about the Battle of Bull Run. It might be useful, but likely it isn't. As citizens of the planet, we should have a general idea of our history and where we come from. However, it's not vital that we know every fact that's out there. We learn history to be better people, not to understand every minute detail.
Yeah, I kind of simplified our major. Understanding how to use words and read critically with rhetorical thought.
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