Back in the day, getting knowledge was not as easy. There was a time when people had to travel long distances everyday just so that they could get to school. Those days, they usually had to walk to and fro, and along the way, they did certain cores; like fetching water or taking detours to the market or farms. In those days, education was seen as an important facet of life and as such, we were willing to do everything that we possibly could to ensure that we got it.
We didn’t have a lot of libraries in Nigeria. What am I saying? We still don’t have a lot of them. They’re all far apart and they don’t even get as much promotion as they deserve. However, for many people back then, the only place to get access to knowledge was in the school library. You go there and read the books, and if the one book you’re looking for isn’t there, you try another school. A lecturer once told me how he used to go from school to school, scouting their libraries as he looked for books to read.
Anyway, in this day and age, it’s all different. We don’t really need libraries anymore because we have our smartphones with us. The information that we previously had to travel miles for can now be gotten without moving an inch. People can attend full courses on their phones and be duly certified. Things have gotten so much better and easier, we’re downloading information art an exponential rate on a daily basis. That’s just how far we’ve come.
But then, with all this info at our fingertips, are we any smarter than those who had to walk miles before they could get it? Now that with only a few clicks, we can get any answer at all that we want, what is stopping us from being way more intelligent than our predecessors?
That is a good question, but then when you think about it, the reasons we seek information has also changed. Back then, people read because of the genuine need to know something. They just needed he knowledge and felt that it could make their lives better. That’s why they were willing to walk long distances just to learn something new. However, for us today, we’re on a totally different plane; we only seek information because we need them at the moment.
The last time you made use of Google or ChatGPT to search for something, was it because you only wanted to know or because you needed the information at that moment? Can you remember specifically everything you read about? Or only the tiny portion that you actually needed? That’s just how it is.
And then, I can’t talk about all this without talking about distractions. Back then, the library was a sacred place, where you could read and allow yourself be fully immersed in what you were reading. It can be so easy for hours to pass by without your notice when you’re engrossed in a good book. A quiet and serene environment, minimum distractions… this made for an excellent experience.
Sadly though, it’s a whole new trend these days. We’ve developed a short attention span, thanks to social media. It’s harder now to read information, but much easier to watch them. And thanks to platforms like X, even the little that we can read is being limited, because every platform wants to make theirs shorter and shorter. Is this how we’re gonna be reading voluminous textbooks? Should I also talk about how while learning, we’d have to field calls, answer texts, and other forms of distractions.
This is not me saying that the ease of getting information has made us duller, instead, I’m saying that the ease has made us want it less. Since I’s now readily available, there’s no need for us to work ourselves to the bone trying to fit it all into our heads when with a few clicks, we can know it anyway. What does this mean for our future? Sadly, it may not get any better. Especially now that they’re developing chips that can be implanted in the brain, giving one 24/7 access to the internet and stuff.
I look forward to everything that the future has in store for us. But then, I also feel a bit of dread at what these things will do to us in the long run. But then, let’s watch and see, shall we?
Posted Using INLEO
