Does Easy Access to Information Make Us Less Knowledgeable?

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Knowledge, they say, is power; of a truth, it is, because it's only those with information and a high understanding of it that can utilize such to make waves and an impact that changes not only their lives but the people and the world around them. But then there's this ideology that people of the present age might not be as knowledgeable as those of the old because the present generally gets information at the speed of light, unlike previous generations that had to undergo numerous research and reading from one page to another and book to another to get knowledge. While present-day, you just need to type, and results of what's required would have been given in seconds via Google or AI, but does that really make the present generation less knowledgeable than the former?

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You see, I, for one, don't agree with this notion or ideology that the fact that present-day generally has fast access to information to gain knowledge about something is synonymous with them being less knowledgeable than the former generations, but then before I delve into why I completely disagree with this ideology, I'd like to first talk about one of the key points that makes it seem as though, in truth, previous generations would be knowledgeable that presents one, these theories seem legit, and I myself almost agreed with them, even though I still won't because of that day they're wiser than our generation.

Now the reason I'm saying it seems like the former generations before the age of technology seem to be seen as being wiser and more knowledgeable than us is because of how they had to read an entire book or a bunch of books just because they were in search of one particular piece of information or knowledge about something. Since they didn't have it at the tip of their fingers like we do, that means they'll read from page to page, searching for this knowledge in a book that's embedded with more information than just the one they're searching for.

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Now here is the catch: while they're searching for that particular information, they've indirectly read and digested several other pieces of information that'll stick with them and that can come in handy on other days when something related to that subject comes up, and this is why most people think they're wiser than we are, which seems logical and right, but still, even though the thoughts also came to my mind without me reading about it anywhere, I still disagree with the notion, and I'll say why below.

You see, the major reason why I disagree with that notion is that I believe knowledge acquisition is down to individual desire and willingness to know more about something or anything, be it our present generation or the former generations. One thing that's constant Is that we've some people who're thirsty for knowledge and the desire to know about different things and ones you pose such, even if you've to travel miles to read from a library or type questions randomly on the internet to get any information, such people won't mind and would go on to read and digest several knowledge about diverse things.

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Take, for example, even though I won't put myself in the category of those super intelligent or curious people, yet I find myself thinking about different things or just wanting to learn or know more about different things maybe I heard of or saw somewhere, or it just came to mind randomly, you'll see me searching through the internet for information on these things, even regarding other people's professions, and this has gone on to help me acquire loads of knowledge. I remember I once visited my doctor friends to get some consultation about something, and during our conversation, he was surprised by different things I already knew about the subject matter despite the fact that I don't study anything related to medicine at the university.

So in a nutshell, like I said, in my opinion, it's all about the individual, regardless of the age and time; it's our curiosity and desire to learn and gain knowledge that drives us to explore different books and topics to acquire knowledge, and that's why I said I won't place the former generation's age of the presence generation in terms of knowledge capacity. Instead I'll say we're in a pal with them or not higher because of our access to the internet and a fast-paced response that helps us learn about different things faster and easier than them, who had to travel miles, reading through books for hours or days to learn about something we'll learn in minutes.


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In summary to your post, I believe there should be no reason for comparison because both generation play their part according to their tine, they were wise then, and we are wise now. It

That's just it, everyone is a king in their lane, so we should respect eachother.

Your article beautifully illustrates that acquiring knowledge depends on a person's curiosity and desire, not on time or technology. Previous generations learned slowly by reading books, and now we get information quickly, but the real issue is using it properly. Technology creates opportunities, but the desire to learn deepens knowledge. Your arguments and real examples have made the article even stronger.

It's true We have smart people in this present time too, they were able to balance and process the Massive Access to Knowledge they have but I beg to differ, do you know what all those Inventors of the old will do if they have such technology that we have,
Thomas Edison, Isaac Newton and many more.

Everyone is king in their lane, had Newton and co had what we have now, they'll still do what they did.

Same way people of our generation would still make wave in their time.

In the olden time, people research critically, in-depth research, critical thinking, they do things to impact the society, they are not self centered unlike
This day we have the technology, whenever someone invents stuffs, we need validation from so many strong hold, imagine getting a vaccine that removes Aids , CoVid etc, some big Medic Companies, find everything possible to sabotage the invention because of their personal gains,
Although not in all situations though, I was just thinking out loud.