Do people think knowledge is disposable these days? ?

Question

What do I mean by this?

Well, these days it is so easy to find out just about anything. From Evolution to elastic bands, one Google search and you have an encyclopedia of knowledge at your finger tips, and without having to leave your home on a wet Tuesday afternoon to rummage through dusty tomes in your local library.

How many different things have you looked up do you think since you first used the internet? And how much of it do you remember?

It seems to me, and I often to this, that we look up a lot of things to satisfy immediate curiosity, absorb the short version via Wikipedia or some such site, and then move on and forget about it.

I say this is probaly true of most things, not all things. Of course there are things we look up out of genuine interest and love of knowledge or love of the subject. But in the main, we can overload our senses with t*t-bits, mountains of trivia on a multitude of subjects.

Who agrees/disagrees?

And who would like to add an anecdote about their internet use in light of what I've said.

Answer 1

I have asked myself the same question many times.  And if knowledge is disposable these days, I don't think it is even that important.  That is not to say that education in itself is not important. At the same time however, if I had to classically learn everything that I know now without the use of the internet, and it's disposable knowledge, I wouldn't know half of it.  I don't think I retain everything I see or watch, but it does all help me, either at the time or some time later.

For the past three days, I have had my head buried in Blender tutorials, learning how to make 3D images so that I can use them to enhance any websites I will make.  I have found instructional material in the form of pages and videos.  I have even found example 3D models which I can use in this program.  The program itself was free, which I only found through surfing the net in the first place.  There is a whole wiki on this program, so if I ever need to learn anything else, I can. I can do more on this program in 3 days than if I had a syllabus and a teacher.

Most of what I have learned in this instance alone, will probably be forgotten, and I will end up using the most relevant parts.  The thing is, learning using this method will allow me to improve my income without having to pay thousands of pounds to go on a course.

I have applied this method with all of my learning now, and am far more eager to learn than when I was back at school all those years ago.

There is no way that as a person seeking knowledge, you could ever restrict yourself to only fully learning a few subjects. You would want to know as much as possible.  The t*t-bits provided by the internet allow for you to learn so much more, so much faster.  For that, I appreciate the fact that we are changing the way we learn.  I wish I could learn faster.

I believe that we are now entering a new evolutionary point as people.  The tech revolution is amazing. New techs are coming out faster and faster, and we are finding it hard to keep up.  We are integrating technology into every part of our lives (even s*x).

Our whole structure of doing things is changing, and you don't really even have to leave home these days to do anything (some people work from home).  Everything can be accessed by telephone or computer, and most of us have got those.  One day it may become financially viable to do away with school entirely and make children learn from home.  In the same fashion, they could take exams at home in their leisure, and be granted certificates on passing.  Who knows....

Answer 2

Well, theres alot of it about...yeah, I love Wikipedia - you dont always need to read in to great detail about every little thing - and the internet is a great source to start from if you did.

Answer 3

I would not say that knowledge is disposable, information is, as what information we find useful or vital today we might not find that as useful until tomorrow. There is a difference between knowledge and information.

The easy access to information, that we see today, does not mean that knowledge is also equally easily attainable. I see knowledge to be like a growing tree, and information, possibly one of its many fruits. It is possible to have just as much grain as we might like to make bread, but in order to have tree, we could not divide it up in part, cut it from it roots and have it growing where it cannot be rooted.

The dynamic nature of knowledge enables us to stay curious about all things new, and especially about things that we might already know something about. We like to grow alongside our knowledge because knowledge is like a living thing. It is a product and also a need of a living mind. It has, like all living things, its attributes of growth, progress and development.

We may see some comfort, convenience, ease or a facility of power at the end of each piece of information, but at the end of knowledge we see truth, and all along the avenues of knowledge the facts that make up our life, that give us our believe of good and bad, our sense of right and wrong, and above all, our realization of ourselves.

The newspapers, media, and most people are agencies of latest news. They acquire, produce and vend information as merchandise in its greatest bulks. They would often spice its up fact for sale, make them interesting for greed, make them look relevant for popularity, and then bring it all in the marketplace for masses have in their numbers. The basis for information, however, comes from within the minds of knowledgeable and opinionated people of a society, without whom presence nothing would matter, or mean a thing.

Answer 4

Good question! Very profound! Is knowledge absolute with some final meaning inherent, or with the proliferation of knowledge is there no absolute truth(a very postmodern stance!)??

I think knowledge is real and absolute, and exists outside of our immediate ability to discern it at any particular time. Knowledge develops, but while it may advance I do not think it evolves.There are absolute truths!  

Answer 5

yeah knowledge is disposible, you have to be interested and most importantly use what you're learning for it to be remembered unless you just want to sit in your house and learn becuase thats your little thing. for instance a doctor learns his about biology so he can go out and operate and diagnose people. there is a reason. a president learns politics, public speaking , how his country works, so that he can represent it.

\

maybe your just a book worm. you only live once you know unless u believe those religion books  

Answer 6

This use to be a bad habit of mine. I spend my time now reading and answering questions that I know.  

Answer 7

...agree...its a high tech world and changing every click...good luck...