The Internet Actually Increasing Aspects of Critical Thinking

Grin like the cheshire cat and once again go through the looking glass and down the rabbit's hole, welcome to the new interconnected world. You can literally find almost anything in the realm of reality and imagination, through our old friends Google and Google's awkward cousin Bing or Google's useless butler Jeeves or the hillbilly next door Yahoo. These searches can also generate answers to complex questions. You can find pages or people that enable you to delve into any topic. You can make your bank of knowledge available to the entire collective global knowledge base. Students who complete projects in schools can make them available in the global knowledge commons for students half a world away. The Western world concern for reducing the world to manageable segments has been achieved thanks to the Net. The net that captures us all. Experts have divided the world accordingly and thoroughly mastered those segments, we then present our questions to the masters and have them answered, no further inquiry. Or inquisition? Credentials once offered an obstacle, collectively we often stopped in the face of these, taking the information presented and rarely contested it. Although thanks to the availability of contrary opinions in the hyperlinked universe we can now take stands, form opinions based on information we are presented, and even present new opinions, essentially becoming the masters. Temptation to learn flourishes at the tips of fingers connected via the global commons. Sequential thought processes and conclusion no longer offer limitations as knowledge can be radical diverted and expanded open in the open world. Even the creators of knowledge can have active discussions and feedback from readers. Experts are networked on the internet platform, sharing ideas, openly communicating, and revising their ideas. The ethos of the new world is sharing which is ultimately making a dimwitted insistence on the Nazi-like protection of "intellectual property" appear to be the result of some combination of greed, selfishness, and fear. The Open Access movement enables the connection to quality information. Conceptions such as the Open University and Project Gutenberg offer an expanded knowledge base which allows for the infinite growth of human intelligence from masters in respective fields. These enormous clouds of data are enabling students to study otherwise impossible subjects. Students can share their investigative and research efforts through global journalism endeavours such as blogs and information sharing sites such as Reddit.com. Humanity is rapidly and irrevocably advancing at an exponential rate, opportunities must be seized, magnum opus' must be accomplished. Critical user should be taught to avoid those who only sound credible, the amplifying effect of the echo chamber which causes extremism, simply skimming, and understand the essential elements of culture comprehensive before exploring further. Old media formats could only over superficial overviews or narrow aspects of the world, the problem with the new media is an over-saturation which leads to shallow learning. (See Nicholas Carr's book The Shallows). Opinions can be expressed, breathe, we are not mindless automatons or in danger of advanced Issac Asimov-ish artificial intelligence. Check out this video, express your opinion, become informed, critical assess, and grow:

Sources:
http://www.mysocialnetwork.net/downloads/offprint/Does%20the%20Internet%20Increase,%20Decrease,%20or%20Supplement%20Social%20Capital%202001.pdf
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-weinberger/internet-makes-us-smarter_b_1225187.html
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/mr-personality/201305/is-technology-making-us-stupid-and-smarter
http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/09/13/clive-thompson-smarter-than-you-think/

Please leave a comment below!