Tools That Change the Way We Think

"Back in 2004, I asked [Google founders] Page and Brin what they saw as the future of Google search. 'It will be included in people's brains,' said Page. 'When you think about something and don't really know much about it, you will automatically get information.'

'That's true,' said Brin. 'Ultimately I view Google as a way to augment your brain with the knowledge of the world. Right now you go into your computer and type a phrase, but you can imagine that it could be easier in the future, that you can have just devices you talk into, or you can have computers that pay attention to what's going on around them and suggest useful information.'

'Somebody introduces themselves to you, and your watch goes to your web page,' said Page. 'Or if you met this person two years ago, this is what they said to you... Eventually you'll have the implant, where if you think about a fact, it will just tell you the answer."

-From In the Plex by Steven Levy (p.67)



Technology has had a tremendous effect on the way I think.  I have never really had to memorize phone numbers or addresses because my phone can do it for me.  Hopefully this is a good thing because it allows me to allocate my think to bigger and better things, letting the smaller, perhaps more trivial things  be taken care of technology.  But he TED talk on Filter Bubbles has warned me about letting technology do my thinking for me.  All too often the brainpower I saved using my phone is only wasted through some other medium of technology.  The beneficial side to technology is that when used effectively, it really does augment our learning capabilities.  Resources are nearly unlimited and answers come as faster as you can type.  So to quote a comic book, remember that with tools like the internet, "with great power comes great responsibility."