Does Make us Stupid?

Define ‘Stupid’ (Oxford English Dictionary)• 1:

A: Having one's faculties deadened or dulled; in a state of stupor, stupefied, stunned; esp. hyperbolically, stunned with surprise, grief, etc.

• B: Belonging to or characterized by stupor or insensibility.• C: Of a part of the body: Paralysed.• D: Pathol.• E :Emotionally or morally dull or insensible; apathetic, indifferent.• 2: As the characteristic of inanimate things: Destitute of sensation,

consciousness, thought, or feeling. • 3:

A: Wanting in or slow of mental perception; lacking ordinary activity of mind; slow-witted, dull.

• B: Of attributes, actions, ideas, etc.: Characterized by or indicating stupidity or dullness of comprehension.

• 4: Void of interest, tiresome, boring, dull.• 5: Obstinate, stubborn.

Define ‘Stupid’ (Oxford English Dictionary)• 1:

A: Having one's faculties deadened or dulled; in a state of stupor, stupefied, stunned; esp. hyperbolically, stunned with surprise, grief, etc.

• B: Belonging to or characterized by stupor or insensibility.• C: Of a part of the body: Paralysed.• D: Pathol.• E :Emotionally or morally dull or insensible; apathetic, indifferent.• 2: As the characteristic of inanimate things: Destitute of

sensation, consciousness, thought, or feeling. • 3:

A: Wanting in or slow of mental perception; lacking ordinary activity of mind; slow-witted, dull.

• B: Of attributes, actions, ideas, etc.: Characterized by or indicating stupidity or dullness of comprehension.

• 4: Void of interest, tiresome, boring, dull.• 5: Obstinate, stubborn.

‘Surely Google is just a tool to access information, how can it be responsible for making us stupid?’ – Me

“The medium is the message”

• In his book, ‘Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man’ (1964) Marshall McLuhan discusses how analysing the way we interact with information being as important as the information itself

• As reported in the telegraph by Matthew Moore (2008) citing research done by Lloyds TSB

“the average attention span had fallen to just 5 minutes,

down from 12 minutes 10 years ago”

“Last year more than £1.6 billion of damage was caused by people not concentrating properly”

“… and as our experiment suggests, the younger generation appear to be the worst afflicted.”

Research from UKOM/Nielsen March 2012 Home and Work Panel

(Nicholas Carr) (2008)• “The Web has been a godsend to me as a

writer. Research that once required days in the stacks or periodical rooms of libraries can now

be done in minutes” • “For me, as for others, the Net is becoming a

universal medium, the conduit for most of the information that flows through my eyes and

ears and into my mind.”

• 555 million – Number of websites (December 2011).

• 300 million – Added websites in 2011.• 2.1 billion – Internet users worldwide.• 1 trillion – The number of video playbacks on

YouTube.

• A world wide web

• “people want their expectations to meet reality, creating a sense of equilibrium.” Michael Ryan, ed. (2010).

• “a person will avoid situations or information sources that give rise to feelings of uneasiness, or dissonance.” Festinger, L. (1985. (first published 1957)),

The internet has seen huge support for: • Global warming scepticism• Young Earth Creationism• Multitude of racist and sexist groups• People who think reality t.v. is good• Anti- Vaccine articles• Cults • Happy slapping

All things that would be considered ‘Emotionally or morally dull or insensible’ or ‘slow of mental perception’

Tapscott,D ‘Growing Up Digital: The Rise of the Net Generation’(1998)

his 7 paradigm shifts for education

• From linear to hypermedia learning.• From instruction to construction and discovery.• From teacher-centered to learner-centered education.• From absorbing material to learning how to navigate

and how to learn.• From schooling to lifelong learning.• From learning as torture to learning as fun.• From the teacher as transmitter to the teacher of

facilitator.

Does Make us Stupid?