"Google is the new learn"

[crashdive123]

Ain't that the truth! I remember working in a store - when the power went out, we broke out the manual cranks for the cash registers and finished ringing up the orders from the people that were already in the store.

I can imagine somebody being handed one of the old manual cash register cranks, wondering where to plug it in.

[Rick]

I often do math by hand just to keep in practice. Rebalancing the checkbook for example. It's just way too easy to become dependent upon a calculator and let your math skills rust away.

[finallyME]

I do math by hand when I have to, or when I am showing my kids how to do it. But, when I am at work, and my math has to be 100% right, I use every tool available. And, usually I am triple checking with different approaches to make sure I get the same answer.

Hunter there is a difference between relying on technology, and using it. If my computer went down, I would be fine.....it would suck, but I would be fine.
There are always people out there that put all their eggs in one basket. The internet and smart phones, and google, just give them another crutch. I am still going to use it though. It is a lot faster for me to google how to fix a car problem, then to look through a Chilton. Especially if I can find the manufacturer's repair manual online.

[hunter63]

@H63 - I took your OP to not be bashing technology, but rather the mindset of some people that have become so dependent on it and really don't (or can't) rely on anything else.

We all use it, and it's a wonderful tool. Knowing how to use all of the tools in the toolbox, and not just the techtool is important IMO. I think that most here do know how to use all or most of the tools.

LOL, Yeah I wasn't bashing anything....just thought it was cool that a major cartoon that is noted for being tuned into social and political satire for many, many years......thought enough about it to publish a cartoon about it.

Oh well.....

[ElevenBravo]

I personally don't care what other people's attitudes are today, because I'm certainly convinced I'm surrounded by morons and idiots.

I only care what we (my family) think. :-) Everything else is out of my control and thus what they think, is not worth exhaustive discussion.

For a learning tool, Google and Youtube (as mentioned) are wonderful! Learn it now and take the knowledge with you. You cant learn it all so do what you can to better yourself, and avoid the "sky is falling" crowd to get closer to actual usable data.

EB

[Faiaoga]

'The End of Pencil an Paper Exams?" is a new article in Slate magazine (July 31, 2014). I believe Emily Fall is the author. I need to read it carefully, but it seems to predict that all exams will be written using computers. It shows a young boy carrying a keyboard almost as big as he is - no more pen clipped into a shirt pocket and no more No, 2 pencil. Right On.

Just think- John F. Kennedy could never have been rescued because he lacked a digital PC coconut and a touch screen to write on it. No survivors from PT 109 because they lacked pencil, paper, computer, modem and power source for writing his famous message in the Solomon Islands.

ERROR: The article is from the Atlantic Monthly, not Slate. Sorry about that. The author is Emily Richmond.
Faiaoga (misfit, myopic, confused schoolteacher)

[Rick]

A natural progression I suppose. There was a time when we used quill and ink. Of course, having to catch a goose or turkey each time you wanted to write a note was a bit inconvenient.

[Faiaoga]

Now that the topic has been brought up, I am reminded of a book "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson. Bill Bryson, though far from a rugged outdoor survivalist. spent some time walking the Appalachian Trail together with an old high school friend - their misadventures form the basis of this humorous book. One of the telling incidents in the boo is a meeting with a Google-equipped but outdoors-challenged hiker in New England: this hiker had electronic devices for measuring every climate variable, a satellite GPS, Internet data and so on, but no water, no food, no spare clothing, no map and compass........you get the picture.

Bryson's book is a humorous one, but he makes some good points about being prepared, and he quotes park rangers who assist the electronic outdoorsman. I don't have the book with me but will look for it again. I think that Zonker Harris would agree "check it out, man". Right On.

[Batch]

Now that the topic has been brought up, I am reminded of a book "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson. Bill Bryson, though far from a rugged outdoor survivalist. spent some time walking the Appalachian Trail together with an old high school friend - their misadventures form the basis of this humorous book. One of the telling incidents in the boo is a meeting with a Google-equipped but outdoors-challenged hiker in New England: this hiker had electronic devices for measuring every climate variable, a satellite GPS, Internet data and so on, but no water, no food, no spare clothing, no map and compass........you get the picture.

Bryson's book is a humorous one, but he makes some good points about being prepared, and he quotes park rangers who assist the electronic outdoorsman. I don't have the book with me but will look for it again. I think that Zonker Harris would agree "check it out, man". Right On.

Ironically, I listen to "A Walk In The Woods" on audio tape. For those of you that don't know Bill Bryson. He is an American write and NPR reporter. He hiked extensively in Europe and has what sounds like a Brittish accent as a result. He moved back to Georgia IIRC and discovered that his yard is near the AT. He decides after like a decade of not hiking, to start again.

Hearing his incredulous voice at the things that have changed since his hobby had gone ultra-lite and hi-tech. Buying a back pack for a couple hundred dollars and then being asked if he wanted a rain cover. "You mean they built a couple of hundred dollars back pack for back packing and nobody thought that you might want to take it outdoors?" or something like that.

Don't get me wrong, its probably a great read. But, listening to the audio book with my father, son, brother Sean, and nephews on the ride to hike a new location. And now, invariably even after about a decade of hearing that audio book, someone in camp will say, "You should have bought a 3 season tent." To which the knowing will peply in an incredulous Brittish accent attempt, "But, it is a 3 season tent!" "No its not..."


JFK carved a note on a coconut shell. He did not use a paper and pen. Had I never used any other method of writting then this computer I am on now. I would still need to know how to read and write to communicate like this. Granted talk to type is becoming more prevalent.

And spell check...

Anyway, if you haven't read "A Walk In The Woods" get the audio book. If you have read it, get the audio book. If for know other reason than to learn of the dangers of black bears and snickers in the woods and how Bill Bryson would die if 4 bears attacked him... Well worth anyone's time.

[Rick]

Spell check works great. Eye two have used it.

[Batch]

I see a typo in my post and I no I could edit it but won't. LOL

[Faiaoga]

Batch: Thank you for telling me about the audio book version of Bryson's book - I will "check it out". Right On.

For me, one strange thing is that I have spent a lot of time teaching school where people had plenty of coconut shells to write on, if they wanted to use them. Usually they used paper, and many of them ended up with good literacy in spite of limited resources. Now visiting the mainland, I am surrounded by electronic communication devices - but I am not convinced that literacy has improved that much.
Faiaoga (misfit, jaded worn out teacher)

[RandyRhoads]

Spell check Is another great example. My spelling had improved drastically on paper because I'm always corrected on my phone and computer. A lot of family have spelled things wrong their whole lives. I wonder if every time they wrote that word they were instantly shown the correct way if the would still do that?

[crashdive123]

I agree that spell check is wonderful. The dictionary and thesaurus that used to reside on my desk now are neatly tucked away on a bookshelf. I always took care to spell things correctly. Technology has made the process more efficient.

[WolfVanZandt]

ElevenBravo - the key is not to learn it now, but to learn the little bit you would need to recover the rest. For instance, you don't really need to remember calculus - all you really need is good problem solving skills, the fact that you can plot things, and what a slope is and you can derive all the rest. Despite my housemate's assertion that calculus isn't intuitive, it actually is.

What people should know is observational and communication skills (not grammar and spelling especially, though that's part of it - but how to be understood), problem solving skills, how to stay healthy (including first aid, survival skills, stress coping skills, maturity skills (self control, delayed gratification, goal building, commitment, responsibility, etc.), relationship building skills, and physical fitness), and a survey knowledge of everything else. We could rebuild society quickly from that beginning.

[Batch]

This came up on someone using google image search for plant ID.

http://wellpreserved.ca/how-to-becom...in-30-seconds/

[hunter63]

Spell check works great. Eye two have used it.

Sometime this Dumas computer doesn't know what I "Meant".

Now looking at the last statement......"dumas" checks out on the spell check...... with out a capitol D (as in Proper name)...
THAT is funny to me........

[Rick]

You might be interested to know that Dumas wrote The Three Musketeers and the Count of Monte Cristo. Not such a Dumas, huh?

[hunter63]

That's a proper name........dumas (not capitalized) may have been added to my dictionary.

[crashdive123]

I've always preferred dumb masses (say it out loud and quickly).