Information age yet know nothing...Irony?

Question

I feel that I am a victim of an information culture (also self caused victim). I can't catch up with the book of the internet. Furthermore, all I know is facts & trivia. Yet, the internet CNN has all this how to stuff and I know nothing! The idea of books and the internet is to teach and yet I know nothing! I feel slightly disconnected from life. Like, I've been taught to not experience life and be cautious of everything. It's odd. But, sadly i'm a bit addicted to the computer....

Answer 1

The only reason this age is called the information age is because the answer to just about any question you could ever want to ask is only as far away as the click of a mouse. It doesn't mean that we are any smarter, just that the information that is out there is more readily available to anyone who has access to a computer, be it one they own or one from a library or whatever.

As far as feeling slightly disconnected or feeling that you don't know anything, that's pretty normal and pretty smart. If education teaches you anything, it is that the more you learn, the the less you know. Those people out there who are impressed by their own I.Q. scores, or feel that they "have the answers" are either very young or very stupid. The truly intelligent know that knowledge is a phantom that fades in the harsh light of existence. They also know that real knowledge is housed in the questions you ask, not in the answers you give. (Spoken like a true know-it-all. Don't you agree?)

Answer 2

Yes, irony. Believe it or not, this is nothing new; back in the '60's, they talked about people "knowing more and more about less and less"! How apropo! It is more true now than then. That's because no one cares to teach what they jokingly nowadays call "life skills". I went through 12 years of public school and learned nothing useful; I earned a B.A. degree, and still learned nothing useful. I earned a Master's degree, and still learned nothing useful. The only things useful I have ever learned are LIVING life; some would say "street smarts".
And, oh, I agree wholeheartedly; the computer, the internet are oh, so much fun!

Answer 3

Are you interested in anything? I happen to be very good at something I love to do. People are always telling me "I wish I could do that" . I literally slaved at it to learn, taking years to get even just O.K. at it, and still dogged it until I got where I wanted, or at least for that moment. Wishing don't make it happen. Doing it does. Get it wrong the first few thousand times, sooner or later you'll get it right. Oh, and I find most people these days have been educated beyond their intelligence anyway.

Answer 4

~Actually, the point of the internet, or school for that matter, is not to teach. If you are too lazy to learn, point the finger where it belongs. If you want to live in front of a monitor and keyboard, don't blame the times, blame your lack of initiative, intelligence and ambition. You are not addicted to the computer, you are a slave to your sloth.