Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Smarter Than You Think -- Reflections

[Smarter Than You Think

We've covered considerable ground in Clive Thompson's Smarter Than You Think. What key reflection or observation have you spent time thinking about concerning chapter 3, 4, or 5? Why did that concept or scene capture your attention? Please provide a page number when possible. 

18 comments:

Brianna B said...

I think the scenario on page 89 where "one of the most striking features ... Holy shit, I'm wrong!"' was probably the one that hit me the strongest. With the advancement of technology I think people are having a hard time thinking that they could be wrong when in all actuality the advancement should make people more open to the reality that they might be wrong when there is so much information available and new information and data becoming available daily then it should be apparent that we need to be constantly learning and improving and updating as technology and information does.

Mercedes H said...

I think the statement on page 87 "digital tools are giving us new and powerful ways of grappling information." "It gave them new literacy." is extremely important in the sense that technology is taking over the new generation in an a certain aspect. Not to say that the takeover is solely good or bad, but it is very much the case. Digital tools have given us an advantage toward communicating, studying, and everyday life tasks in general. Technology has proven to be the "next-best-thing" and definitely a new form of literacy.

Shervonti N said...

The introduction to the talk of creativity on page 131 was very interesting to me. The exact line that caught my attention was "the subtler risk of living in our Google-drenched world may not be how it affects our factual knowledge. It's how it affects our creativity." This line let me know that I was about to introduced to something I had never considered. I always hear about knowledge being directly effected by the use of technology but I never thought about creativity being effected. Honestly, I agree with that because I don't think people take the time to just sit and reflect on their thoughts to come up with ideas AS MUCH anymore. Why would you though? When you can quickly Google someone else's ideas? I know I'm guilty of this especially when I am on a time crunch but I won't say that creativity is completely hindered because there will always have to be new contributions to keep Google full of searchable ideas.

Sierra Ewing said...

In the beginning of the chapter entitled, "The Art of Finding", I thought it was interesting that the author addressed an idea that I think about quite frequently which is the idea that the more technology we are exposed to and the amount of information that is readily available to us through the internet, we have lost some of our own critical thinking skills and allow the internet to do the work for us. I am guilty of this. When I don't remember a person or a historical date, I quickly turn to Google for my answer. People use the internet in school all the time, and though it can be beneficial, I fin that more times than not, we misuse our access to a wide variety of information and create a habit of not thinking for ourselves and retaining easy information. I think this is an issue in school now more than ever. Students turn to the internet for answers in maths and sciences and ultimately detract from the actual learning experience. Sierra

Alexandra J said...

One concept that really stood out to me in the Chapter titled The Art of Finding was the idea that through technology as a society we have let internet take over our lives. Lots of skills that were focused on have been lost. Libraries and textbooks are barely needed anymore because the internet is our primary research source. Also social skills have declined greatly. I see lots of people out to eat or at a social gathering and most of them are on their phones. Unfortunately, I see this problem getting worse before it gets any better.

Unknown said...

I think the statement on page 87 where it said "digital tools are giving us new and powerful ways of grappling information" is extremely important because we live in the age of technology and we have come very far in that world. We are able to communicate, study and do other things a lot better and a lot faster because of advanced technology and it has worked out for the better in many aspects of learning and it has become a new form of literacy.

Mikaela Suggs said...

On page 81, the question asking, "What tools will create new forms of public thinking in the years to come?" stood out to me. Because technology is steadily advancing, it is interesting to think of the new things that are in our future, or the future of coming generations. An example given in the book is the ability for mobile devices to broadcast a persons location and help bring people together based on commonalities.

Unknown said...

I believe that on page 87, when the author said, "Crunching data isn't new, of course. Statisticians have done it for years, as have government economist studying patterns in consumption data. But this wasn't considered something the average person ought to know how to do..." As the world is advancing in technology, the more the amount of people who know how to use it to it's upmost benefits increases as well. Most people know how to use a computer now, even a preschooler. It is not something only a few people have access to anymore, or only a few people know how to use. Because of technology people are able to have skills that weren't able to have before, and I think that that is incredible.

Anitra B. said...

What I found interesting was the beginning of chapter "The Art of Finding" (pg. 116) because this is something that I and many others have experienced, and I have also talked about it in a previous post. With the gains and improvements that we have made in technology it's pretty much possible to find anything on the internet. Because of this I believe that our generation has lost some of the ability to think for ourselves. We rely on the internet to give us quick answers instead of figuring them out or learning them ourselves. I admit that I do this all the time because the internet has made finding information so convenient which makes our lives easier.

Andrea R. said...

I found the observations in the "Art of Finding" to be really interesting especially since I just caught myself doing the same thing today when I couldn't remember a formula I needed for class. It really made me think about how readily available information is to us. The chapter on the new literacy also grabbed my attention. As someone who is constantly on and using social media, it was fun to reflect on how new digital mediums such us Youtube and Tumblr have really changed how we analyze our society and collaborate ideas.

Unknown said...

The key concept I've spent time thinking about is gerrymandering. Potentially, because I've heard of it, but haven't up until recently took the time to understand it. I found that it's something
I've noticed, but disregarded like many others due to the fact that there doesn't seem like much to be don't to change it. Another think that made me think is the talk of how complex the concept is to even understand and a lot of people give up. A lot of people do that with simple choices in their everyday lives so they're accustomed to ignoring the bigger picture. Gerrymandering is first discussed on page 84.
Tiera Williams

Unknown said...

I think the most striking to me was the quote "digital tools are giving us new and powerful ways of grappling information." "It gave them new literacy" on page 87 because when you think about it even books have become digital. Some even think that one day there will no longer be paper back books because they will all be available in ereader form. It is crazy to believe and fathom that technology just isn't for fun but for educational tools used before digital technology was even created.

Jessica Oranika said...

One concept that stood out to me was the idea that the Internet has pretty much taken over our lives. Most people especially college students due use some form of Internet on a daily basis whether it be through their phone, computer or tablet. In my opinion this move has been extremely beneficial to our society as it has made people smarter. Information is so accessible and readily available that anyone can find out almost anything they want to know with just the click of a keypad. (Pg87)

Unknown said...

I would say that Chapter 5 captured my attention and made the most sense to me. I am familiar with philosphy and some of the philosphers mentioned. I thought it was interesting to read on pg 118 when I read, "Knowledge stored was not really knowledge at all..." Then, I kept reading and found another interesting concept: pulling up a term on Google is different than looking up a term in an encylopedia. "We are beginning to fit digital tools into another very ancient behavior: relying on social memory for facts" (124). I think it's interesting that we "store" our knowledge moreso in people as well as books.

- BELLA NIGEDA

Unknown said...

I thought the statement on digital tools on page 87 stood out to me the most. It is incredible to see all the advancements from technology that have emerged in the last 20 years. I can't not imagine not being able to google a question or text someone on my cell phone. Technology is hands down the new form of literacy and it needed for every part of life.

Ajeenah Johnson-Brown said...

On page 87 "digital tools are giving us new and powerful ways of grappling information." Now we have so many different ways to find out information. Before people had to search through books and libraries for research. However, we have different search engines and databases that provide us with articles and information we can use.

Kelsey W said...

I enjoyed the Public Thinking chapter the most and the idea of coming up with new ideas and exploring certain ideas through other people. On page 81 they talk about new forms of public ways to communicate with each other through our phones and even gps. I think if people are being serious about their ideas and they really are intelligent then it really can be helpful.

Kiana S said...

The thing that has stood out to me the most out of these three chapters is the realization of the need for these digital tools in our everyday life (p. 87). They all reflected on how much we use the digital tools such as communication through email and Google. It captured my attention because it has become so habitual that I don't realize that it actually is a necessity for me. This book is really good at relating the facts to real life scenarios and situations.