How Google is killing you, your kids, and the next generation

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM)
12/28/2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

Dependency on Google and the internet is ruining the art of invention.

A famous British inventor and tinkerer has made a very public and damning statement against the internet and the dependency it creates in the world's youth. Trevor Baylis, famed inventor of the wind-up radio, told the UK's Daily Mail the internet is leaving children "brain dead."

This is your brain on Google.

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LONDON, UK (Catholic Online) - Many of us spend at least a part of our day, mindlessly scrolling through banal Facebook and Pinterest feeds, saying to ourselves, "how cool!" and "I wish I could do that."

According to Baylis, this is hurting us, particularly as children follow our example.

Today, when people encounter problems, no matter what they are, we turn to Google for the solution. Need an idea? There's Pinterest and the rest of the internet. The answers to virtually everything are but keystrokes away; Uncle Internet has replaced many real uncles because Uncle Internet knows everything. Worse, we are turning to the internet to solve our problems rather than developing our own, creative solutions.

This is the problem. With answers so quick, we have no incentive, nor need to use our brains.

This is killing our inventive spirit because instead of tinkering and solving problems on our own, we're relying on the knowledge of others to do the heavy mental lifting for us. Why bother with trial and error when the internet has the quick solution?

It may seem very smart to simply Google something and find the answer; Google is a seductively powerful resource.

And when the toilet is overflowing, that's certainly no time to tinker. However, the brain needs a workout and with Google there to do the heavy-lifting, our brains become weak and dependent.

The 75-year old inventor told the Mail, "Children have got to be taught hands-on, and not to become mobile phone or computer dependent. They should use computers as and when, but there are so many people playing with their computers nowadays that spend all their time sitting there with a stomach. They are dependent on Google searches. A lot of kids will become fairly brain-dead if they become so dependent on the internet, because they will not be able to do things the old-fashioned way."

Baylis recalled how he was given an old "Meccano" set, similar to the Erector sets that were once popular in the U.S. Playing with the set he says, he developed his creativity and skills which served him both as an inventor and in everyday life.

So what's the solution?

According to Baylis, it's to teach the youth to tinker and to avoid the quick and easy solutions to problems, as a form of mental exercise.

This goes for adults as well.

So instead of scrolling Pinterest for your next creative solution, or simply Googling instructions for your kid's project, why not try a little trial and error, and tinkering. It may cost a little more and take longer, but the problem-solving skills and thinking exercise is more than worth it. For if there's going to be a next generation of inventors, they'll be created by resourceful thinking, not Google.

� 2012, Distributed by NEWS CONSORTIUM.

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Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: Trevor Baylis, inventor, google, internet, brain-dead, meccano

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1 - 8 of 8 Comments

judy claar
4 months ago
Bah Hum Bug! IF some people Choose to use their own Free Will using tech toys all day long, and do not know the difference or can not be responsible enough when to use them, and when not to, they, the individuals themselves, only have their selves to answer to. And usually, there is a psychological problem not far behind.

But let me not stop here. When a child is a child, and growing up, it is the parent's Duty and Responsibility to monitor such things. Nowadays, a child does his homework and it is on the computer. That is not banal. There is nothing wrong with that. The key word here is Balance: Sports. Science Clubs. CCD. (BALANCE.)

IT IS AFTER, a child has passed his 18th year and graduation? from HS, and can Think of nothing Creative, except to play Violent Video Games, and has had relatively no Balance in his life, that the Massacre of Innocents, a Mother, Father, even both, can emerge. This boy did not grow to be the way he was w/o help from his environment. I have gone off on a tangent. Forgive me.

Summary: WE can have both. There must be Balance. Blessings...
Staszec
4 months ago
Helen said it but it bares repeating. The internet is but a tool. A person who relies solely on the Google or whatever search engine is a akin to the handyman with only duct tape in his tool kit.

Tinkering can be costly especially if you have no business tinkering. I recently replaced my breaks on my car but only did so because while I was growing up, I sat with my father when he replaced the brakes or changed the plugs or changed the oil or replaced the head gasket etc. I do not recommend self repair if you are not mechanically inclined. In my daily business I often see the sign "The cost to repair "WIDGET" is $X. If you tried to repair "WIDGET" yourself first, the cost is $10X". There is some truth to that. More often than not I hear tale of something broken, person tried to fix but broke something else in the process. So tinkering for tinkering sake can be costly.
Helen Hawkins
4 months ago
Google is like anything else - even guns. Google is a tool and nothing more. It is up to the users to use this tool responsibly.
Mark
4 months ago
I think this article makes a lot of good points that all should consider. As soon as I finished reading it I had to google pinterest because I hadn't heard of it yet.
George Ronald Adkisson
4 months ago
I could just imagine what Daniel would have to discuss with today's children...who are not recognized and given all the education that we all together should and could be striving for.
Our Mothers are another group that are totally abused.(Cannon and Measure)
Herod the Great, Nero, and other rulers would be standing by a uS copyright and patent office hearing the sounds of their loud trumpets from their bogus Mount Zion...putting many children behind the prison bars.
Matthew 7:7, Jesus said "...Seek and You Shall Find; Knock and it will be opened to you." What should we be seeking? According to what Jesus said in Matthew 6:33, we should be striving for the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Those who turn all of their attention to worldly things will have their reward while upon the earth. Christ stressed that by following after Him and His righteousness, we would be investing in an eternal reward in Heaven. There are many blessings that Christians have because they put God first in their lives.
Innovation is a part of how we all grow...just like the plants that surround uS grow.
Our brains are like a cup that Peter was told he would walk as his own cup.
I suggest then we all avoid material that due to it's licensed nature has put many at risk and left them behind the doors of prisons...for the sake of those who brag their riches in gold.
But Google is still a good and quick solution to historical events and information on wiki- pedia, etc. Plus there are many people today offering children cheap kits to help them be innovative...even from the junk pile with some parental supervision.
Everyone...have a good day.
Edwin Alexander
4 months ago
With all due respect to Trevor Baylis...

Is this a new found information? I think since long many are worried about the fact, that people are very much dependent on internet and google for whatever information they want to know. They browse even for the easiest of questions, thereby giving little chance for the brain to work.

The counter argument is that by saving lot of time on finding solutions, the user is able to devot precious time for other purposes. But still our brain should be given enough tasks to work and develope, otherwise it will face the same plight of any muscles which does not work/exercise.
abey
4 months ago
It is as good as saying, use the Magnetic compass to Circumnavigate instead of the Gyro compass, unless offcourse Earth's magnetism reverses in the poles.
DLL
4 months ago
Google settles arguments with information and useful facts. Before there was simply arguments even lost friendships.

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