Googlectuals!

In a discussion in Pete’s forum this past week a poster by the name of toad, in rebutting my views, lumped me in with the rest of the ‘google educated folk’ on this site.

I must admit, comments like this just make me smile… and sometimes even bring out a full-fledge chuckle!

The comments stem from the habit many people have — myself, included — of launching a Google™ search for documents, references, definitions or other information that is readily available on the Internet. There are some who decry this practise, claiming that people are cutting-and-pasting information that they knew absolutely nothing about until they managed to stumble across it on Google.

It may be that some people do this.

I believe, however, that most people use Google in much the same way one does (or did, since they're all but obsolete, now) the card catalogue at the library. In essence, that’s what Google is: a vast, electronic listing of available data. In fact, Google's mission statement is, "to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful."

So why do some people offer this as an insult, as though people who have to resort to a Google search are somehow disingenuous in the portrayal of their own intelligence?

I don’t know. Perhaps toad and others can share their views on this with us.

For myself, I find Google a tremendously useful tool. I have discovered facts I was unaware of, I have learned how things work, and about various government programs, businesses, and just picked up a lot of general information. But it’s not like I was starting from scratch when I fired-up the Google home page.

Google is only a tool, after all. One can punch in any search word or phrase and get a gazillion "hits." The trick is in (a) knowing which search terms to use to get the best results, and (b) weeding through the results to find valid information.

You see, as good as Google is — and it is a fantastic tool — the highest ranked results are not always those for which one is looking. Sometimes one must scroll through a couple of pages of results, and other times the search must be narrowed by adding further search terms.

And, as I mentioned earlier, it’s important to recognize what is and is not good information.

But Google is not my only source of online information. I have visited quite a number of sites and have many of them bookmarked. I am able to return to any of these sites with a click of the mouse. Others I have gone to so often I simply remember the url.

For instance, the Government of Canada site [www.canada.gc.ca] is a very handy resource with an easily remembered url. Similarly the province of Ontario’s website [gov.on.ca] is a valuable resource.

Online information is great! It’s much more convenient than heading off to the libray every time I want to verify a fact, or look up something unfamiliar. It’s also a lot cheaper than building one’s own collection of reference books.

I don’t rely on online information exclusively, though.

I consider myself fairly well-read and reasonably well-educated. One of my strengths is in doing research. and digging for facts and information — knowing where to look, and what search terms to use (whether electronic or hard copy) when trying to locate that information.

So, quite often I am able to simply recall information I had read elsewhere.

In a column I wrote in April, discussing the Fox TV show "Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?" a couple of people made comments that learning obscure, trivial facts may be entertaining and fun for game shows and playing board games, but it doesn’t really help one in real life. Their contention was that these insignificant tidbits could readily be looked-up, so why would anyone bother trying to remember them.

Well, I’d agree… for the most part. Most of us probably don’t need to walk around with the diameter of the earth taking up space in our brains (40,000 km), or be able to state the speed of light (300,000 km/second). But there are times when someone asks a question and I can provide an answer without having to look it up.

I don’t say this to brag, and neither do I answer questions just to impress people. It’s just stuff I know. It's who I am.

Some people can rattle-off hockey or baseball statistics, others can tell you almost anything you need to know about gardening. We all have our strengths, which most often reflect our interests.

My interests are many and varied, and therefore I have a lot of — what to others would certainly appear to be — useless information crammed into my head.

Does this make me a "Googlectual," or an insufferable know-it-all? Well, obviously to some people it does. But that doesn’t bother me.

When accused of the latter, my response is most often to deny it, and instead suggest I am more of a "know-an-awful-lot." I would never presume to claim to know it "all."

I enjoy learning — and teaching — and believe that we never stop learning.

I know there are people who appreciate my opinions, and my answers to their questions.

For those who don’t, you can check out a few other promising sites:
here,
... or here,
... or here.

But… that’s just my opinion.