Google Really Is Making Us Dumb

I received a Blackboard assignment for my Global Marketing class. Since we don't have class on Monday, our professor asked us to write and submit a 300 word paper on "The love-hate relationship between Mexico and the United States." I really don't know much about the United States and its history with Mexico; I just know a little about the current issues we seem to be having with illegal immigration . . .

So, what did I do in order to write my paper? I googled Mexico and the United States. I read the first three articles that came up in my google search, made some references in the paper, finished the paper, submitted it, and closed out of everything. Did I learn anything? Not really. I just learned how to use google as a quick tool to write a decent paper in less than 30 minutes.

Unfortunately, this is what my learning and education has come to. I rely on google for quick fixes and never look back. I read articles, write about them, but hardly retain what I just read and "learned." If I had been forced to research this topic in encyclopedias in the library, then my mental involvement and retention of what I had just learned would have been much greater. Alas, I have been dumbed down by google. I have confused convenience with laziness. I think this is where society as a whole is heading: We've got the world at our finger tips, and we think we are researching and learning, when we're just being lazy!