Don’t Google it!

 Maybe this title is a little strong. Maybe it isn't. However, I was listening to the wonderful podcast "Now, where were we?" by Barry and Bob Cryer- which I can heartily recommend by the way- and they were interviewing comedian and writer Sanjeev Bhaskar and happened upon the topic of research.

This may sound completely dull and boring- why am I writing about looking facts up?

Well, the simple fact (see what I did... they don't call me the master of the pun for nothing you know! Or is it that they don't call me the master of the pun... one or the other) of the matter is that these days, when we wish to find something out, we can simply get out our phones and google it. This has been so engrained within our culture that to google is now a verb and has been for ages.

This is all well and good, sure you get to the answer straight away, so what could possibly be the problem?

Well, googling answers and searching for facts on Wikipedia is not necessarily bad, it's just that it could be done better. 

When you google something, it just takes you right to the answer straight away. Hence everybody has quickly become a mobile fountain of knowledge. This is great isn't it? Well, no, not really...

See in the olden days, when you didn't know something, you actually had to ask someone for the information- naturally sparking a conversation, inviting a piece of learning to occur. Deeper learning at that- an interaction. How deep into the topic would you go? This is now replaced by a fact that merely scratches the surface- superficial even. Those conversations have been eradicated in a series of clicks. 

If that person didn't know or was too busy, you had to find the answer in a book- which would stretch your research skills. If the answer wasn't in the book then you would have to travel- walk or go on the bus- to your local library. Maybe the librarian might even suggest or recommend a book to explore that may have the answers in. 

The journey to uncovering knowledge has been almost completely eradicated, culminating in a whole generation of lazy human beings who would be completely lost without their glowing pocket sized blue cartridge. The journey to that said knowledge would also lead off in the new directions, exposing the traveller to other related knowledge as well, enriching them in the process. Maybe you set out to find out one piece of knowledge, but came away knowing nine or ten more things as well as what you set out to. Maybe a whole new topic was opened up to you just because you took the time to research something completely different?

The next time you want to know something, I challenge you to NOT get your phone out and google it. The information google gives you will only be superficial anyway. Find out for yourself instead, and you might just open up a whole new avenue.