It's 2017. Now is a time where every single answer seems to be at our fingertips. It seems we have our answers, or a multitude of possible answers, within 0.024 seconds.
That's amazing.
While in school I was always told that if we did not know an answer your response was not, "I don't know" it was, "I'll find out for you" or "I'll look it up". So that's what people are doing. Looking up everything, all the time.
The problem is not that we are interested in getting answers. The problem is how we get our answers.
**Fair warning, this is just a blab session.... pure opinion on my part...
Firstly, how we interpret the information we read is critical. Too often the same sentence can have a variety of meanings depending on who is reading it. Statistics are misinterpreted regularly, even by those who have taken a stats course post secondary. Similarly, how many times are text messages and emails are often misunderstood because of the interpretation of someone's tone?
Secondly, it bothers me when people seek out answers immediately while mid-conversation. What happened to thinking about possible answers and making your brain actually work? Obviously there's a time and a place, but we don't need an immediate answer most of the time, and I just find it more fun to spitball... to brainstorm sometimes.
Am I a dork? maybe...
Additionally, when people begin to research health issues, as an example, the top hits will appear as a diagnoses - not labelled as possibilities. This causes panic for people immediately and they self-diagnose a problem and they call their family to claim the illness they have before running to the nearest emergency department. Then, when the physician tells them it's something different, or less catastrophic, the patient or parent is one of three things: at ease; disappointed; or loses trust in the physician or health care system because it wasn't the same "advice/diagnosis" as Dr. Google (who obviously knows better, right?).
What grinds my gears is, often in these cases, the patient believes they know better due to their 10 minute google search over the physcians 8+ year medical degree.
I'm not saying people never find the right answer, or that "Dr. Google" doesn't come up with relevant options, nor am I saying that physicians are never wrong (they are human afterall). What I am saying is, be careful how you google and be a bit skeptical about what you're reading, and trust those who are professionals in the area of concern.
Would you take your car to get fixed at a hair salon because the stylist googled what to do?
Another example is farming. Almost nothing is more frustrating to a farmer than hearing the "know-it-alls" cast their ideals as law, while they live in places like downtown Urban centers and have never stepped foot on an actual farm. It's impossible to gain all the accurate data from a google search, or a few documentaries (that are not often native to the country in question and therefore, the rules and regulations governing agriculture differs).
The city slickers we know and love bombard us with questions about planting, harvest, how the cattle live, what they eat, and so on. When the farm details spark such interest and amazement in their eyes, it definitely makes me happy and simultaneously a bit sad for them.
So many people don't know the basics of farm equipment or plant names when they look into a field let alone have the chance to visit a farm and talk to a farmer. Often, their "accurate" education comes from twitter or facebook where it's re-sharing inaccuracies, fear mongering, or misrepresentations of farming.
As it stands today, only 2% of the population farms. This would tell us that the majority of the population gains most of their knowledge of farming from word of mouth or their Internet searches.
So what is a good way to learn more online?
Use credible sources such as peer reviewed journals, or Cochrane reviews, or better yet - a professional.
Look at what group it is your trusting and what their motives are. Some have an agenda that they will stick too, no matter what the cost. Rules are meant to be broken some say...
Don't be bias in your information gathering. When researching many people choose to target their search engines in ways that support the opinions they've already decided upon. For example: If they think GMO's are bad, they will search exactly why they are bad rather than looking at it in stages to educate themselves about the basics first. What are GMO's? How do they work? What are the benefits and risks?
Build up your knowledge.
I'm not saying there is nothing to gain with some heavy research over time, but it's certainly challenging to gain a true opinion by using a predetermined opinion and bias short term.
Consider this: People go to University/College to become amateurs in their field, which takes about 4 years to lay the ground work. They then move into their career where they continue to learn for many years while also gaining practical experience. Eventually, they will become experts, but that's over time - years.
How can that really compare to your 0.024 second google search?
