Is the Internet Making Us Smarter or Dumber?

The Internet refers to a worldwide system of interconnected computer networks that use the Internet protocol suite to link devices across the Earth’s surface. It is the carrier of almost all information services and resources that have recently turned the world into a global village. The Internet continues to grow. People continue to recognize it as a global technological hub. In fact, it meets people’s demands anytime anywhere, and they derive a greater amount of information from it. In essence, individuals prefer the Internet to hard copies since it is portable unlike other sources (books).

The starters construe it as the use of social media like Twitter, Instagram, and emails to educate students, which is an indication of how much the Internet has been rubber stamped into the lives of people today. These Internet applications have made the life of man on Earth quite easier, simpler, and enjoyable. They are used by the masses to manage their everyday routines, especially for learning purposes. It is no doubt that it has made work much easier and learning much more fun. The Internet facilitates online tutoring, hence learners can gain much more needed knowledge in the process of learning (Moran, Seaman, & Tinti-Kane, 2011). Also, in this same field, learners and their tutors can communicate easily and exchange ideas outside the class environment hence enhancing students’ academic knowledge. It goes without saying that the Internet ensures timely replies between teachers and learners, therefore, faster exchange of ideas and responses. This process enhances students’ abilities.

In fact, these networks are out of class channels that teachers or educators recommend so that they can improve their students’ knowledge. The research shows that only one out of five teachers in a survey of 1,000 use the Internet regularly with their students (“Social Media for Teachers: Guides, Resources, and Ideas,” 2015). It is due to the already existing knowledge that incorporation of the Internet fully into the learning process can be detrimental to the well-being, in this case, the smartness of the group of people. The Internet after class activities/lessons enables students to have an extensive knowledge of ideas that can assist them in their road to success. Smartness is directly proportional to the quality of education/learning and, therefore, I still hold my ground that when people apply it effectively, then the Internet can make one smart if not smarter.

The Internet offers free services as other sources (books) might be expensive, and learners may not be able to access the needed information. Therefore, it allows students and even teachers to access vast information that enables them to sharpen their skills and enhance their smartness. The sources it offers are also cheaper and readily available to the larger population. Besides, the Internet bundles are readily available since they are very affordable. Aside from the Internet used by educators to advance students ability to grasp ideas out of class, it is also a broad area encompassing even televisions.

Logically, what one watches sticks in mind. For instance, young children have the ability to readily understand the things they watch rather than the once they listen to throughout. Such exposure makes them be able to think and reason outside the normal life events. I believe that such activities can make them smart kids in the future. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter which people associate with movement attention, learning, and movement. It is the chemical produced when one watches something new or something interesting. It enables one to grasp an idea or information, and the probability of forgetting is low. Therefore, watching television for education purposes can make one smarter. That is why I still opine that the Internet can make an individual smarter, but they have to control how much time they spend in the Internet since other misuse it. Moreover, it is through the Internet that young children can learn language and vocabulary that later helps them in future as adults. Some programs are designed specifically for them and, particularly, for vocabulary learning and language prowess. It has been proved that verbal interaction between co-viewers is responsible for language development and enhances learning outcomes. This behavior is, however, directly proportional to the content of the program and the ability of the children to master language quickly. It goes without too much opposition that the Internet can make someone smart both in language and other skills.

Furthermore, the Internet can also promote an individual’s smartness when using it for scientific research and investigation (Tewksbury & Rittenberg, 2012). Some fields need expansive research so that scholars can obtain conclusive results. Thus, the Internet helps them to identify areas that require attention and, in turn, helps them to analyze possibilities of results. In research, one needs to come up with hypotheses that he or she can easily prove and implement. A competent researcher will employ the use of the Internet in relevant fields and eventually come up with an idea worth the time. The Internet enables the researchers to connect with the past and link the present with the future in a bid to know the gaps that need filling. In the field of the technology, the Internet has helped many to launch multi-billion programs that would not have been possible without the former. This move means that with the changing times and technologies, the society needs the Internet to enhance people’s wit, and, consequently, it makes one smarter (Graham, Dutton, & Castells, 2014). The Internet also helps people to be well aware of everything taking place in the world today, and they become well versed with information hence making them knowledgeable. It is worth noting that the amount of knowledge someone has indicates the level of smartness. Being up to date even without reading books guarantees the right to be labeled smart. Social media sites, therefore, have positive impacts on personal, professional and instructional use and, thus, can make an individual smart. The beauty of the Internet is that one source can offer a diversity of information thereby making people to access knowledge of many fields. However, these deductions remain limited only to the ability of an individual to access educative sites, which build an individual or institutional abilities rather than destroy them. The value an individual is willing to gain from these platforms determines whether one qualifies the Internet as capable to make them smart or not. Unawareness of this fact will, therefore, influence an individual’s desires and the ability to choose right from what is available.

Indeed, the Internet is helpful. Some schools entirely incorporate it into their education system from advertising the services they offer to provide information to the students and parents so as to enhance smooth and efficient communication. It is referred to as digital migration from the analog, and the whole world has been overtaken by these except for a few countries that still embrace the traditional forms of life.

However, the Internet may be destructive. Many people ask themselves a question whether the Internet does guarantee smartness or maybe it is just a recipe for laziness in the world today. I appreciate the possibility which the Internet offers, for instance, one can answer a question within a few seconds with the help of the Internet, but they must also know that the Internet denies scholars. Moreover, students lose the opportunity to think and be creative. It confines them to the opinions of others, and not their well-thought arguments. Even though researchers will disagree with me on this matter, it remains apparent that learners born to this era of the Internet are less creative or if there is a pinch of creativity it is a recycled one. Some of the instances are the inability of students to write essays when they are required to do so. The Internet has, thus, promoted plagiarism hence destroying the educative aspect it initially advocated for in the society. The Internet makes this area of education easy, and that is quite critical. If the Internet is used well, then it can make one smarter, but when it is overused or misused, it can lead to loss of creativity and the birth of half-baked scholars in the fields of science that were earlier lucrative and important.

It can expose an individual to activities and habits that are detrimental to one’s health. Dopamine, which enables people to remember new and valuable information, is also the same that is involved in most addictions, and so, if the Internet is not controlled, it can also make someone useless and addicted to it. For instance, pornography is one of the problems that has got the whole world dwindling in ignorance (Sandler, 2010). Even children can access these sites, and this damages their thinking and destroys their ability to be smart individuals. There are also programs that disguise in the name of offering education yet they are actually non-educative and can corrupt an individual’s way of thinking, especially young kids who are vulnerable. Someone needs to have an idea of something before seeking other avenues of information (Bazzell, 2015). Parents must guide their children into making the right decisions on the Internet.

The Internet may be time-consuming if people fail to use it correctly. It might take an individual’s productive time and end up destroying personal relationships with others. This behavior isolates an individual despite someone needing others to grow. It derails one’s abilities to think and learn from others’ ways of thinking. There is a prevalence of over dependence on the Internet for leisure rather than education. The time children spend watching television has increased, thereby decreasing their involvement in community activities and opportunities in outdoor activities.

In conclusion, the Internet was initially developed as an information hub, and it was to make work easier for a man on acquiring knowledge. Also, its role lay in allowing everyone access information that was not possible with books as they were expensive and difficult to access. Reaching a book of a different geographical area was not easy, but the Internet has made the world a global village. It is evident from the above-mentioned points that the introduction of the Internet was a blessing to man. It brought with it a lot of significance. People can derive what was not available in the past and transform it into more useful things. However, if they do not use it well, the Internet has a destructive ability to man, and its rates of destruction are high. Therefore, it requires wisdom and understanding while using the Internet. It requires self-control to access the needed sight and not be swayed into other inappropriate sites. Indeed, the Internet makes people smarter but only if they use it well.