Making Connections

I was reading an article about the importance of forming connections, and ironically enough, it helped me form some interesting connections.  

The author of the article primarily discusses the difference between knowledge and experience.  She argues that experience helps us to make connections with information that we already know.  Without these connections, our knowledge has virtually no utility.  Making these connections fuels innovative and creative thought-processes. She argues that for an individual to be successful they must have the ability to make these connections.

One of my favorite quotes listed in the commentary was from Maria Popova who said, "in order for us to truly create and contribute to the world, we have to be able to connect countless dots, to cross-pollinate ideas from a wealth of disciplines, to combine and recombine these pieces and build new castles."

This got me thinking about a discussion that we had in class about the future of search engines and informational technology.  We briefly talked about the potential of one day having a computer chip inserted into our brains, enabling us to communicate (by thought) with a search engine.  This would ultimately enable us to have access to endless information.  Many rebuked this idea, claiming it would destroy educational systems and human careers.  They questioned how there would be fair competition in an application process or an academic exam if we had any information that we wanted right at our fingertips.. or our thoughts.

I disagreed and failed to speak up, but this article just reaffirmed the possible validity of my position.  I believe that, in modern society, an exam or job requires much more of an individual than just knowing certain info.  It requires analysis, inventiveness, vision, teamwork, and exploration.

My econ professor articulated my argument perfectly.  On the first day of my economics class this semester, my professor argued the importance of developing analytical thinking skills.  He told us that the face of the job market has completely changed, and there was no place for jobs that relied on rote memorization anymore.  Computers have far surpassed us in the ability to recall, and he insisted that in order to be successful, we had to truly learn to "think."

Professor Petranka's wise words helped me form my opposition in our discussion. Even if there was a magical computer chip that allowed us to know everything we wanted, the information we accessed would be completely pointless by itself.  I don't think this futuristic search engine would have such drastic implications for society.  In our day and age, being successful is often attributed to creation, and we can't create by simply searching for a fact or bit of info on google.