While in school, I always heard my teachers say they suffered to get information back in their days and that my generation has no excuse to not know the answer to their questions because we have Google at our fingertips.
What my teachers forgot is that the internet is a double edged sword. Most times when you come to browse a particular concept, you may get carried away with an entirely different thing.
Sometimes, the site you visited will be the one redirecting you to a place of distraction.
IS EASY ACCESS A BLESSING?
Despite the distractions that I have seen on the internet, I know that the availability of information on a platter has been a lifesaver.
Imagine how difficult things were when one had to go to the library each time he needed to confirm a concept.
But
This availability of information does not make us smarter nor less smart.
Information once gotten has been gotten. Only those you tell how you learnt a concept would know.
I have a friend who learnt sewing of clothes and wig making 100% ONLINE.
When she sews, you would not know and even if you compared her work with those that learnt traditionally under another more experienced tailor, you would not see the difference.
Likewise, if someone who learnt a concept from an ebook or elibrary were to discuss with one who read same thing from a physical library, the discussion would flow seamlessly as long as the two individuals internalized what they read.
Any difference would then come down to difference in authors being referenced and not the medium used in accessing the knowledge.
Like I said, the internet is double edged and filed with distractions hence despite saving us the time that would have been used in going to and fro a library and fiddling through a bookshelf, it takes back this time by distracting us with other unplanned side attractions.
Also, searching for information on the internet does not always yield the best results at first attempt. One has to be able to patiently modify his search terms or visit a more reliable website inorder to get the information he is searching for, else you will be fed with "nonsense" and you would not know because you thought the internet will take you to a reliable author.
Any and every information can be on the internet by anyone whether or not he has an authority in the field he is dishing out information.
This is what I realized very early in medical school. After learning about hypertension in class, I was searching for more details on the internet when I stumbled upon an article that talked about various supplements that treat not only hypertension but also diabetes and some other chronic diseases.
When I told my lecturer about my findings, he cautioned me about information on the internet and he let me know that I too could have my takes on the internet even in fields where I am not qualified to say shit.
All I need to do is to write what I wanted and then press upload. When someone else searches with those keywords, my take would be displayed, no matter how shitty it is.
That means that a lot of time is still spent sieving information from the internet, "separating the wheat from the chaff".
Easy access does not translate to more knowledge, it is just easy access.