The problem of information acquisition and its relation to the development of knowledge has been a subject of numerous discussions among philosophers for centuries. In particular, many of them view the emergence and appearance of new technologies as a potential threat to people’s ability to gain knowledge and wisdom. In the works “Phaedrus” by Plato and “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” by Nicholas Carr, the authors discuss the differences between information and knowledge and how the emergence of such technologies as writing and media negatively influence people’s cognition.
First, it is important to mention that, from the point of view of philosophers, the concept of technology has a different meaning than the one it has in the modern world. In their opinion, technologies are not various machines and devices people use nowadays to make the organization of their daily routine easier but also newly created processes and tools that provide them with any new possibilities. For instance, for Plato, a written text is already a new technology, and for Carr, it is media that is not a mere channel of information but also a means of shaping people’s worldview and the process of their cognition.
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From the point of view of Plato, the creation of new technology – the written word – has constructed huge danger for the further intellectual development of people since it is expected to prevent them from gaining wisdom and developing critical thinking. In fact, in Plato’s opinion, the main problem lies in the fact that, with the written texts, people absorb the information and thoughts that belong to someone else. They, in their turn, prevent people from developing their own opinions on some problems, and, in such a way, gaining wisdom. Moreover, knowing that one can easily find some information in a written source, people stop memorizing some information that also can lead to mental degradation.
However, as practice shows, the fears of Plato panned out long after, when the Internet was created. According to Nicholas Carr, while written word, regardless of Plato’s expectations triggers creativity and cognitive development of people, the era of the World Wide Web has given an opposite effect. In particular, Carr emphasizes that one should distinguish between information and knowledge. Information is any data a person receives in the process of interaction with the world with the help of all sense organs. Some of it, the brain perceives as unnecessary and instantly forgets, and some of it is memorized and can be used in future. The second, in fact, constructs the knowledge of a person. However, nowadays, because of the development of media, the more information people get, the less they remember and know.
Summing up, in the opinions of philosophers, a new technology, that is any tool or process created by people, can become a potential threat to the cognitive development of people. First, Plato thought that written works would prevent people from memorizing information and turning it into knowledge and would simply create the impression of one’s wisdom. Carr, in his turn, states that, though Plato’s predictions have failed to come true, the Internet has become the technology which leads the humanity to the crisis of cognition.
- Carr, Nicholas. “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” The Atlantic, 2008, www.theatlantic.com
- Plato. “Phaedrus.” The Internet Classics Archive, http://classics.mit.edu
