GRE Issue Essay 48

Now that computer technology has made possible the rapid accessing of large amounts of factual information, people are less likely than ever to think deeply or originally. They feel unable to compete with-much less contribute to-the quantity of information that is now available electronically.

This statement relies on the fact that computer technology can provide large amount of information very rapidly. According to the author, it is affecting people as they have stopped to think originally and deeply as they used to do earlier as all the information is already available on the computer. However, this is not completely true.

There is no doubt that people today have access to computers and they can gain all the information through information technology. With the emergence of new communication technology, every field has been enriched by additional forms of knowledge and interaction. Computer networks and the Internet give rise to especially profound and far-reaching modifications by affecting conventional terminologies. They give rise to foundations on which all the information has been erected. This is because interconnected computers are prone to support almost any type of technically mediated human communication.

However, people are not forced to use computers. They could apply their own knowledge and can gather their information. They can take the help of the available information on the internet to think creatively. However, people learn from the person they know and whose views they share rather than from an unknown and unseen person. Moreover, too much information available on the internet can cause information overload and can prove unproductive.

However, we cannot discard the facility of information technology that we have in modern times. All this information, which is otherwise not available to people, can be accessible in minutes. It can give birth to new ideas and thoughts. Therefore, to say that because of this information, people are less likely than ever to think deeply or originally is wrong. People can share theirs ideas and opinions with the people on the other side of the Earth through online message boards. They can develop new thoughts through dialogue in ways that is not possible without an electronic information system. Hence, there is no point getting worried with so much information.

At the same time, we cannot ignore the author’s view that people feel unable to cope with so much of information available on the internet. They do not feel like contributing to already existing information. However, they should not think like this. Knowledge has no bounds. The amount of knowledge that one can share is infinite and one can always contribute to it. With sharing, knowledge always increases and internet is a good and easy way of sharing knowledge. Increase in knowledge makes a person confident and encourages him to learn more and impart his knowledge to others also. Computer technology serves an ultimate purpose, hence, one should use it to learn new things and should be directed towards enabling a person to self-learn. It can teach a person about the world.

Hence, it is wrong not to appreciate the benefits of the new computer technology and discard it altogether; rather, one should learn to make good use of the information provided by it.