DISQUS

Lee White · 1 year ago

I contend that easier access is not diminishing problem solving skills, just allowing us to approach problem solving (or decision making) in a different way.

Problem solving really has two parts, gathering information and choosing among options. Social media enhances gathering, but choosing still belongs to those responsible for the problem. Choosing badly among better options still yields bad results, and bad results won't get you far. So keep gathering the fastest, easiest way you can (and right now that may be social media) and spend more time making better choices.

Lee

Hugh Gage · 1 year ago

Before Twitter and Yahoo Answers, there was (and still is) Google groups and before that it was called something else.

There have always been plenty of forums where people can seek and find answers. Twitter and Yahoo Answers have just made it easier and as Lee White points out quicker, but as far as I can see it amounts to the same thing - asking somebody else instead of doing the legwork oneself.

manuscrypts · 1 year ago

well, no harm in getting solutions from the collective intelligence, if they're better than one's own solutions. also, doesn't it depend on the level of problems? maybe, by outsourcing the time spent on 'lower level' problems to a collective consciousness, we are evolving to a higher level, thats capable of solving the larger riddles of life? :)

Piper · 1 year ago

If the quality of some recent straight-A graduate co-workers is any indication, the Internet is having a a massively negative impact on the way some people solve problems. I made a very simple request of one recently, and three days later, there were no updates. When I asked her why, she said that no one had answered her on the forums where she asked for the answer.

Worse yet, she was associating the company's URL with her request. It took everything I had not to start screaming, "Has the Internet made you completely stupid??"

jareau · 1 year ago

how do i get pass my school accces block because there using web sense to keep there stuff block

Futon-Matt · 1 year ago

I feel that the instant access to information has only taken the leg work out of forming a decision.

Andy Beal · 1 year ago

Good discussion Roderick.

We've always relied on the availability of information from others. Even "Googling" a question is relying on information someone else has put together.

I'd also suspect you're group of friends is somewhat different than most. As you mentioned, you move in marketing circles. For example, I'll often ask a question on Twitter, that I could find the answer to elsewhere, but as a marketer there's a benefit to engaging those that follow you.

Daniel, the Real Estate Zebra · 1 year ago

Social media hasn't stopped me from solving my own problems. In many ways, it has made my problem-solving more efficient because it gives me access to options I might not have otherwise come up with on my own.

Being in the real estate profession, most of my circle consists of other Realtors. This has proved very useful to me because real estate is local, that means that it is practiced differently in different markets. Interacting with other Realtors has given me ideas that might have taken me much longer to arrive at on my own. Are those ideas any less valuable because they came from someone else rather than through my own efforts? I don't think so.

Unless you sit in a completely empty room, totally alone, ideas and inspiration are always coming from external sources. Social media just seems to increase the access to those sources of ideas and inspiration.

Search Engine Optimization Jou · 1 year ago

We can totally see where you are coming from in terms of diminishing critical thinking. The more and more we log onto Yahoo Answers, the more we see students from everywhere blatantly posting questions from their exams, projects, homework etc. with no desire to simply spend the 30 minutes to do the research themselves and actually learn. It's all a double edged sword!

Paul Dunay · 1 year ago

I don't think so - in fact I think tools like Twitter aren't inhibiting us from solving problems or using our own creative problem solving - but they are allowing us to crowdsource to get better answers.

Hugh Gage · 1 year ago

Or provide better answers - Wikipedia

Prosperity Writer · 1 year ago

it only means we have easier access to information we need. but still, the decision is ours to make.

Deirdre · 1 year ago

I think you are making the common problem solving error of identifying the problem based on personal experience.

As our world of information expands, kids are expected to memorize/search for more and more facts and theories. Schools are spending less and less time on critical thinking/problem solving/creative thinking to accomodate the information overload.

So we have a generation that are very good at quickly finding discreet pieces of information and more limited in their ability to use higher order thinking.

Steven Bradley · 1 year ago

Interesting discussion Roderick. I can understand you're thinking, but I don't believe social media automatically leads to a lack of critical thinking.

There will always be some who prefer to find information themselves and there will always be some who ask others for the information. In the end we all still have to make our own decisions on what we think is right and wrong.

The internet in general allows us to have access to more information quickly than we've ever had before. With so many sources of information and answers the skill is in deciding which source to trust. That requires more than a single source.

You might sooner trust a person that has shown they are a good source. So if in the past Bob has shown to be an expert in automotive repair I might ask him my automotive repair question to save me time on that particular query. It might also be a subject where I'm not all that interested in learning more.

Bob then may ask me questions about web development because he knows I've put in the time there and he's not interested in becoming the expert when it comes to web development.

We're still all solving problems and thinking critically in general, but we can still lean on others for solutions in specific areas.

Seomotion · 1 year ago

We need easy access to information we need. Social media gives us this possibility. And it is very good.

spostareduro · 1 year ago

I think that the lazy brain concept can be lloked at differently. Tweets, IMs and the like are a form of education for researching with assistance. Sometimes, especially being a newbie to SEO for example, others that we are following may have a better understanding of the topic we are examining, making them a prime source of aid to send us in he right direction.

Am I offbase? Did my neck blow a bubble?

spostareduro · 1 year ago

oops..meant to say "looked at differently"

Nicole · 1 year ago

Having information spoonfed does spoil you. It would make your mind rust. That said, reinventing the wheel is not desirable either. So if someone else has already done what you need to do, get him to give it to you. The deciding factors here would be the amount of time required to get he information yourself, the degree of specialization in the field etc etc.

S.P. Gass · 1 year ago

Great post! I'll probably link to it from my blog later this week or next.

Similar to your theory in terms of hi-tech networking solutions diminishing critical thinking, I wrote a post on my blog earlier this year on GPS Navigation systems: http://lowtechtimes.com/2008/01/16/three-proble...

Shouldn't people learn their own way around without having a voice tell them their every move?

Jaan Kanellis · 1 year ago

In the age of the information superhighway we have truly come to expect answers and directions when we need it, which is usual right away.

Like some have mentioned before, in the past before social networks, before the internet, you called someone who knew. Before that, you ask your dad or the local elder.

Hillar Jones · 1 year ago

Good point. However some social networking sites are meant exactly for that - to help people solve problems, especially spiritually while also offering a social networking environment. Thats what www.gospelpals.com tries to do anyway.