Probably Not! Learn Why Here!

A few months ago, Yale University researchers released a study, which found the internet makes us think we're more knowledgeable than we actually are.

When we have the chance to access information near-instantaneously online, we often mistakenly believe all that information is stored in our own heads.

OK, but even if our inability to assess the extent of our own knowledge is a downside of owning a smartphone, it's outweighed by all the benefits of having information at your fingertips, right?

Not exactly.

In a new interview with Scott Berinato of The Harvard Business Review, lead study author Michael Fisher said this phenomenon poses dangers to society.

"With some professions, we want people to be truly knowledgeable, not have a false sense of their knowledge," he said. "Surgeons, for example. At the very least we have to start structuring our world so that if such people rely on this appendage [the internet], they're never cut off from it."

In other words, most of us would find it pretty disconcerting to be operated on by a smartphone-less surgeon who suddenly realizes she doesn't know how to complete the procedure without Google's help.

The study included a series of experiments that suggest having internet access causes people to overestimate the scope of their own knowledge. In one experiment, some participants used the internet to answer a series of questions (e.g. "How does a zipper work?") while other participants tried to answer them without using the internet. Then, all participants were asked to assess their ability to answer a set of unrelated questions (e.g. "How do tornadoes form?") without using the internet.

As it turns out, participants who had internet access the first time around significantly overestimated their ability to answer the second set of questions compared to the group who didn't have internet access in the first portion. In subsequent experiments, the researchers found that even when people couldn't find answers to the questions online, they still rated their own knowledge higher.

The study authors suggest that's because having internet access causes people to see the data available online as an extension of their own brain.

Source: businessinsider

About LaraNet: We are a web design firm focused to help you to grow your business and communicate with your customers and prospects using two simple but powerful tools: 1) Interactive Website and 2) Internet Marketing Strategy on social networks like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc …
Whether you want to work with just a web page, or launch or improve your presence on Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn or communicate with your customers through newsletters, or improve the location of your business in the search engines through Search Engine Optimization, or start marketing your products or services online, in LaraNet we can help you.

Keywords: Website designer in Houston, Web Designer in Houston, Web Site Developer in Houston, Webmaster in Houston, Internet Marketing Agency in Houston, Website Consultant in Houston, Enrique Antonio Lara Vidales, LaraNet, Web Design in Houston, Website Development in Houston, Open Source Content Management, Internet Marketing Services, Houston Small Business Websites, Integrated Internet Marketing, Content Marketing Specialist, Community Manager Specialist, Houston Internet Marketing for Small Business