How I really feel about "Is Google making Us Stupid"

As I read, researched, and participated in the Voicethread debates on this article, I found myself very much split down the middle in many of the points that were raised by both sides of this argument. Being the quintessential Digital Immigrant, I am at times, overwhelmed with the amount of data at our fingertips. I really can see both sides of this ever growing concern that the instant availability of information and the domino effect it has. One thing that struck me as our teams worked through these debates was that  we very quickly moved from the specificity of Google to all aspects of the internet and social media and their respective positives and negatives. Ultimately, I am a work in progress. Some days, I really cannot get past the fact I have 50+ emails from my job plus another 20 from my university, social networking added to the readings, posts of classes, and general interaction with the internet I do on a daily basis. If I allow myself to think about all of that, it is easy to fall into the trap of assuming that this is all bad for me, and somehow, my critical thinking is suffering at some level. If I really step back however, I find that much of my being overwhelmed is self-imposed. In reality, the internet while wonderful, resourceful, and at times, intoxicating, is a great tool, that when used responsibly as any other, can enhance learning, and in some cases actually change the world.

……..On Intelligence Chapters 4 & 5

Honestly, I found these 2 chapters much more interesting than the previous ones.

Memory is such a complex animal. The whole concept of no matter how much faster a computer's processor was, it still took a "million" steps to get to the next step verses the one-hundred  of the human brain, blew me away. I have always been able to recall huge amounts of song lyrics to the amazement of my wife. She always wonders why I can remember the words of a song that I haven't heard in over 20 years, but can't remember what we talked about in the previous hour. I've really never given this a lot of serious thought until Hawkins goes one step further with his explanation of how we are able to recognize a song no matter what key it is in due to our mind being able to "fill in" the missing pieces by its' amazing ability to predict.

Kayleigh and Cheryl posed the following question:

Can we utilize the concepts of the memory-prediction framework of intelligence in instructional design? Could this theory aid in designing more effective courses?

I would say we could. Any opportunity to capitalize on things that learners are able to recall and "predict " as a means of gaining even more information to store in memory and recall later, would be of benefit. In the case of a learner excelling in a subject they are really interested in. Could this simply be that because of this, those memories are more accessible or have stuck so to speak, more than the things we choose not to hang onto? If so, then certainly this kind of theory would aid in designing a more effective course for learners.