It is not a wonder anymore, that everyone is insanely bitten by the Google bug. You want to know the meaning of a word? Ask Google. Distance between places? How to get there? Where to stay? Ask Google! Recent news? Celebrity fights? Pictures, videos? Ask Google. Yeah! Google has become the know-all, be-all in our everyday existence. There’s nothing that Mr. G doesn’t know!
But should you be so Google-dependent every waking minute of your life? Maybe these 5 reasons why you shouldn’t be, might help you see the other side.
Mr. G is NOT Dr. G.
There are millions of instances when people type in their symptoms on Mr. G and try to find out what’s wrong with them. But beware! You never know when Mr. G turns your minor headache into brain tumour! And then there are people who complete their entire medical education online and arrogantly challenge doctors and their line of treatment! Mr. G is not your doctor, learn to trust the real one!
Mr. G could make you dumb.
Yeah, that is what will happen when you ‘search’ everything instead of ‘thinking’. Gradually, you might get so dependent on Mr. G, that your brain will begin to rust lying unused for so long!
Mr. G for inspiration or plagiarism?
Don’t keep turning to Mr. G for inspiration. You never know when you inadvertently begin to use other people’s work as your own. Imagine if Mr. G were to be a book, would you keep flipping pages after pages for ideas? It would be so tedious, that you would rather use your own, won’t you? Is it not better to put your mind to use and be the creator of your destiny?
Mr. G does not have all the answers.
Habitual surfers will tell you that Mr. G can be very fickle. You can type ‘Is brown rice good for health’ and get about 96,10,000 results in 0.58 seconds, and you can type, ‘Is brown rice bad for health’ and get about 1,82,00,000 results in an equal number of seconds! You will still be left wondering if brown rice is good for you or bad! The point is, Mr. G will tell you only as much as the last word you typed.
Mr. G snuffs away your time.
Have you ever noticed how one search leads to the other, one link leads to another and before you know you have spent half your afternoon and most of your productive time just flitting like a butterfly from one flower to another?
I am not against search engines, I use them too! But when and where to draw the line should be your prerogative. Use your brain but if you need to know something, by all means, ask Mr. G. And be sure to back that up from some other authentic source as well.
Do you agree?
I agree,we need to use our brains for some things. Even kids have started saying, Google it, Google it!
ReplyDeleteBefore Google, my family asked ME. SO I am happy they have Google to go to. But honestly, I agree with you most people believe GOOGLE blindly and actually quote from it as the final authority!
ReplyDeleteI agree, google needs to be used judiciously. It's nice to have information at your fingertips, but it's better to think and do your own research using some good old fashioned books ;-)
ReplyDeleteCheers!
Modern Gypsy
I agree. It's okay to search and browse, but one must use their own discretion. One man's food can be another's poison. Nice post.
ReplyDeleteSuzy at Someday Somewhere - Great minds
Every good thing has its cons .It's your choice how to use things. I ADORE Google 😊
ReplyDeleteSo true buddy and you know what it has killed all urge in our little ones try to work hard to find a solution to their query, they just google it out, that I guess is the worst repercussion I see
ReplyDeleteValid pointers. Though I believe that Google is God, but one mustn't follow this God blindly ;)
ReplyDeleteThis post is actually an eye-opener for me. I blindly google a lot of things. Maybe I should consider some of these points you've mentioned here next time I turn to Mr. G. :)
ReplyDeleteI google very less to be honest. Mostly it is only to check out correct spellings :)
ReplyDeleteI once tried googling because I had a headache and Dr. G diagnosed me with everything from brain cancer to hemorrhage. Stopped since then :)
oh believe me. We doctors go mad with this. The stereotypical joke is a reality - so many do come to us and then say they've googled their symptoms and they know their disease, often being way off the mark as well!
ReplyDeleteGodyears.net
Hahaha! Loved that bit about the rice! :D
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, you do get caught in the web of information.
About that DR. G bit... well it was just the opposite for me actually. As you know, I've been fighting illness for quite some time. The doctors here couldn't diagnose it for about 1.5 years. Eventually, I had to google up the symptoms myself. I made a list of the possible things, (some of them were quite serious)...then confronted my GP with that list, asking him to prescribe tests to eliminate them. That's when he referred me to a specialist. The specialist understood in the very first meeting that I had read up on it, so he didn't waste any time either. That's when my treatment finally started. In last year January. But my condition had become a lot worse by then. So the recovery is going to take time.
I feel we should refer to Google, yes, but we shouldn't try to become doctors ourselves.
Happy AtoZing!
Chicky @ www.mysteriouskaddu.com
Mr G has sucked away a lot of my time. So much information and so little time... Mr G has even diagnosed with all sort of weird diseases :P
ReplyDeleteI find Mr.F way more annoying and addictive than Mr.G, to be honest. Yeah (F for Facebook) ;) But that's because I don't google everything. I use my head or at least I try to. Which is more than what I see the next generation doing. They will stop thinking for themselves at this rate.
ReplyDeleteHaha! That's so true! It would be a hard task for the doctors when the patients say htat they've brain tumour instead of a headache! :)
ReplyDeleteThailand Travel Stories at Kohl Eyed Me
26 Indian Dishes at Something's Cooking
You ask me. I at times google for my daily horoscope. MR.G most of the time was correct. :) I use it most of the time only to verify my internet connection. Maybe it is the dumbest thing to do with Mr. G , but, yes, i do not claim to be the intelligent one. :)
ReplyDeleteDr G is the worst. I often get internet fatigue these days and I am also tired of kids instantly thumbing their phone screens to find info. You're right on all five counts, and I'll bet everyone is guilty of two or more on a daily basis! :)
ReplyDeleteGoogling your symptoms is the worst thing you can do. Last month Dr. G convinced me that I was dying of cancer when in real the problem was just a bit of heat related issue.i decided never to consult Dr. G again!!
ReplyDeleteGreat Indian Sale
This is so true and all of us are so badly addicted to Mr. G that even if a small thing pops in we feel this need to go to Mr. G! Reading these points above, I feel I should control a bit in all of it!
ReplyDeleteCheers
BoisterousBee
For health matters isn't really useful. Sometimes, even dangerous!
ReplyDeleteI think the most important thing here isto discriminate the sources. The same way we did with books. Not all books have the same credit, have they?
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Eva - Mail Adventures
G is for Giant
There was a time when I used to google symptoms, and so far I've had melanoma, tetanus, tumor... I'm still alive, so all the funerals I arranged for myself were a waste!
ReplyDeleteSo true about it making us dumb. We rarely ever take the time to think things through, cos Google seems like such an easy, convenient (time sucking) alternative.