The Dumbing Down of America

I found the Morkes and Nielsen article both interesting and a little frightening.

One of the negative effects of the Web (and USA Today before it) is the decreased understanding of complex issues. Ironically and sadly, as the world becomes more complex, the willingness to consider issues in depth and gather sufficient background to make informed decisions has reached an all-time-low threshold. Life is more complex than ever. The Internet has connected the world in ways that were unimaginable before its invention, which requires a greater understanding of the cultures we are now allowed to directly interact with. The technologies we use are complex beyond belief, and due to corporate greed, are "upgraded" with an unnecessary rapidity that is impossible to keep up with in terms of finances, much less comprehension.

Supposedly, we have more information available than ever before. But the quality and depth of that information have decreased dramatically. I was a journalism student when USA Today launched, and we discussed the fear that, in the effort to compete, newspapers would present shorter and shorter articles with less background and less analysis. That fear has definitely come to fruition. Information on the Web is even worse. Sure, it's possible to find basic, low-level information on almost anything instantly, which is great if one wants to, for example, look up an unfamiliar name used on a news report. But it is so difficult to find anything that provides any kind of in-depth information on anything that I forbid my writing students to use Web pages in papers. The "mile-wide-and-inch-deep" nature of Internet information does not provide a true understanding of much of anything.

Of course, this problem is as complex as any other, and it's wrong to attribute it to Web and newspaper design. Part of the problem is the one I have constantly been harping on: technology has provided an avenue for people to be in constant contact with people placing conflicting demands on their time and energy, so no one really has time to consider anything in depth, anyway. Which came first: the need for down-and-dirty information created by increasing demands on and decreasing patience by readers or the technology and layouts that permit it? It's impossible to say, but it has become a situation that feeds on itself. The result is a downward spiral in the understanding of the complexity of the world around us as the world becomes more complex.

Meanwhile, those who have a vested interest in the public NOT thinking and reacting in knee-jerk fashion -- politicians, corporations, employers, etc. -- are laughing with glee. The less we understand the complexitities of situations, the less we think critically, the easier it is for them to convince us that we should vote for them by relying on meaningless catch-phrases, the easier it is for them to convince us that we need products to solve "problems" that don't exist (do we NEED a new Windows operating system? Are the little hair follicle bumps under our arms such a problem that we need a deodorant that decreases them?), the easier it is for them to convince us that eating up every minute of our lives with their demands is an acceptable way to treat employees.

It's all overwhelming. Of course, in my case, it could just be that it is a function of age to think that the world is going to hell in a hand basket. My views are probably skewed.