Introduction
Technological progress is rapid nowadays, resulting in positive and negative societal changes. While the positive dynamics are actively discussed, there is a gap in the negative impact of technology on societal values and its development. Technology greatly simplifies human life and contributes to the daily conveniences of work and leisure, but values and beliefs are invariably transformed by progress. The influence of systems such as Google negatively affects the interactions of the masses in society and reduces the general cognitive abilities of the individual because it reduces the desire to search for and process information.
Using Google for Entertainment
Google is a unique search engine that allows finding millions of sources of information in a few seconds, which is incredibly convenient for any user. The search system helps to navigate information by marking it as safe or suspicious and offers a convenient search by images, news, and links. Such systems are convenient and valuable, so people use Google for entertainment than for its original purpose. Many people aimlessly “walk” through the system, typing any information that comes to mind into the search bar. This information often does not make sense to the user because it is not remembered because of its abundance. The speed of information is so high that a person can easily view dozens of topics in a small amount of time, thereby entertaining themselves. The information found may not be used later in real life because it is just entertainment content and has no value.
Using Google for entertainment has no meaning because the person does not process the information he or she receives and does not seek to learn something new. Funny or amusing searches that provide absurd information entertain the user, thereby reducing the ethics and rationality of their values. For example, searching for memes (funny pictures) does not do any good, reducing overall intelligence because they only entice for a few seconds. This use of Google harms society because it leads users to choose online entertainment over a shared pastime.
Using Google for Leisure
Google allows the user to rest and “unload the brain,” resetting fatigue accumulated during the day. Searching requires no special skills other than typing, which the system can automatically edit. Users can take a break from their daily routine because they replace real life with Internet technology that asks nothing of them and only provides content. A person believes that Google helps them rest because it does not require effort to perform the desired action. Scrolling and doom-scrolling are mindless browsing of content online that are neutral or appropriately negative (Curley). Society may overlook scrolling habits because it considers it part of recreation – an escape from real life.
Leisure on Google is not helpful because it continues to stress the sensory systems: the visual and auditory systems suffer the most. A considerable amount of information is presented on the screen, so users may experience eye headaches, dry eyes, or a feeling of sand in their eyes after a long use. The previously mentioned scrolling and doom-scrolling have a particularly negative effect: the brain does not rest and is overloaded with useless and damaging information. Instead of a rested state, a person may develop signs of stress, fear, despair, and constant anxiety (Curley). Accordingly, what one calls rest is just a change of activity, which can be just as damaging as one’s main job or studies.
Google and the Degradation of Knowledge
Google is a technically valuable and effective tool, the negative effect of which manifests itself in knowledge degradation. Degradation means weakening a person’s memory capacity, which becomes less voluminous. Memory processes decline, and associative memory no longer works as it used to. There is the problem of shifting the focus of memory not on what knowledge is but where it can be found (“Married To Google” 2). A person knows where to find information and how to look for it but does not know anything about the field of knowledge. This problem can be observed when students prepare papers: they know where to find information, but they process it poorly and cannot retell it. Knowledge degradation is a critical consequence of excessive use of Google.
Google causes knowledge itself to no longer be of value to society. Any knowledge that someone has can be easily and quickly found on the Internet, so society no longer tends to remember information. Knowledge becomes nameless, often awarded to other individuals, and users do not want to look for primary sources. Image copyright theft – users quickly find a picture on Google but do not look for its author because they have already enjoyed downloading it. A similar effect can be seen in the online courses that Google inserts in its advertisements: often, there is information from low-quality sources. The knowledge gained is devalued, and society ceases to respect the learning processes.
Google and the Degradation of Self-Development
Overuse of Google is dangerous for the development of society and the individual’s self-development because it places us in a framework not to be overcome without the skill of memory and association. This problem is expressed in the lack of aspirations of the persona to acquire any knowledge and assimilate information because they shift the responsibility for storing data to machines (Drew). Almost everyone has access to these machines, but comprehending the information in them requires a developed intellect and individual capabilities that are lost from constantly using Google or similar systems. Technology dramatically diminishes the ability to store finished ideas (Drew). Based on this, it cannot be said that 24/7 access to information contributes fully to development.
A person’s ability to create images and definitively form psychological perceptions from objects is based on many images fixed in the brain. When the information received from Google is not fixed, a person cannot complete new memories associations or reproduce old memories. Instead, his ability to develop memory and professional skills will be markedly reduced because the lack of a base will not allow them to remember some complex and unique things. The meaning of the information received from Google will increasingly elude the user, and soon none of the knowledge will apply to daily life (Drew). This will lead to the fact that the self-development of the persona will disappear, and only many broken and unconnected memories will remain.
Conclusion
Thus, the negative effects of Google are obvious and progressive. They are expressed in a shift in the understanding that being online allows the brain to be entertained or to rest. Being on Google for long periods leads to a deterioration in psychological well-being. Prolonged use of the system can lead to the devaluation of knowledge and its degradation and a decline in society’s capacity for self-expression.
Works Cited
Curley, Christopher. “ ‘Doomscrolling’ During COVID-19: What It Does to You and How You Can Avoid It”, healthline, 2020, Web.
Drew, Turney. “Rebooting your memory.” SunHerald, The (Sydney) 2013: 13. Points of View Reference Center. Web.
“Married To Google.” Wilson Quarterly 35.4 (2011): 73. Points of View Reference Center. Web.