Blog Post 3

Ian Leslie’s argument is that the use of the search engine makes people less likely to be knowledgeable. He claims that using Google essentially makes people less likely to ask questions and lazier, that the gap between question and answer will become virtually obsolete. The relative quickness by which a search engine provides a person an answer they are seeking, Leslie claims will make people less likely to think for themselves. He also claims that people have become dependent on Google to provide them the answers they need. The role of inquiry in his argument is that the idea of “inquiry” will become obsolete and unnecessary should people cease to think for themselves and ask questions that lead to more questions.

The information gap mentioned in Leslie’s argument is that people might seek knowledge based on how much they know. For example, Leslie argues that if a person knows at least 3 state capitals, they would be satisfied with just that knowledge and would not seek to know the other 47 capitals. The relevance of the “information gap” to me and Leslie’s argument is that, simply because we have an answer, but not a complete answer, we should not stop researching or seeking knowledge. Instead, Leslie argues that we should continue to ask more questions and answer those.

Between the two articles, the article “Google Makes Us All Dumber” is a more aggressive piece. There a noticeable amount of bias in Leslie’s article against the use of search engines. The article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” sets a calmer, more inquisitive tone. I find Leslie’s article more persuasive in comparison to the other one. I find more persuasive simply because the tone it sets and the amount of seemingly persuasive sources helps support Leslie’s argument. However, I do not buy into the argument from both articles.


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