Seriously. As a young scamp of 21, I find it hard to believe that anyone got anything done in any reasonable amount of time before the existence of the internet. What did people do to obtain obscure information? The only things I can think of are 1) wade through a bunch of books at the library, *praying* that one contained the tiny piece of knowledge that you needed, or 2) to find an expert in that subject. Jeez that must have sucked.
Just as an example, say I wanted to know why some people have two differ
They went to a University library and obtained help from a trained librarian. If the information was *really* obscure, then they would actually hire a trained librarian experienced in information retrieval.
One would think that the Internet would rid us of the need for professional/degreed librarians, but no so! Your average person does not have the skills necessary to dig up the true depth and breadth of information available on the internet. Librarians, O
Thanks to the internet, I can cram the equivalent of a year of study on WWII into about a week of off-hand research.
But is it really equivalent? You may get the desired information just as quickly, but poring over books in search of information provides a valuable context and reinforces the information in your mind. It's not just knowing a bunch of facts that makes someone a scholar, but knowing how the facts interconnect, and how important they are.
I would argue a partial yes, and I'll explain why. In a classroom setting, the information is doled out in bite sized pieces, thus making it difficult to connect the dots and paint a complete picture. Anyone who is really interested in the subject usually does some study independent of what the class teaches. (In the old days this meant reading several information-dense books.)
However, what a classroom setting *can* give you is an educated individual's perspective on the events being studied. Assuming you have a good teacher, they can potentially help you connect dots that few other find on their own. Of course, since those same professor's opinions are usually available in written publications, it can be argued that even that advantage can be replaced.
Example: You are studying music history. Should you pay more attention to C.P.E. Bach than to Giovanni Gabrieli, or less? Or about the same? Which compositions should you spend time listening to closely in order to best understand their contributions?
It's very hard for an unguided curious mind to absorb the essense of a broad subject via their own research, unless they happen to stumble across a very, very good book (for example, "Relativity for the Layman"
"In the long run, every program becomes rococo, and then rubble." -- Alan Perlis
wow.. (Score:1)
Re:wow.. (Score:5, Insightful)
Just as an example, say I wanted to know why some people have two differ
Re:wow.. (Score:5, Insightful)
They went to a University library and obtained help from a trained librarian. If the information was *really* obscure, then they would actually hire a trained librarian experienced in information retrieval.
One would think that the Internet would rid us of the need for professional/degreed librarians, but no so! Your average person does not have the skills necessary to dig up the true depth and breadth of information available on the internet. Librarians, O
Re:wow.. (Score:4, Insightful)
But is it really equivalent? You may get the desired information just as quickly, but poring over books in search of information provides a valuable context and reinforces the information in your mind. It's not just knowing a bunch of facts that makes someone a scholar, but knowing how the facts interconnect, and how important they are.
Re:wow.. (Score:4, Interesting)
I would argue a partial yes, and I'll explain why. In a classroom setting, the information is doled out in bite sized pieces, thus making it difficult to connect the dots and paint a complete picture. Anyone who is really interested in the subject usually does some study independent of what the class teaches. (In the old days this meant reading several information-dense books.)
However, what a classroom setting *can* give you is an educated individual's perspective on the events being studied. Assuming you have a good teacher, they can potentially help you connect dots that few other find on their own. Of course, since those same professor's opinions are usually available in written publications, it can be argued that even that advantage can be replaced.
Re:wow.. (Score:2, Insightful)
Example: You are studying music history. Should you pay more attention to C.P.E. Bach than to Giovanni Gabrieli, or less? Or about the same? Which compositions should you spend time listening to closely in order to best understand their contributions?
It's very hard for an unguided curious mind to absorb the essense of a broad subject via their own research, unless they happen to stumble across a very, very good book (for example, "Relativity for the Layman"