Proof: Internet makes us smarter

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The blessing of the web

The Internet is a blessing. The web is a blessing on steroids. Some people claim that they are unable to avail of the blessing, and feel as if they regressed intellectually. This obviously is only a matter of self-control and self-discipline. The Internet makes us smarter. Here I present a simple proof.

Turing test for the web

It is obvious that one day computers will surpass humans in their problem solving capacity. They will be smarter by all imaginable criteria. Alan Turing knew that in the 1940s. However, what was obvious to Turing is not obvious to many for who human brain carries some magic capacity unavailable to machines. Turing proposed a Turing Test to prove his point. However, to this day, even Turing Test is not enough. Skeptics say that computers will pass the test, but will not truly "understand".

A similar but less prevalent falsehood is promulgated under the banner "Internet makes us stupid" or "Google makes us stoopid" (probably best known from writings of self-styled neuro-expert Nicholas Carr). I have listed a dozen of reasons why this falsehood should be instantly rejected. However, there are no good universal empirical data to disprove the falsehood.

By analogy to the Turing test, I propose a simple mental experiment to demonstrate the value of the internet.

  • there are two people we know nothing about: A and B
  • person A is closed in an empty room N (no internet)
  • person B is closed in an empty room W with access to the web

Over a text terminal, we can try different performance tests as scored by an independent judge or a skeptic himself:

  • given a problem to solve X, which person is more likely to solve X: A (in room N) or B (in room W)?
  • which person is more likely to pass the reverse Turing test?

My questions are rhetorical, and so is the proof. I know that skeptics won't be satisfied. A simple counterargument might be: a person closed in the room with the net will solve no problems because he will be busy browsing pornography sites. However, this is rather a problem of goals and valuations. Put a million dollar award at stake, and you can easily compensate for weaknesses of human character.

Conclusion

Internet may result in stress, cognitive overload, multitasking, time-wasting, fake news, loss of focus, loss of sleep, accidents, and more. However, the mental experiment above shows that on average the Internet turns an individual into a better problem solver. It only takes a bit of self-control to master the power of the web.

Internet makes us smarter!