ShmoopTube

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We speak student!

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Media Literacy

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Goog Vibrations

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a la Shmoop

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All right, Goog Vibrations.

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The topic is Google.

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Big Brother Google.

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Tell us all about how Google runs our lives

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and tells us how to think.

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Oh, boy, do they.

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Google really changes or changed the way we think.

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People are not as curious anymore.

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They just get their information.

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They don't think critically as much about

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how to solve a problem. They just Google how to solve the problem.

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How so? Give an example,

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because that's a big statement.

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Yeah, let me give you an example that I just think is hilarious.

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So there's this question

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that it's really good to ask young children

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to get them to think critically.

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And you can ask them, "What makes the wind?

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Where does the wind come from?"

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And the reason this is a good question to ask children

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is because they can't know the answer.

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There's no way they can know the answer,

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so they are forced to use their imagination,

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their developing critical thinking skills

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to come up with some idea.

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And you'll hear, "Oh, it's like the birds flap their wings."

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And like whatever, and they come up with these awesome answers.

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This is a great question and questions like that.

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So my boyfriend, who's in early childhood education,

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asked this question to a six-year-old

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a couple months ago.

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Asked, "What makes the wind?"

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And she just looked like this about two seconds and went,

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"Hmm, let me go grab my iPad and I'll Google it."

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And it just totally represents what Google has done,

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which is just given us all the answers.

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We don't need to use our brains anymore.

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And I'm not saying it's a bad thing, because I love it.

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I use Google for literally everything.

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But it really does change the way

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that our brains function in that,

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instead of having to think on problems

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and do more problem-solving and critical thinking on our own,

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we're able to just Google it.

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At the same time, it also allows us to think differently

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about topics. We might be thinking one specific way

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about, "How do I deal with a rude landlord?"

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And I'm like, "Ahh," and I'm thinking a certain way.

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But then if I Google it,

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I might get so many different opinions

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that I think a little differently

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and I'm able to actually execute better on a problem that I had.

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So, yes, it kind of

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get us thinking less, but it also helps us

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think about things from a lot of different angles,

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because we have multiple viewpoints coming in.

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Got it. Okay. Cool. Makes sense.

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[ whoop ]

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How does Google change the way we live, think, and act?

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[ vocalizing ]

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[ singing ] Goog vibrations

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