On February 5, 2018, our HIST 390 class discussed the contrasting attitudes of the past and present and how the advancements of information storage throughout the years may have inadvertently forced a crutch onto all ongoing generations.  As for the first topic, the contrasting attitudes of the past and present, it is a topic for debate whether everyone throughout time is naturally blessed with the same concept of “self” and differences and contrasts are only made due to the environment and technology that they are exposed to throughout their lifetime, or that the concept of “self” is completely different when comparing those of two separate generations.  In other words, is everyone throughout history the same deep down or not?  Would Thomas Edison, George Washington, and Joan of Arc love roller coasters just as much as we do now, or would there be a generation gap that would make them turn away from or even look down upon such rides and contraptions?  Surely, we are not mad for loving roller coasters, but has times changed so much that the people of the past just can’t see what we enjoy about them, or even if they do, they cannot seem to share the exact same sentiment?  And how does this lead into the next topic of how the advancements of information storage throughout the years inadvertently forcing a crutch on all continuing generations?  Well, to put things in perspective, the late and legendary thinker Socrates had a student named Plato, who recorded all of his talks for him, as Socrates himself did not have the ability to read or write, and surprisingly enough, he was proud of that fact.  Why would a great mind like Socrates be so proud of not knowing what is now considered a necessary and useful skill?  The reason for this may have been the fact that writing gave people an out from actually taking the time to memorize and take information to heart.  Let’s be honest, when you know that a copy of the information is lying around somewhere, you are less inclined to actually memorize it, opting instead to just remember that a copy of the information exists and where you can find it so that you can refer to it the next time you need it.  The most common example of this is the internet, more specifically, the search engine known as Google.  Nowadays, everyone knows about and uses Google in some way, shape, or form.  If you need to find out about something, simply Google it.  Chances are that you’ll find what you’re looking for in a matter of seconds.  Be honest, though.  The ability to search and find any and all information that you want has made you somewhat reliant on it.  When was the last time you truly tried to remember what you’ve just read?  When was the last time you were told to memorize it and immediately thought, “Why should I learn how to memorize it?  I can just look it up whenever I want.”  Probably more often than you would like to admit.  The sad thing is, in the times before such technological advances, or even writing and recording for that matter, people were forced to memorize everything.  They had to.  They had no other choice.  It is in this way that our ancestors have the upper hand over us.

Continuing on with the concept of modern technological advancements deteriorating our ability to memorize anything, I can safely say that I have definitely felt this.  In fact, a part of me honestly believes that I may be mentally impaired when it comes to memorizing things nowadays.  My attention span is pretty low, so when someone is trying to explain something to me, I probably at most only really hear about half of it.  I usually need either active experience in something or constant, repetitive reviewing in order for anything to truly stick, which is terrible for someone who is trying to pursue a Biology major.  Biology is a pretty demanding and memory focused subject as it is, but attending multiple courses of it really tests the limits of my ability to memorize information for my next exams.  While it may well be my own lazy and self-destructive behavior that constantly puts me into these situations, being born in an age where memorization is nowhere near as prevalent as it probably once was probably doesn’t help.  In an age of internet search browsers, audio and visual tutorials, and global positioning systems, the number of times actually knowing something by heart was demanded has been very low.  I shudder to think what would happen to me if the internet or the Wi-Fi systems were to suddenly and permanently go off.