If you
have never heard or said, “Google it,” I would probably accuse you of being a
liar.

Roughly
15 years since its founding in September of 1998, Google has become a household
word. Everyone knows about Google, and it would not be a long shot to say that
everyone I know has used Google. Since 2006, the word “Google” has even been in
the Merriam-Webster Dictionary.

How did
I know that? I Googled it.

For
students at every level, as well as in the workplace, Google is a useful tool. But
are we too dependent on it?

At the Rochester Institute of Technology, students believe that Google, when used
properly, can be extremely effective. Nevertheless, has it made us think that
we are smarter than we are? Are we taking advantage of not needing as much
knowledge?

Luke
Solomon, a third-year management information systems
major at RIT, doesn’t think Google has made us any less smart. Rather, it gives
people a good means of figuring out common information.

“It
allows us to forget trivial information such as ‘that actress in ‘Titanic”
because we can find it out in a heartbeat,” Solomon says. “But it also lets us
be smarter because you can learn everything — from how to change a tire to how
to survive a job interview — immediately.”

I will
admit that I am a frequent Googler. I personally
don’t think that it’s because I am not knowledgeable. But Google lets us
consume infinite amounts of information. In an article that asserts that Google makes us smarter, it explained that by 2020, humans will be more
intelligent by using the World Wide Web and Google, since we will have
unlimited access to information.

There is
a part of me that would love to believe that article. But by 2020, I will be 28
years old, hopefully engulfed in a full-time career with a young family, and viewed
by others as an intelligent woman. Will I still be constantly turning to
Google?

As much
as people may have odd Google searches, Google can be helpful with anything.
Nevertheless, it has created an easy way out for people. We don’t have to
remember as much because with a click on our computer or smart phone, the
answers will magically appear.

Kourtney Kunichika, a motion-picture
science major at RIT, said Google can definitely make us smarter, and is a
necessary tool for college students.

“As much
as we may not pay as much attention in class because of the Web, we can do
extra research outside of class,” Kunichika says. “I
can find anything I need on Google, especially when it comes to difficult
school work.”

At this
point, I am a firm believer in Google. I will admit, though, that I am nervous
as to how this generation’s intelligence will be perceived.

But I do
know “that girl in ‘Titanic'” is Kate Winslet. Did you have to Google that?

This article appears in Jan 30 – Feb 5, 2013.