Too Big Too Know – Prologue, Chapter 1
The assumption in the following quote is, in short, that the Internet is making people stupid.
The Internet is an unedited mash of rumor, gossips, and lies. It splinters our attention and spells the end of reflective, long-form thought. Our children don’t read any more. They certainly don’t read newspapers.
The following quote, however, counters the previous by demonstrating that because the Internet has such a vast amount of information, people have to be on top of their game, otherwise get ripped to pieces by anyone with access to Google.com.
And yet, at the very same time, sites such as Politifact.com are fact-checking the news more closely and publicly than ever before, and Jodi Kantor, a reported for the New York Times, says that knowing that bloggers will go over every word she writes has made her better at her job.
The following two quotes differ in the sense that when information overload was first being researched, the fear was that eventually the increasing amount of information was going to lead to mental breakdowns. It appears that mentally has changed into the fear of not getting all the information we need, which I personally agree with.
Toffler pointed to research indicating that too much information can hurt our ability to think.
And the fear that keeps us awake at night is not that all this information will cause us to have a mental breakdown but that we are not getting of the information we need.
Technical Writing 101 – So, what’s a technical writer?
The underlining difference between these two concepts is that although you should have an understanding of the material you document, the lack of knowledge of said material can sometimes make you produce better documents.
You should be comfortable with and have some basic knowledge about the technology you’ll be documenting.
Your initial lack of knowledge, however, works for you. As you learn to use the new hardware or software, you encounter many of the same issues that the users (people who buy the product) will face as they started.
In the following two concepts the underlining assumptions differ in the sense that one conveys the message that a technically writer obviously has to have writing skills, but the other assumes that depending on the audience, a write mustn’t adhere to most formal rules.
Writing skills are an essential component technical communication. It seems terribly obvious to say that a technical writer should be able to write, but it’s necessary to point this out.
Following the standard rules of language comes with a significant caveat. In some cases, adhering to the most formal rules of writing is not the best method for communicating with readers.
-Dago
Very interesting thoughts, Dago. Can I ask you to cite the texts from which you’re quoting so that readers of this post will know which quotations come from which books?
I agree with you that the internet is making people stupid because of all the rumors, gossips, and lies but, without the internet there wouldn’t be any. I guess without the internet children or anyone would read more but that won’t make them smarter or stupider if they have no desire to learn. Also, it is true that the internet can distract us and move us away from work that needs to be done, but the internet is also used as a form of communication which makes everyone’s life easier than writing letters. Today’s technology has come so far that people don’t even use computers as much but instead there are cellphones, tablets and many other devices that provide internet services on the go. People have to be on “top of their game” like you said or else be crushed by their competitors. I think that without the internet businesses could not become as successful because of all the thoughts and ideas that can come from comments and reviews from many different people.