The Critics Need a Reboot. The Internet Hasn't Led Us Into a New Dark Age.

Human nature hasn't changed much, yet, and another predictable wave of stories about how new things are making us stupid is hitting the media. But some of us are more in tuen with this author's take: "The explosion of knowledge represented by the Internet and abetted by all sorts of digital technologies makes us more productive and gives us the opportunity to become smarter, not dumber. . . . [however] It's naive to think that the digital age will magically remedy stupidity. We need better schools as well as a renewed commitment to reason and scientific rigor so that people can distinguish knowledge from garbage. The Web is not an obstacle in this project. It's an unparalleled tool for generating, finding, and sharing sound information. What's moronic is to assume that it hurts us more than it helps."