Am I searching for answers to unknown questions too?

While reading this article this evening, I immediately got a flash of what I’d been doing with myself all day. My roommates and friends across the hall all decided to take a trip home this weekend leaving me alone for the past two days. The tale in the beginning of Peggy Orenstein’s “Stop your Search Engines” is exactly the same experience I have when I’m trying to kill time. I can spend hours searching the Internet trying to gain more and more pointless knowledge.

Most of the time, I’ll start my search looking for a movie and end up somehow sifting through youtube with different bands and song titles. My train of though usually goes from movie, to actors, to songs, to related bands. I believe what Ms. Orenstein stated with all of us trying to use the Internet to find that specific answer and hoping that all the knowledge we seek will be present

I liked this piece because I could personally relate to what Ms. Orenstein was writing about. She also introduced the program for Macs which blocks Internet access for up to 8 hour. The only way to get rid of this block is to restart the computer and by the time that task is achieved, the previous cycle of randomly surfing the internet has been broken and forgotten.

I believe this program could be very useful to those who need to get off the Internet and get their work done or focus more on what’s going on around them than what they can find in the web. This program could help those who are addicted to the web and watching their lives just pass them by with the time they spend online.

Using the Internet should be a privilege, something that is respected for the amount of information it contains and the convenience of this source. It should not be abused as many of us use it. We figure the Internet holds all the answers to every question we might have, whether it’s a relationship problem, math equation, or a philosophical question. To us, the Internet knows all and can provide those answers. It’s unfortunate to see how the youth of today and even the older generations have become addicted to online using and to the ways of the Internet. Other sources of entertainment and knowledge have faded into the background thanks to an easier access. It’s unfortunate but it’s true. This program that Ms. Orenstein mentions could change all that. Overall, I believe this article was an eye opener for me and for many others like me.