“Knowledge Is Power,” but only when we have it in our own minds – not on floppy disks.

There’s a popular idea that the information in all the world’s printed books could eventually become available on the Internet, which seems increasingly plausible every day. The digital culture encourages people to access information easier, faster and usually with no cost incurred, in comparison to print books.


Regarding my own experience with writing a research paper, the Internet will be my primary tool for obtaining information. It allows me to reach different sources and compare diverse points of view very quickly. However, the credibility of online sources is a controversial issue. Although there are certainly reliable sources on the Internet, there is an enormous amount of unreliable information. Nonetheless, the accuracy of the information derived from such unknown sources is always questionable.

Another problem with the idea of converting the entire world’s books into one Internet book is copyrighted material. The vast amount of information available online can be used by anyone, and thus, due to the uncertainty of sources, it will be tough to regulate who uses this information and the purposes for which they do so. Plagiarism becomes feasible to achieve with the Internet; unfortunately, the recognition of this act is almost impossible. Consequently, a severe problem is posed for academia.

With the easy availability of information on the Internet, people can also lose their tendency to learn. I personally know a number of postgraduate students in Literature and Social Science that are not familiar with the MLA writing style. Despite the fact that their discipline requires them to use this style of formatting, their argument is that their computers, as a citation machine, will do the work for them. But what would happen if we woke up one day and discovered that our computers, in addition to the Internet, simply ceased to function?

Our dependency on computers is becoming terrifying. It is said that “knowledge is power,” but only when we have it in our own minds – not on floppy disks.

Another issue that I would like to raise regards the quality of the reading experience itself. I believe quality reading occurs when you are truly focused, which is best achieved by reading a book or article in print. You can underline essential information and take notes, which indicate the actual process of learning. To me, reading information online is more akin to “skimming” than it is to learning. Therefore, there is still a need for print books and journals, especially for people who actually respect the quality of the reading experience and particularly seek a professional source of information.

Nonetheless, we have to understand that the Internet and its easy access of information can actually encourage people to develop bad habits such as laziness, which could lead them to value quantity over quality. That’s a warning for today’s century.