Google and Wikipedia and now ChatGPT are both the boon and bane of our age. These instant sources of knowledge make us sanguine about not learning things.
Why learn stuff? Google है ना, Wiki है ना is the attitude. Unfortunately, in front of an interview panel, in real life work situations, meetings and conferences, even during casual water cooler chats, Google or Wikipedia can’t help you. Knowledge that is retained and ready to hand is what you need to prevail.
But knowledge is such a vast ocean. How can one understand and internalise even a miniscule part of it is the standard question?
The answer is simple. Remember, human approach to problem solving has been the same over the ages right from the days of our nomadic cave dwelling ancestors. We always try to take the shortest path from point A to point B. If there’s an obstacle, we either overcome it or work around it.
Also remember, we all have the same cerebral capacity. Some use their brains. Others preserve it, in its state of pristine purity; brand new and rarely used, like the much in demand doctor owned cars in cities.
When you come across a new scientific or business term, desist from reaching out for your ‘oversmart’ phone and start googling for information.
Think. What could this term mean? Try to form an opinion by yourself. When you have formed an opinion on what it might be, don’t say I know it now, so no need for Google or Wikipedia.
No. Now approach Google or Wikipedia or whatever to validate your views on that term or concept. If there are mistakes, correct them.
This way, you end up discovering the concept by yourself! How can you forget your own child? So in an interview, you’ll answer the question confidently because you’ve already been there and done it.
If you made a mistake and corrected yourself after consulting Wikipedia, this will also be permanently recorded in your brain. So in an interview or real life situation, you’ll be able to hold forth on the subject with supreme confidence.
Instead of thinking things out first, if you directly open Wikipedia, you will be presented with an html document running to dozens of pages that will discourage you from pursuing the subject further. Google will offer several pdf files, each longer than the other and you’ll run away from them.
Having thought it out beforehand, you will only need to access specific parts of the document for validation or correction. You won’t have to read the whole document.
Children, always be curious. Never accept anything saying, ‘that’s the way it is’. You were all taught the structure of an atom in school. How many of you asked your teacher, ‘how come positively charged protons stay together in the nucleus? Won’t they repel each other?’
You all had this curiosity to learn and discover things when you were very young, but your schools destroyed it by stifling it with endless homework, mindless project work and pointless tests and exams. Don’t let them destroy your curiosity to learn new things and concepts.
Once you start learning things, by not accepting standard answers like ‘that’s how it is’ and instead thinking about them, forming your ideas and verifying them using Google or Wiki, soon, you’ll be amazed by the amount of knowledge you’d have acquired. Don’t waste your time reading about what Deepika Padukone ate or Virat Kohli drank yesterday. These are trivialities that don’t add value and instead distract you from learning something useful.
Always think things out. All you need, is a hunger for knowledge and an attitude that makes you uncomfortable if you don’t know things.
Remember, knowledge is power. Your money can be stolen. Your testimonials be lost. Your appraisal could be damaged by bias. But if you have knowledge, the contra-party (सामनेवाला) will know it the moment you start speaking.
The corollary also holds good. You may have brilliant testimonials but no knowledge. You’ll be exposed the moment you open your mouth to speak.
This discussion on knowledge is huge. You’ll lose focus. So I’ll continue in my next post.
Raja P Areyada
Retired Banker. Expertise in International Finance, Payment systems, Treasury automation, Trading platform development & deployment, Information security, Risk Management, Financial Inclusion, IT software development.
Wide array of interests including Philosophy, Quantum Mechanics, Macro Economics and Parapsychology.
This series of articles raises an important point about our growing dependence on Google, Wikipedia and now AI tools like ChatGPT. While these platforms offer convenience, they cannot replace the depth of understanding that comes from true learning and internalisation.
The reminder that retained knowledge, not instant answers, helps us navigate real-life situations, is both timely and necessary.
In an age where shortcuts tempt us at every turn, this piece rightly expresses the value of curiosity, discipline, and thoughtful engagement. Thank you for bringing attention back to the fundamentals of human thinking and problem-solving. It is a narrative that we need now more than ever.
This article is a much-needed reminder in our era of instant answers. We’ve become so used to Googling everything that we often skip the most important step — thinking for ourselves. Your approach of forming an understanding first and then validating it through Google or Wikipedia is the best way to build real, lasting knowledge.
I especially liked the point about *curiosity*. We all had it as children, but somewhere between schoolwork and routine learning, we stopped questioning. This post encourages us to revive that mindset and engage with concepts more deeply.
A thoughtful and relevant read — looking forward to the next part!
AI is the dominant topic across the globe. I am afraid it will give rise to the projection of N S … natural stupidity if we do not control and use it properly.
On the one hand, the messages in the series are too long for a generation with a very short attention span or even the parents. However, going by the trend of “5 minute read” – the contents stay in one’s mind for only that long!
Raja’s series is full of personal experiences and well worth saving for sharing with young adults and parents alike.