Friday, November 11, 2011

Searching...

I heard a statistic today about how many billions of Google searches are done during a month. There is quite a variety of topics explored...

Why is the sky blue?
How do political debates work?
Where do babies come from?
What is known about [a particular person]?
What are people like in Iraq?
What is the meaning of life?
How can I cope with depression?
What are the first signs of pregnancy?
What is the prognosis for [a particular disease]?
What is the Bible about?
How are dreams interpreted?
Are fortune-tellers reliable?

And then came this: To whom were those questions addressed before Google?

Google is great for many informational searches, and I can certainly appreciate that. Still, I am saddened by the image of so many billions of questions being asked in isolation, when so many of them belong in the context of community.

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