It's America that's dumb, not the internet

There's an interesting essay at Wired about whether the internet makes us dumb.

There are lots of books out there, dissenters not withstanding, that argue that our dumb tendencies against reason are being spread more quickly because of the internet.

They're right. But so are our smart tendencies. I wouldn't be a professional diet soda/Mentos exploder if not for the internet. Lots of fads and memes are spreading faster now, but we cultivated lots of stupid, irrational ideas before the internet.

The internet, like other technologies, just lets us be people faster. The struggles of reason vs. faith, liberal vs. conservative, bear vs. velociraptor, all will continue in new ways, but not fundamentally altered by the new technology.

Although the modern newspaper is dead. Brought to life by the telegraph, killed by craigslist. Thanks, craig. Thanks a lot.