Do we spend enough time pondering?

Just as was when western culture stopped listening to its daily human instincts and synced life to the mechanical clock, we are now faced with another technological innovation that is changing theway we make decisions and access information. Internet and the “infinite” access to information it provides is affecting the way we approach knowledge creation. Creative thinking, once thought to be theresult of a “divine spark,” seems to have been reduced mainly to scientific ventures pursued through empirical methods.
Internet has made the visual experience of traveling around the world assimple as Googling any other thing. Simply type in the destination on the search box and follow a seemingly endless procession of related links. Is surfing through the web the same as being there? Haveyou seen a lithography of a masterpiece such as Klimt’s “The Kiss” or any other reproduction of it online? is that the same as experiencing it? As much as a work of art can be seen through images, it isthrough the rest of our senses that we experience it. The same way we experience life.
To what extent does this new technology have further implications? Where has our desire for contemplationgone? What has extinguished our need for reflection? Has pondering become a useless or devalued activity? It is through this intense and iterative act that we changed, learned, and advanced so much in thefirst 20 centuries of humankind. How can we now not want to make time to ponder? Have we become complacent with what we have achieved? The act of creative thinking now seems to be exclusive to alimited group. What good is all this access to information for the masses if the intent is not to foster creative and deep thought?
According to the readings discussed this week, researchers should“play with ideas” by selecting and applying metaphors, visualize and graphically represent ideas; researchers should also consider contexts (place problems in a larger domain); double-check assumptions;...