# Nobel Laureate Says The Internet Makes Us Dumb, We Say: Meh - Host: [techcrunch.com](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/hosts/techcrunch.com/) - Saved: December 9, 2007 (2007-12-10T05:00:52Z) - Record: https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/513e2ff3b393/ - JSON: https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/513e2ff3b393.json ## From the page (probably an excerpt, not Jamie's words) Newly awarded Nobel Prize winner Doris Lessing has used her acceptance speech to tell the world that the internet makes us dumb. According to Lessing, who was too old and ill to make the speech herself and instead had someone else read it out, the inanities of the internet have seduced a generation, and we live in a fragmenting culture where people read nothing and know nothing of the world. It gets better, apparently if you study computers you lack culture as well: We are in a fragmenting culture, where our certainties of even a few decades ago are questioned and where it is common for young men and women, who have had years of education, to know nothing of the world, to have read nothing, knowing only some speciality or other, for instance, computers Whilst Lessings words should be taken somewhat in context: the ditherings of an ignorant old woman, Keensian (as in Andrew Keen) anti-internet speeches grow as the cultural elite in society continue to have their previous (often born-in-to) positions eroded. The likes of Andrew Keen and Doris Lessing ignore the many benefits the internet has provided in expanding access to knowledge to many, many more people than who may otherwise have had no access before. Whilst it may be easy to mock the utterances of hundreds of millions of bloggers and social networking site users, the 21st century will be remembered as the time that communication was democratized, a time where the power of a few was replaced by the power of many. Let them eat their elitist intellectual cake, because the world is changing for the better, and there is nothing they can do to stop this. For all those dumb people reading this who might never had read anything of substance before, may I suggest Wikipedia, its apparently a place where you can read interesting things, but it isnt on paper, so it might not count. The Guardian has the full text of Lessings speech here, which I note aside from the internet comments is a great, and often inspiring read. (image credit: Marknad) Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because its time for you to find a new Job2.0 ## Facts - Kind: [Page](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/kinds/page/) ## Same host - [Making Fun Of Facebook Is Fun: Add Fake Beacon Actions](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/c17360f905e8/) (techcrunch.com, December 8, 2007) - [LinkedIn API and New Homepage Drawing Near](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/957c1131126f/) (techcrunch.com, December 9, 2007) - [NYTimes Surges, CNet Slumps](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/ab0b240d793a/) (techcrunch.com, December 10, 2007) - [Scoble To Leave PodTech, Heading For Fast Company](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/413fac92ce78/) (techcrunch.com, December 12, 2007) - [Adobe Releases BlazeDS, Open Source Version of LiveCycle Data Services](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/2d4dad16b0a7/) (techcrunch.com, December 12, 2007) ## Saved the same week - [Making Fun Of Facebook Is Fun: Add Fake Beacon Actions](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/c17360f905e8/) (techcrunch.com, December 8, 2007) - [Dilbert "Cost Estimate"](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/da33a161e97b/) (dilbert.com, December 8, 2007) - [How will HD Radio fare in 2008?](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/110c36c2d788/) (gigaom.com, December 9, 2007) - [It Was Another Great 'Minnedemo' on Thursday Night](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/88db418fc48d/) (graemethickins.typepad.com, December 9, 2007) - [LinkedIn API and New Homepage Drawing Near](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/957c1131126f/) (techcrunch.com, December 9, 2007) ## Elsewhere - Wayback Machine: https://web.archive.org/web/*/http://techcrunch.com/2007/12/09/nobel-laureate-says-the-internet-makes-us-dumb-we-say-meh/