As expertise loses its “shelf life,” it also loses some of its value. If we think of “questions” and “answers” as stocks on the market, then we could say that, in this current environment, questions are rising in value while answers are declining. “Right now, knowledge is a commodity,”25 says the Harvard education expert Tony Wagner. “Known answers are everywhere, and easily accessible.”
Here’s why I believe learning about thinking models and communication is far more important than memorizing what I now call trivia. Computers can memorize and organize information better, but our brains can synthesize information in a way that’s more useful to human beings.
The question is, at what point do human beings become less important than computers? Or at what point is it more important that computers get what they want, when they want it? Are we working for computers or are they working for us still, or are they working for some of us?
