My Digital "Man Friday"

Robinson Crusoe had “Man Friday” to rely on in his island. But if he were to be stuck in our present day island of a world, he'd not find it much different from the one he was stuck in. Maybe there would be stark differences. But more so of the subtle similarities. Where he was stuck in a place devoid of other inhabitants and want of company, he'd find himself surrounded with human beings. But I think he'd find it much different from his Victorian time. In the present day, It would be easier to communicate in the virtual world (on Facebook and what not) than in person. Always surrounded but still alone (a slight modification of “water water everywhere” from the The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by S.T Coleridge ). And he still has his Man Friday. I'd say a more better Man Friday. Always there to support him and help him out. Eventually he would realise “Google” is a more cooler name than Man Friday.

Anyway, I do not know about Crusoe, but Google is my “Man Friday”. It performs a lot of roles in a person's lifetime. However heaping all the praise on Google alone would be injustice. Because if you see from a purely technical point of view, Google is like the store helper who helps you with locating the items you need in the supermarket. What it actually does is search the vast fathom that is the internet to find the thing you need.. But the beauty is the intuitiveness it displays in showing you the best fit to your requirements. I use the term “best fit to you requirements” to highlight the principle that “the search results are only as good as the search term used”. Searching effectively on google is an art. The use of the various logical operators (and, or , plus..etc) coupled with its inbuilt algorithm, Google performs miracles.

Moreover it is not totally free of partisan interests. It does make money out of website page ranking. But the system works (attributed to the efficiency of capitalism). The users get what they want, the sites get what they want and so does google. It's a cyclic relationship. The best company is preferred by the customer, the company earns a lot by being the market leader, the market leaders are able to pay premium to google for top page ranking and we get the market leader at the top of our search results. Win Win.

Now, you might ask “What is the down side?”. Nothing is perfect right. Well, we are building up a dependency for this thing which we take for granted. We are the cusp generation of the digital age. We still have and know of the old world of books/encyclopaedias/Grannies-who-know-better. But as we move through successive generations, the internet will become the sum total of our knowledge and by Google by default will be its gatekeeper. I had a friend who used to challenge himself to deprivation tests when he feels that he id becoming too dependant on a particular thing. He was able to live without that particular thing. But how would we fare without google. Maybe by a slim chance. But what of successive generations?

But the biggest threat is not dependency. It is reliability. For every statement you find you will find a million contradictory statement on the internet. Which is true/real and which is false/fake becomes a matter of perspective. (That is why I have refrained from mentioning Wikipedia. It is a wonderful project. I myself have donated to it. It would be my primary source. But not without me double checking the information elsewhere). I take the maxim “To err is human” seriously.

But with all said. Google is my “Man Friday”.

Good night and Good luck.