The Incredible Inedible – Google « Scottamcgavin’s Weblog

The Incredible Inedible – Google « Scottamcgavin’s Weblog

Scott’s post reminds me of a forward-thinking doctor I have had a chance to work with.  The doctor said that the culture of the medical field is that if the doctor doesn’t know the answer to a particular question, the doctor will make up some excuse to step out of the exam room to go look it up in his office.  Now, with computers in many exam rooms, the doctor will sit down with the patient and Google the answer online.  The doctor finds the answer while also serving as a role model for how to search for infomration. 

I had a statistics question when I was writing my Ph.D. dissertation, so I went to an expert.  He did the same thing, sat down on Google and tracked down the answer.  I believe it was Einstien who said, “why would I memorize [the periodic table] when I can look it up.”  Google takes that sentiment to a whole new level.  Nowadays expertise isn’t about knowing the right answer but knowing where to look…and knowing its the right answer when you find it.