How often in this day and age do we say to someone “just ask Google”, when they are looking for an answer?
I know for myself Google is the search engine of choice and I find myself on a daily basis referring to this knowledge of information.
But… what is written is not always the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. In fact… what we could be reading is “fake news”. 🙂 (I had to fit that in somewhere.)
Having been on the internet since its inceptions (really I’m that old) I’ve seen good websites and bad websites with everything in between.
Good websites are ones where the information that was written is reliable and written by someone who has done their research (not necessarily on Google).
Bad websites are ones where what is written has been copied many times, scraped from other websites and taken out of context that little or no information is real. They may look great, but looks can be deceiving.
Example: bad websites are usually trying to rank for a specific keyword. Let’s say the keyword is “teeth whitening“.
The whole article will be on “teeth whitening” and will mention that word about every second line in the article. They might even say something like “For the best teeth whitening solution, brush your teeth with bleach“.
Hopefully, a red flag goes up for you on that one. Bleach does not blend well with the interior of a person’s body. Call the doctor immediately.
Here is an example of a good website:
The information will be clearly written, with many different products and solutions talked about. Personal experiences and testing can go a long way to making a good article and give you examples and choices of which idea or product might be right for you.
Watching Google over the years, they have gotten very adept at weeding out the bad websites and presenting you with ones that have information that you are looking for.
Sometimes, it takes a little bit of searching though, to find exactly what you are looking for as Google is still influenced by SEO (search engine optimization) and if you don’t know what that is, here’s a link on Google. 🙂
And… more importantly, you need to know the right question to ask and Google is helpful there as well.
Sometimes it takes me three or four tries to find the information I’m looking for because I haven’t asked the question in the way that Google presents it. Especially if it’s a technical one.
But, they have you covered. At the bottom of the page where you did your search, they will have extra suggestions as apparently I’m not the only person who doesn’t ask the right question.
So if you were looking for “How to build a waterfall“, there might be all sorts of ideas but not necessarily the one you are looking for.
Scroll down to the bottom of the page and there are additional ideas like…
- how to build a small waterfall
- build a simple backyard waterfall
- how to build a pond waterfall step by step
- how to build a wall waterfall
- how to add a waterfall to a pond
- how to build a backyard waterfall
- build your own waterfall pond
- how to build a pondless waterfall
So I might check out ideas like the backyard waterfall or the pondless waterfall and they might be closer to what I am looking for.
I have seen so many people get frustrated when they can’t find the information they want, but most of the time it’s just asking a better question.
Seems like I’m getting off on a bit of a tangent here as what I wanted to talk about was what would happen if (heaven forbid) Google did not exist!
You might have to resort to a book. It’s that rectangular thing with pages that sits on a shelf gathering dust in case you’ve forgotten what it looks like.
We are so tuned in to the world of technology, that sometimes we forget to think for ourselves. We just Google it.
This all started today when I was walking and sat on my favourite bench (log) with the ocean behind me and a meadow in front of me and the sun kissing my cheeks.
I was meditating and as I often do when I get into that state of oneness with all that is, I ask questions and information flows. Sort of being tapped into the Universe or Google on a soul or cellular level.
Now, not all my questions are ones of the world, like where did we come from and what am I suppose to be doing with my life.
Sometimes they are questions that come from what I’ve seen or experienced and I’m looking for some clarity on.
Example: As I was walking down the meadow the wild roses are developing rose hips and something else as well. They have these funny little fuzzy balls (tinged with red) on some of the stems.
Although I had no idea if they were a regular part of a wild rose, they gave me something to ponder as to what they were as I walked down the path.
In my meditative state, I was still wondering as to what they were and the answer came back that insects caused them.
I don’t always get the answers in words, but sometimes in pictures and I was shown an insect of some sort chewing its way into the plant and then I saw the fuzzy balls.
Trusting my knowing, I realized that it wasn’t part of the rose bush, but possibly a symbiotic or parasitical relationship with the plant.
So of course, when I got home, I Googled it.
“What are the fuzzy pods that are on wild roses?” and of course someone had written a better question “what are the round hairy growth on rose bushes”.
They are called Mossy Rose Galls and they are indeed from an insect (a wasplike one) that burrows its way into the stem to lay their eggs.
The worms that hatch cause the rose bush to form these hairy galls and apparently the only thing you can do for them is to cut them off as insecticides won’t work.
Google is great, it gave me the exact information that I was looking for.
Then again… so did I!
My information might not have been in as much detail but a clear picture of what was happening was given and if I wanted further information I could have dissected one of the fuzzy balls.
So… my next question for myself is “if I know what I know, why do I need confirmation of it?”
Why if I already have been given the answer do I go and research on Google.
Am I so tapped into Google that I am trusting it implicitly for all my answers?
And I think the answer is yes. Inquiring minds want to know and if someone else knows the answer, then I want it too.
But I already knew the answer to my question.
Have I gotten so far away from my knowing and my truth that I need to look outside myself for other people’s answers?
It must be the Sage in me. The part that knows what it knows and wants to know what everyone else knows as well so they can tell the world about it.
That’s a little presumptuous of me. Google has that covered!
What I do know is this:
- I don’t want to lose that part of myself that is aware and can tap into a universal truth
- I don’t want to become so dependant on technology that I can’t think for myself
- That my library will always have real books in it
- That sometimes down the road less travelled wonders appear
- That going the easy route (just ask Google) is not always the best route for me
- That even though my brain is working overtime I will take the time to quiet it and smell the roses
- I will walk in the woods, smell the sea air, touch a flower, hug a tree and be prepared to be amazed at the little things in life
As I came out of my meditation and prepared to stand up, I saw a slight movement alongside the log I was sitting on.
Gazing down I locked eyes with a wild rabbit that had sat beside me as I was in that place where time doesn’t exist and all things are one.
Top that Google!
