# "I don't know what \_\_ is." Is this a stupid excuse now that we have Google? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 25, 2015, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-what-__-is-is-this-a-stupid-excuse-now-that-we-have-google/715943 "2015-03-25T15:38:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-what-__-is-is-this-a-stupid-excuse-now-that-we-have-google/715943/21 "2015-03-25T19:30:47Z")
I had an even more annoying one this morning. My coworker (let’s call her Monica) calls me up and tells me that she needs to update some files that she created…oh, let’s call them the Ignorance Files. She will then be sending them to me for use in my job. I tell her that’s no problem. About 15 minutes later, she calls me back to tell me that she can’t seem to locate the Ignorance Files on the shared drive. With her on the phone, I open the shared drive and go to the Monica folder (we each have a folder named with our first name). Inside the Monica folder there is a folder called Ignorance Files. When I explained to her how to find the files, she insisted that she hadn’t created the Ignorance Files folder. While that is possible, how did you manage to search the shared drive without opening up _your own folder_ and seeing that the file was right there? ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-what-__-is-is-this-a-stupid-excuse-now-that-we-have-google/715943/22 "2015-03-25T20:14:39Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > I used to have this pinned on my corkboard at work: > > [xkcd: Tech Support Cheat Sheet](https://xkcd.com/627/) Yes, this is literally–literally literally–how “technology guys” somehow magically figure out how to use something they’ve never used before. It seems like a joke, but it’s not, it’s just how to do it. ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-what-__-is-is-this-a-stupid-excuse-now-that-we-have-google/715943/23 "2015-03-25T21:11:48Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > Yes, yes, yes! People (ok, my family) sometimes complain that I’m “always on my phone”. “What are you looking at?” they wonder. > > The entire collection of human knowledge is in my hand. Anytime I wonder about something, I check there. > > That’s what I’m looking at. I’m very much the same way. I can look up information on practically everything I can think of within seconds. There’s no excuse anymore. I’ve always disliked conversations that got derailed because someone didn’t know something easily researchable: “Oh, that movie, it has that guy who was in Gunsmoke.” “Burt Reynolds?” “No, not Burt Reynolds, the other guy. White guy, older, with a mustache…” “Ken Curtis?” “No, not him either. He was in Dragnet too.” “Sorry, I didn’t watch Dragnet.” “He had a weird first name but common last name! Oh, what was it…” Screw that, I’m not playing that guessing game longer than 30 seconds. Click on my IMDB app, and boom, it’s Milburn Stone. I do this with everything from random shit I’m wondering about to stuff I need to know for my job or interests. To me, knowing how to acquire new information is a basic life skill. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-what-__-is-is-this-a-stupid-excuse-now-that-we-have-google/715943/24 "2015-03-25T21:26:08Z")
> [@Geek\_Mecha](#): > > Screw that, I’m not playing that guessing game longer than 30 seconds. Click on my IMDB app, and boom, it’s Milburn Stone. Oh, but how often is it really about the facts? Can’t it just be about the two of us having a nice conversation? That gizmo is getting between us. … Wait. What the hell am I saying? Am I actually arguing for the value of phatic communication? Are there people further out there on the “thinking” end of the thinking/feeling scale than me? I was pretty sure that I was maxing that one out. What’s next? I’ll start enjoying small talk? Cripes. I must be getting old. Or maybe I really am turning into **Moriarty** ’s mom. Maybe I should consider a doctor’s appointment if this continues. Anyway. Sorry about that. Carry on. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-what-__-is-is-this-a-stupid-excuse-now-that-we-have-google/715943/25 "2015-03-25T22:32:36Z")
Whenever someone says this to me, I laughingly say: If only there were a device… ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-what-__-is-is-this-a-stupid-excuse-now-that-we-have-google/715943/26 "2015-03-26T04:22:34Z")
On one hand, yes, I do expect people to try looking things up before calling me. My favorite response to calls from my customers about “how do I…?” is “have you looked in the manual?” You see, since I’m usually the person who wrote the manual, I have a pretty accurate idea about what’s there; often I can give page numbers from memory. If I ever get a job as an axeman, I’ll want RTFM carved on the handle. On the other, just yesterday we had a situation where a question I’d been trying to get solved for a couple of weeks finally got to a head. And this involved three people googling, getting some common hits and some different ones, and yesterday one of us finally got the answer. Yaaaaay! But I promise, I had googled! Al had googled! Al and I had even googled at the same time, sitting beside each other, and gone through each other’s search results! And nothing! Pete got a hug out of finding the correct search result. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-what-__-is-is-this-a-stupid-excuse-now-that-we-have-google/715943/27 "2015-03-26T05:47:43Z")
> [@](#): > > Is this a stupid excuse now that we have Google? Stupid AND lazy. > [@Moriarty](#): > > The entire collection of human knowledge is in my hand. Anytime I wonder about something, I check there. Most of us have the entire Internet LITERALLY at our fingertips. And there are still many of us who LITERALLY will not lift a finger to check it. > [@Macca26](#): > > If they at least say, “I tried to Google it but I didn’t find/didn’t understand the result I wanted…” that’s OK because at least they tried. All I ask is that they try. This. > [@Lemur866](#): > > Yes, this is literally–literally literally–how “technology guys” somehow magically figure out how to use something they’ve never used before. It seems like a joke, but it’s not, it’s just how to do it. And when you figure out a lot of things, eventually you BECOME one of those “technology guys”. Who’d-a thunk it? ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-what-__-is-is-this-a-stupid-excuse-now-that-we-have-google/715943/28 "2015-03-26T12:27:03Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > I used to have this pinned on my corkboard at work: > > [xkcd: Tech Support Cheat Sheet](https://xkcd.com/627/) After looking at that flow chart, I thought “I need to print that and hang it on my wife’s monitor.” The mousever text says “Hey Megan, it’s your father. How do I print out a flow chart?” Maybe I should Google that. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-what-__-is-is-this-a-stupid-excuse-now-that-we-have-google/715943/29 "2015-03-26T13:35:45Z")
The lack of a DIY mentality has more to do with this than stupidity and laziness, IMO. The same people who don’t google are probably the same kind people who would never think to paint the walls themselves or color their own hair. Either it’s a lack of confidence in their own abilities or the assumption that some things are best left up to experts. I think my fiancé is wired like this, but he seems to be changing. If he encounters a problem, often his first impulse is to call a trusted authority for advice. Even if it’s a low stakes problem. I’m the complete opposite of this and it’s because asking another person for help often wastes more time and energy than just figuring it out myself. In the time it takes for me to navigate through the automatic menu options or slosh through the small talk and then explain whatever dumb crap has happened–often clumsily because I’m confused or lack the vocabulary–I could’ve solved the problem myself. But because my fiancé doesn’t mind going through this process, alternatives often don’t occur to him. Case in point, this weekend my phone mysteriously stopped sending imessages. I told him this casually and he suggested I call the help desk. Instead, I did one google search, immediately found some troubleshooting tips, and then through trial and error, found the fix. In five minutes, the problem was solved. Calling the help desk would’ve taken at least 3 times as long. This applies to countless experiences. I’m hoping that over time my fiancé will see that turning to others for help actually takes more work at the cost of time. Google is actually the lazy person’s best friend. ---
**Author:** ![Krouget](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b38774/32.png) [@Krouget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krouget)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-what-__-is-is-this-a-stupid-excuse-now-that-we-have-google/715943/30 "2015-03-26T13:44:16Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > What do you think? It depends on a few factors, but generally speaking, I can see why you’d take the stance and I can agree in many cases. I think it’s important to know how to problem solve and find information (or at least the attempt), especially when it’s so readily available. At one point in time, we’d pick up a physical dictionary or encyclopedia, and I remember that being a point of emphasis when encountering obstacles like these. Many times it’s not even an issue of whether or not someone is smart, but rather, how resourceful and inclined they are to conquer a task. While we praise academic achievements in many instances, I feel we don’t do the same when it comes to resourcefulness, in and of itself, which has become a vital tool when we have so much access to information. The other part of it, is that some people are just lazy and like to pass the hot potato, if they know someone else is willing to put 3 + 3 together. That can quickly become a reoccurring pattern, because you have one person whose second nature is to figure things out (thus accepting the challenge), while the other is used to _“asking for help”_ or handing it off. It becomes a system and status quo. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-what-__-is-is-this-a-stupid-excuse-now-that-we-have-google/715943/31 "2015-03-26T14:46:22Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > True. But it can be a good thing sometimes. There’s a flip side to no one ever needing to ask a factual question: You’ll never get asked the factual questions that you didn’t know that you were wondering about before someone asked you. It’s the “unknown unknowns”, you know? > > Sure, there are threads where someone could have easily found the answer for themselves. But if they had, I would have missed out on learning something about those subjects. > > Now, what \*really \*gets my goat is people who are unsure about how to spell a word, and instead of checking, they stick a “(sp?)” on the end of the misspelling. I don’t mind accidental spelling mistakes. I make them myself all day long. But if you know that you don’t know the spelling? Dude, you’re on the internet. It takes you the same amount of time to stick the word into Google and check it as it takes to write that “(sp?)” in the first place. > > I never understood that. Although, in fairness, I don’t see it that often anymore. This. In fact I occasionally ask a question in GQ that I can just as easily look up in Google . . . just to start a discussion, because I suspect the subject is something others may have wondered about, but not so urgently that they’d take action to find out. Or perhaps it’s a subject that I think people SHOULD be curious about. And I totally agree about the use of (sp?). ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-what-__-is-is-this-a-stupid-excuse-now-that-we-have-google/715943/32 "2015-03-26T15:09:52Z")
> [@Krouget](#): > > Many times it’s not even an issue of whether or not someone is smart, but rather, how resourceful and inclined they are to conquer a task. While we praise academic achievements in many instances, I feel we don’t do the same when it comes to resourcefulness, in and of itself, which has become a vital tool when we have so much access to information. I agree. As tempting as it is to judge people without this mindset, it helps to remember that they aren’t really consciously being lazy. They are simply acting on years of habit. Resourcefulness is something most people are not born with, and it’s easy to grow up thinking you’re resourceful when you’re really not. Asking others to help is actually a form of resourcefulness, after all. Especially if it works. It’s just not the most self-reliant form or the most efficient or affordable. This trait is something I most definitely value, and I hope to instill it in my future kids. Problem-solving is a skill you can’t jump into late in life, because it requires self-confidence and patience that can only come about from years of getting it right. Every problem effectively beaten, not matter how small, demystifies the next problem, thus removing the mental blocks that often cause surrender. If kids are denied the chance to answer their own questions, they won’t get past the “I don’t know so this must mean this is hard and complicated!” stage of cognitive development. Because they turn into adults who can not think for themselves and need lots of hand holding. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-what-__-is-is-this-a-stupid-excuse-now-that-we-have-google/715943/33 "2015-03-26T15:57:35Z")
I find it most annoying when the person is already online. A show I watch on Youtube recently featured Rob Cantor’s hilariously epic “Actual Cannibal Shia Labeouf.” The comments section was soon peppered with “who is Shia Labeouf?” posts. C’mon! If you can type the question in a comments box, you can type it in a search engine. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-what-__-is-is-this-a-stupid-excuse-now-that-we-have-google/715943/34 "2015-03-26T16:04:06Z")
I don’t know what Google is. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-what-__-is-is-this-a-stupid-excuse-now-that-we-have-google/715943/35 "2015-03-26T16:08:33Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > So a few of my coworkers and I have been tasked with reviewing a bunch of technical reports. The other day, one of them told me she is having difficulty with the reports because she doesn’t know one of the statistical terms an author uses. > > This irritates me, I have to say. For one thing, while the author uses “dispersion” quite frequently, it’s not like it’s impossible to infer the meaning from the figures and context. And we aren’t being tasked with critiquing the statistical analyses. But really, what troubles me is that I strongly suspect this coworker has not bothered to consult Google to clear up her confusion. I say this because in the past, whenever she has admitted to not knowing something and I suggest googling it, she says, “That’s a great idea!” Googling information is second-nature to me. No one would ever have to tell me to google something I’m confused about. > > There’s nothing wrong with being honest and not wanting to “fake it till you make it”. When someone asks me a question, I’m perfectly fine with saying “I don’t know”. I’m also fine when someone says the same thing to my inquiries. What I’m not fine with is someone who thinks not knowing or understanding something gets them off the hook. That might have worked 20 years ago. But in the age of instant information, it’s not a good excuse. > > What do you think? Yeah, I agree. In the IT and tech field I notice this a lot, especially from younger engineers…they almost feel like they HAVE to know everything, and that if they don’t it somehow takes them down a peg. I’m perfectly happy saying ‘no idea…let me Google that’, even in meetings. In my experience it has to do with an engineers confidence in him or herself and knowing when you need to ask for help. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-what-__-is-is-this-a-stupid-excuse-now-that-we-have-google/715943/36 "2015-03-26T18:35:07Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I don’t know what Google is. [http://lmgtfy.com/?q=google](http://lmgtfy.com/?q=google) ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-what-__-is-is-this-a-stupid-excuse-now-that-we-have-google/715943/37 "2015-03-26T19:00:04Z")
I am a reading and info junkie. My parents let me read anything I could drag a stool over to the shelves and get down, I knew where the dictionary was and if I had any further questions I would ask. They argued the local public librarian into giving me an unlimited adult library card at 8. I freaking ADORE google and how now everybody seems to be scanning in and throwing all this scrumptious information up online. If I could get a computer embedded into my brain with unlimited data feed, I would be freaking thrilled. If I could be uploaded online when I die, perfect - I would spend eternity crawling around the internet learning. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-what-__-is-is-this-a-stupid-excuse-now-that-we-have-google/715943/38 "2015-03-26T20:33:56Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > After looking at that flow chart, I thought “I need to print that and hang it on my wife’s monitor.” The mousever text says “Hey Megan, it’s your father. How do I print out a flow chart?” Maybe I should Google that. In my experience, the very people who don’t think to google stuff tend to be bad at following flowcharts, too. ---
**Author:** ![Macca26](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/13edae/32.png) [@Macca26](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Macca26)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-what-__-is-is-this-a-stupid-excuse-now-that-we-have-google/715943/39 "2015-03-26T21:13:23Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > In my experience, the very people who don’t think to google stuff tend to be bad at following flowcharts, too. More like following instructions, period. A: “It says I should type in my password. What should I do?” B: “Type in your password.” A: “What do I do now?” B: “What do the instructions say?” A: “‘Now press the submit button.’” B: “Then you should press the submit button.” A: “It says something has been sent to my email. What does that mean?” B: “That it has been sent to your email.” :mad: Sometimes I pepper in a “What do you think that means?” to try and raise some sort of electrical pulse in their brains. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-what-__-is-is-this-a-stupid-excuse-now-that-we-have-google/715943/40 "2015-03-26T21:22:48Z")
> [@Macca26](#): > > More like following instructions, period. I see you’ve met my mother. The funny thing is, they’ll ignore the on-screen instructions completely, but follow the same instructions just fine when repeated by a human. Maybe there really is a subset of the population that can benefit from having an anthropomorphic paperclip to talk them through things. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-what-__-is-is-this-a-stupid-excuse-now-that-we-have-google/715943.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-what-__-is-is-this-a-stupid-excuse-now-that-we-have-google/715943.md?page=3)