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Were we more intelligent when we had no computers or did we gain only with general knowledge with the help of internet? These two questions keep cropping up when we neglect all social contacts to be with our computers by pounding the keyboard to get us friends through social networking platforms such as Orkut, Facebook, Yuwie & Hi5 ? The simple question is, is internet making us or are we becoming internet based?

Nowadays if we have a slight doubt, we Google it, there is almost no need to use brains. Internet has become so much a part of our lives that it is hard to be away from it in any capacity, business deals, money transfers, porn, socializing, property buying & even marriages having started taking place through internet. If the entire above list is told to a computer illiterate, he/she would feel so elated & would love to learn computers immediately, but at what cost, individuality?

Earlier we used to think more, write more, read more & even gather all the information without the help of Google or other search engines. An intelligent man was really more intelligent than ordinary men, but nowadays everybody knows how to Google & all look to pose as intelligent with the help of the search engines.

We are weeding out the basics of Human thinking, that is writing by introducing laptops in primary schools, though they maybe very important gadgets to make a student learn, but they surely don’t make the student dependent on his own self. Introduction of computers & internet at a later stage of life is lot better than from age five. We are only making the younger generation avoid books altogether, in the bargain we are making them expert typists & to do copy-paste. The younger generation will be very Google dependent & less of one’s own ability. Internet is not about Google alone, but the very minute we doubt on something, or want to re-check we confirm it in Google.

The big difference to our growing personality is that, we tend to type rather than write & according to scientists writing is the best way to make the subject get etched in memory for longer periods than any other method. What if in schools we are taught to type instead of write from day one? We would have so little to remember what we have studied when we grow up & we would copy-paste our signatures in word documents instead of signing it. After all who has the time to write when we are in this fast paced world?

“Too much is too bad” we should surely work on Internet, but not let our work limited to internet alone & instead be a virtual person.

Usually tourists from the West have a special liking to Asia for its myriad cultures differing with each country. The West always fascinated the Easterner & vice versa. The advantages West has over East is that people are less bonded to their families, people are more practical, richer financially, hence are more interested to see the world.
The East is richer in their heritage, cultural values, a bit medieval, but has more moral values like respect for elders, regularly going to temples / monasteries; these habits have made the Asians to be bound by their families & are god-fearing. In Japan people bow their heads to salute elders, Indian people bend to touch the feat of the elders, China, Thailand, and Cambodia people fold their hands to greet. All these make a Westerner something unique & fascinating. Most fascinating country for a Westerner is obviously the great country called India; this country has all kinds of people, all castes, creeds, religions & customs are followed.
Since East always apes the West due to its financial power, an average Westerner comes to East in lookout of something else other than money, mostly to understand the culture, for cheap living, some go to India for its holy men & charm. For an average Asian a Westerner is rich, liberal, and spendthrift with deep pockets. People of the Indian sub-continent are not as attracted towards West like Asean countries, where there is more Western influence.
To sum up as the sayings go, "opposites attract" there is no better instance than the difference of cultures between West & East.
People from the East travel to the West to earn a good livelihood, Westerners come to East for saving money & knowing about their culture. After all the mentalities don't change much, since East is east & West is west. Like the old adage "Grass is always greener the other side", the attraction for the other continues. It is almost impossible for a Westerner to live like an Easterner & vice versa in every sense.