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Googling Information Quickly to Look Like You Know What You're Talking About

Ventus

Mad haters lmao
Joined
May 26, 2010
Location
Akkala
Gender
Hylian Champion
Hello everyone. I have a question. Do you think that google ing information quickly to look like you know what you're talking about is a form of cheating, or do you think anything goes?

Me, I think that it's cheating. A lot of people will look at someone who has a literal encyclopedia like the Internet at his fingertips who also asks any question like he hes an idiot. But I think it's better to ask questions than to pretend to know what you're talking about. A quick google search is not enough to get direct information, I feel, and sometimes it's best to ask questions.

Wha are your though
 

Dio

~ It's me, Dio!~
Joined
Jul 6, 2011
Location
England
Gender
Absolute unit
I know pretty much everything, however someone who does not know everything that is then is asked a question they do not know the answer to, who then googles the answer to look smart...is a filthy filthy cheater.
 
Joined
Feb 23, 2011
It irks me when people think that I do that whenever I speak different languages in the chatbox or any other such medium. If they only knew how difficult that is to pull off quickly on this tablet of mine. And it's a lot worse now, since the CyanogenMod build I'm using is horridly unstable and hosts several bugs that cause my browser and keyboard to cease function at random intervals—even more so if I ever have to change tabs or whatever. This tends to lead up to my having to kill the apps, disable/re-enable the keyboard, clear the keyboard/browser's cache, among other patience-destroying, time consuming things. Lastly, I find it a tad offensive whenever I am suspected of using Google Translate of all things to make it appear as though I'm some sort of linguistical genius. No. Trust me, if there's something I don't know—or a language I can't speak very well—I will straight out tell you. What the heck do I have to lose in doing so? And if I ever decide to cheat, I damn sure as heck won't resort to using Google Translate. Bleh.

Concerning others... I really couldn't care less. I mean, it's not like I can know with 100% certainty when someone is "cheating," and I'd rather not worry myself over such petty trivialities. Wouldn't mind if the 'perpetrator' just came right on out and said, "Yeah, I had to Google that," though.
 

Salem

SICK
Joined
May 18, 2013
I don't even google that often, I usually ask people in chatting "what is X" so sometimes they'll like "Google it", so I'm sorry I just wanted to start a conversation with you.
 

Justac00lguy

BooBoo
Joined
Jul 1, 2012
Gender
Shewhale
I'm pretty sure the majority of us are guilty of this from time to time. The Internet is a great thing, creating false intelligence.

(I Googled this by the way)
 

Spiritual Mask Salesman

CHIMer Dragonborn
Staff member
Comm. Coordinator
Site Staff
From time to time people do this, I for one hardly ever google search things, one, if I don't know what I'm talking about I avoid it, and two, sometimes asking the right question is better than seeking the right answers. I do admit that on occasion I do google search things but only just to see if what I am saying makes sense.
 

Curmudgeon

default setting: sarcastic prick
Joined
Dec 17, 2012
Gender
grumpy
Willful ignorance in the face of free, instant information is the far greater sin.
 

Clank

Hmm
Joined
Jan 26, 2013
Location
Veldin
Honestly, I'll google something in a conversation, just for the information, but I don't hide it. I mean it's pretty obvious that I'm googling something, though usually the other party doesn't care.
 

Jonny

When in doubt, mumble.
Joined
Dec 22, 2011
Location
Winterfell
Unless you are taking part in a quiz that is either between friends or is on a social platform (such as a forum) then it is, I believe, generally assumed that this is a test of the knowledge that you have already acquired up to the point of starting the quiz. Therefore that would be cheating.

However in pretty much every other online scenario of online interaction it does not matter when you gained your knowledge. In some places (such as the mature discussion on this forum) I would even call it a positive. Much better when discussing a topic to make sure you are presenting correct information and have easy access to sources rather than stand by and present something you may have misheard or misremembered.
 

Jamie

Till the roof comes off, till the lights go out...
Joined
Feb 23, 2014
Gender
trans-pan-demi-ethno-christian-math-autis-genderfluid-cheesecake
What the heck do I have to lose in doing so?

E-fame.

Anyway, I don't see anything wrong with it. It educates you on subjects properly so you can discuss them with your peers. What's wrong with that?
 
Joined
Feb 23, 2011
So checking something to back up claims is frowned upon?
Checking one's facts is—or at least, should be—encouraged, but I don't think that is what he's referring to here. I think he means that when someone claims to be knowledgeable about something, when in fact they just Googled it a few seconds prior. Some might call it pretentious or flat out sciolism, depending on the situation, I guess. Examples include running off to Google Translate while claiming to be fluent in Mandarin, or copypasting the lyrics to a song, claiming to have commited them to memory.

Some people are too prideful to admit that they're clueless about a given subject, and even more so when it seems as if they had to "sneak off" and look something up in order to feel adequate in a given discussion. One problem lies in that it's not always easy to tell if/when someone is "cheating," so it's probably best not assume or prejudge. I personally couldn't care less, though, but I also feel that no one should have to pretend to know something just to feel adequate or fit in a discussion or whatever. My opinion of the person won't change one bit because of it. I say Google away!
 

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