I was meeting one-on-one with each student about his or her writing. One bright student made the point that it was no longer necessary to memorize as many facts now that we have instantaneous Internet searches. We can effectively search from almost anywhere nowadays. As an example, she said it was no longer necessary to have commit to memory ideas such as the three, primary colours. When talking, I quickly agreed with that concept and its example. We moved on.
It was not until I was home in the hot tub that I began to worry about people not having to memorize the three, primary colours. Surely as far back as Plato, teachers must have worried that young people no longer seem interested in learning facts. I do not teach art, but it did dawn on me that a good teacher would probably never ask students to simply memorize that list anyway. I would venture that a creative, art instructor would ask which two colours when combined could create: green, purple, and orange. The answers of the primary colours would come through natural experimentation and a true need.
Today, even when choosing a colour scheme using paint chips, it would not be necessary to name the primary colours. Yet, can we leave knowing them up to a Google search? Can a web search tell us everything we need to know? Don't we need to be able to carry on an intelligent internal conversation when we are unplugged?
I'm still worried.
