several studies have found that even knowing there’s a wealth of (seemingly) reliable information available 24/7 at our fingertips makes us less likely to store new knowledge in our own memory since we can just ‘look it up’ when needed. This is the so-called ‘Google Effect.’

Is Google primarily a tool for telling you that the world is more or less as you believe it is? How often do you take a position on an issue just by looking around and discerning what the “right” opinion to have is, then selectively learning the facts that justify that belief? Don’t feel too bad, this is probably most of what politics is.