Problem is it's not just knowledge about such and such but also experience. Some of the most important lessons are learned through experience and no computer can provide that. However, I did have an experience I got from sitting at the computer too long. It's called the piriformis syndrome [my.clevelandclinic.org] This malady is most common among office workers who sit a lot.

I was just thinking today about how many people might just stop learning, because we now are at the brink of having AI inform us of any subjects we are curious about. BUT then how do we know if what we are being told is true. We have to know enough to fact check and do a bit more research on our own to verify what we're learning.

Being skeptical at heart is good for me, and to be a bit of a critical thinker is wise, but sometimes I think of all the stuff I learned that is now just easily summarized with computer research, a lot of what I learned may have been a waste of time. BUT that learning gave me the basics to be able to tell if what I'm being told is something I should believe and if I wonder, I can always learn more. Being curious is good.

Laziness (or I like efficiency better) keeps me doing things with the least amount of effort, saving my mental and physical capabilities for more fun things, the older I get. I'm too careful to fall down any rabbit holes at my age, so maybe it's better that I'm easily amused with entertainment and just enjoying life.

No need to unlearn courtesy and getting along for hateful ideologies, at my age, but I do feel that there are huge numbers of people who don't feel whole, feel they are missing something important in their lives, and so are seeking something to fill their minds with, anything. Maybe for those, if they don't choose more education, then mindless entertainment would be better than conspiracy theories and divisive politics and gun culture, etc.

Maybe those who choose to give up on education are best just set in front of the television for light entertainment and old movies, not ads on their phones or computers targeting their worst instincts and gullible minds.

In my life i noticed that friends who didn't attend college are less likely to continue their reading/education now. If you recall when we were children there was a lot less important things to know, less to learn and the less educated you needed to be to understand it all.
There is SO much more to learn, the world is more confusing, growing and changing so quickly that what we learned yesterday my be obsolete tomorrow. Bosons, black holes, anti-matter etc. Tons of stuff.
Computers are one thing you cannot possibly know all about it if you have a life. There is more to a computer than sending emails and looking at memes. If you decide to widen your computer knowledge you're going to have to drop another interest.
There are topics for me that are so time consuming to learn and I can't read one source for a well rounded opinion. I don't have that much of myself to spread around. I make do with simple answers that cover a broad answer to things. I am not much interested in religion. I never have been. i read nothing about it and only care if it's horrifically mean to people spreading hate
I dabble in a few topics that are in my interest zone but everything else is on my to do list. I am busy with life in general, people I meet, my dogs, my cars, my money, Ameritrade, looking at homes I'd like to live in I watch movies a lot. Where in a day is a minute to study what's happening in the world? I hate Donnie so I'll read anything that a clown says or does to make himself more pitiful than most.
I've read a lot of important novels, Dantes inferno, Animal Farm, Fahrenheit 451, I was told not to go to my English class because 3 of us were very well read & were told just bring in a review of a book we read from the seniors list. I always loved to read. But how many more books are there? Which are important to read? Why? Says who? Is it biased? Lies? In know life is about learning but it's so much information one is likely to pick and choose. I don't think anyone is trying to make us infantile, we are mostly struggling to keep up

I cringe when I hear people,mostly women, talk about " retail therapy". They think that buying stuff will make them happy. It probably does for a while then they have to buy more stuff. The whole consumer society thing is very sad.

Some people...

Absolutely, well said.

I think that people used to made better use of their intellect in previous generations because they had to. It is simply too easy to be intellectually lazy today. People plug themselves into their cell phones as if they fear the challenge and anxiety of reality. The brain/mind atrophies like any other underutilized muscle. AI will soon fill the vacuum we have left it.

It use to be that school was considered a drugery, and it was a punishment to "have" to go. Now I listen to grandchildren, and greats, and I don't get that as often, however still those that have difficulty learning, have a hard time with it, (having to go). Some, I think, are allowed to be let slid if they resist too much, when perhaps those are the ones that need the most creative teaching.

Naw, folks was already infantile. The machine has merely evolved to meet their infantile needs…..

Perhaps type of education also matters. When education was rounded, children developed their innate curiosity. Now "education" is teaching a child/youth to pass exams by rote learning.

My husband and I were talking last night about something his mother did. A few years ago, she sent a few strands of her hair to some lab that supposedly analyzed it and in return, told you all of the foods that you're "sensitive" to and shouldn't eat. She wanted us to do it as well, but my husband and I are skeptical of most things (especially what his mother does) and the whole thing just seemed weird and unnecessary, so we declined.

Last night, I came across a video from an actual, board-certified allergist that explained why those tests are complete scams. He said that those tests base your "sensitivities" on high levels of what are called IgG antibodies in your blood. Not to be confused with actual allergy tests that look for IgE antibodies. Here's the kicker, the presence of IgG antibodies in the blood is a normal response of the immune system after eating food. What the presence of IgG antibodies actually shows is a TOLERANCE to foods. It is an indicator that you've eaten certain foods recently or eat them often. These tests have never been scientifically proven to do what they say it supposedly does. They are literally charging you hundreds of dollars to tell you what you eat.

Ignorant and/or uneducated people often just latch on to whatever baseless information they find because it supports their opinion. No amount of explanation or fact presentation will change their mind because they are completely incapable of critical thinking. Unfortunately, there are those who exist who live to take advantage of those people.

I have always lived by the adage that knowledge is never heavy but carries a lot of weight.
Learning for me is the only reason for my existence. I continue to study.
I find it hard to fathom, in this world of so many mysteries, how people can just switch off and go coast along mode into old age and death.
Now with the advent of A.I, human intellect and learning will become that much more undesirable.

I regard myself as still having child attributes as I am still learning how to live my life and will until ........