Are we Borg?

Is it time to stop remeber things? For real, this time?

Today I needed to find two pieces of SQL Server related information. One was straight foward, I posted it on #sqlhelp on twitter and a minute or so later I had the answer. The other was a bit more involved and I asked around in our MVP mail list – a couple of hours later I had bunch of suggestions and tips. These are only examples, it could just as well have been some web-forum, newsgroup, or some other forum. We’ve all had cases like this, but it made me think and reflect.

Travel back in time, say 20 years or so. Computers were hard to use. Well, not computers per se, but rather the software made them hard to use. (Without software computers are easy to use – they don’t do anything!) We were lucky if the software came with a printed manual. Whatever the quality of that manual.

Then came electronic help with the software. That was a big step forward. And it even had index and search!

With the Internet, things really started to pick up. Sure, there were BBS before that, but not broadly used. With Internet, we were given e-mail. Mail lists. Newsgroups. Altavista, Google and Bing (sounds like a supergroup). Web-forums. Facebook. Twitter. Etc. And not only that, we carry the Internet in our pockets, wherever we are.

So, this is what hit me today. I used to keep tips and tricks in a register. Nuggets I picked up, here and there. The past few years, I do less and less of this. There are so many great minds out there, who also are willing to lend a helping hand. So, almost when I realize I need some bit of information, that information is available. Sounds pretty much like the collective mind of the Borg to me. Perhaps not quite there yet, but give it a year or five.

But what worries me is: Where does that leave us, as human beings. Where is the difference between learning and remembering. Deducing versus asking and being given the information. I’m sure you can relate to this, at some level. For instance when we were forbidden to use pocket calculatos at school, because they were too powerful  Or the other way around.

To put it bluntly: If I don’t have to remember anything about SQL Server (the info is out there, right?), I won’t be a very profficient SQL Server person. I’m sure we can formulate lots of ways to differentiate between learning/creating/deducing and remembering. And, don’t get me wrong. I think the development is really interesting – and the community out there is way cool.

But, I just find the development a bit interesting… and worrying … and thrilling.

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