Does the Internet make you doubt your knowledge?

Washington D.C: The Internet changed our life enormously, there is no doubt about that. But the increasing dependence on it makes us less confident leading us to doubt ourselves.

A recent report has revealed that people are less willing to rely on their knowledge and say they know something when they have Internet access.

Professor Evan F. Risko recently conducted a research lead by 100 participants who were asked a series of general-knowledge questions.

For half of the study, participants had access to the Internet. They had to look up the answer when they responded that they did not know the answer. In the other half of the study, participants did not have access to the Internet.

The researchers found out that that the people, who had access to the web were about 5 per cent more likely to say that they did not know the answer to the question. People with access to the Internet reported feeling as though they knew less compared to the people without access.

Lead researcher Risko said that with the ubiquity of the Internet, people are almost constantly connected to large amounts of information and when that data is within reach, they seem less likely to rely on their own knowledge.

He added that their results suggest that access to the Internet affects the decisions they make about what they know and don't know.

(With Agency inputs)