“How did you guys look stuff up before the internet and ChatGPT? Did you just run to the library all the time?” an earnest young lady queried recently online. 

This question has been preying on my mind for about two months. How did we look stuff up? You think you’re never going to forget these things, but it has taken me that long to put Humpty Dumpty back together again—and I think I remember all the moving parts.

First of all, Chantal (let’s call her Chantal), we did indeed run to the library a lot—wherein we found the magical, omniscient librarian whose superpower (besides total geekiness) was to locate the exact book, volume, journal, newspaper or microfiche that contained the desired information. Make no mistake, the humble librarian was a big deal back in the day. You desperately needed her (it was usually a “her”), so you had better shush when she shushed you—much like how people today try to stay on the good side of the IT person at work. In lieu of scampering to the library constantly, most folks tried to build their own modest home library, often with reference books like encyclopediae, history books, etc.

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We had lots of other aces up our sleeves with regard to readily accessing knowledge, including our own brain. I’m not kidding, Chantal. Because you knew you might need data at random moments, you tried to memorize whatever you heard, saw, read—right as you were hearing, seeing and reading it.

You might even have notebooks to jot down pertinent stuff in. You also tried to remember things as accurately as possible so you didn’t make a faux pas and embarrass yourself in conversation because everyone else was trying to commit things to memory accurately. Like a smooth-functioning hive mind, we did not suffer fools. It was like living an oral culture that could back you up or destroy you by consulting the written word.

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Next, we conferred with our elders, meaning your mom or dad. They were geniuses because they had more life experience, and more years to learn, read and memorize. Your grandparents, of course, actually lived some pretty amazing history and had jaw-dropping stories to tell. If these gracefully-aging souls couldn’t help you, they “knew a guy” who could. Everyone kept varied experts in their back pocket who were willing to instruct the ignorant.

We also devoured serious newspapers and periodicals (not rags and tabloids) to get in-depth analysis of current events (with a side of history). Specialized magazines schooled us in culture, biographies, hobbies, etc. No matter what we were reading, we made it our own, mentally and physically (underlining, dog-earing, highlighting, bookmarking, scribbling notes in margins). 

And, Chantal, I can’t emphasize how much the lost art of conversation played a role in our knowledge, understanding, personal growth, development of social grace, and a nuanced grasp of topics. As kids, we were forced to stay at the table (with no toys, books or tablets!) and listen to the adults drone on. Am I glad we did. I believe the more we were exposed to well-spoken and congenial discussion, debate, vocabulary, syntax and repartee, the more we absorbed it into ourselves, and it became part of our intuitive ability to quickly glean and comprehend worthwhile knowledge around us.

Chantal, we didn’t even have ChatGPT until 2022. Why do you suddenly need it? The answer is: You don’t. A recent study shows a 47 per cent drop in neural engagement among participants who used ChatGPT to write an essay compared with those who didn’t. We can resist. We must resist. 

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We can rebuild a talking, thinking, literate, memorizing culture. But it’s a slow build. It always was, always will be, and it starts when you’re a kiddo. Children in school are now saying they don’t want to learn how to read and write because computers will do it for them. They don’t know that they’re surrendering their humanity.If ChatGPT often makes stuff up (and tells us we have to double-check it every time anyway to make sure it’s accurate)—what good is it? 

“Oh, they’ll eventually fix it.” Oh, really? When? And how will we know it’s fixed?