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Here is something that I said many years ago. I think that I was the first. "Necessity is the mother of invention, but laziness is the father." I will now add that, "Time is the enemy of data collection."
What I mean is that obtaining information quickly and with the least amount of difficulty is becoming more and more crucial to the effective management of our time, and to the enhancement of our lives. And that is mainly because of our ability, due to computerization, to search for information in a vast quantity of data.
Search engines were the first response to our desire and ability to obtain certain data that exists in this vast reservoir of information. The inherent problem of search engines is that they are a product of a computer, and time and time again we see the inability of the computer to make cognitive leaps that a four year old can make.
Mahalo is a Cloud Cyborg. Instead of a human that has machine like elements implanted into it, it is a machine that is merged with human intelligences so that the search function is done by the machine elements while the cognitive functions are done by the human elements. And this Cloud Cyborg can be upgraded in two ways.
First, more machinery in the form of servers can be added to the CC. Second, more human intelligences can be induced to join with the CC.
Each new server and each new human intelligence increases either the speed or the cognitive abilities of the CC.
Mahalo.com hopes to use this CC as a means to make a profit. It is more likely to do this if the CC develops a reputation for delivering high quality (accurate) information swiftly. The machine part of the CC is simple to upgrade, it just requires money. Increasing the number of human intelligences is obviously more difficult, and so mahalo.com uses two methods to induce more human intelligences to join with the CC. These are cash and community. Both are obvious inducements. Both satisfy certain needs in the people that join with the CC.
I could expand on this. I could mention phiIipy's game insight. I'll stop here.
So what do you think? Rational concept or is it crazy talk?
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(1) Most of the best answers I've received on Mahalo combine research (much of it done via search engines) along with personal expertise and experience. Hearing the results of a search someone did are great, but hearing that information analyzed and interpreted by someone with more experience in a given field than myself is invaluable.
(2) There is a social aspect to Mahalo Answers, and it has become something of a community of people who are passionate about knowledge, research and technology. You don't get this with a simple search engine.
(3) I'm not sure it's necessarily "lazy" to ask a question that you could personally answer with 15 minutes of search. Maybe you just want to be sure that the information is reliable...Maybe you don't really know the best sites on a certain topic...Maybe you just only have a moment, or are somewhere on the go, and just want to be able to check in later and get an answer. Sometimes, using Mahalo Answers to find info is just more convenient, and using a more convenient solution to a problem isn't laziness...it's intelligence.
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Then there are the cruddy questions. It would honestly take less time to type:
Define: word
in the Google search box than it would take to type out "What's the definition of word?" here or in Twitter. Seriously.
However, not everyone has a black belt in Google-fu. Some people just don't know how to make search engines do what they want, as hard as that is for me to remember sometimes. It gets frustrating to see questions that I think could be better answered with a quick Internet search, but, hey, maybe the person asking the question doesn't have any idea of how to go about finding the information.
I find that my mental response to these simple questions alternates between, "Ah, easy question - quick answer," and "Gee, why don't I just send you to Let Me Google That For You." Depends on my mood and whether or not I have one of my stinking migraines.
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I think it's great to get several viewpoints on a question.
Some of the questions asked are factual. But instead of getting one answer and having to jump to another site to get more information, you just jump to later in that answer, or to the next answerer.
And in real life, many times questions require a bit of judgment in answering, and not just opinion questions, but the kind that answer "What should I DO?" Witness the many questions on which restaurant/which opening line/how to handle various child-rearing/relationship problems. What to do about squealing brakes. All of these questions could be answered in a simple fashion by Googling, but it would take a lot longer and involve more frustration for the asker. By asking here, people further from the problem do the research and share experiences and opinions, gathering a lot of information in one place, thus cutting a lot of the search-related frustration for the asker. The asker still has to decide what to do, but at least s/he's no longer fighting with/waiting on the computer in the process.
Is that lazy? No, no more than not wishing to push a rock up a hill a'la Sisyphus. No more than trading in honest, hardworking horseflesh for one o'them new-fangled motorcars, or trading the rocks by the river for a brand-new wringer washer. It's simply a better, more efficient way to find information.
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I can see how the questions coming from twitter may appear as lazy, but these people may not have access to a computer so they can't do a quick search for the answer. So they are not being lazy, they are just using what resources are available.
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Answered Question
M$1
May 29, 2009 04:35 AM
Mahalo: AskJeeves alternative, or a lazy man's search engine?
Some of the questions on this site are pretty unique, but others can be found running a simple search (definitions, news articles, ect.). Is this site growing into more of a "lazy man's search engine?" Give me your thoughts. Best thought = 1.00.
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| May 29, 2009 09:23 AM |
What I mean is that obtaining information quickly and with the least amount of difficulty is becoming more and more crucial to the effective management of our time, and to the enhancement of our lives. And that is mainly because of our ability, due to computerization, to search for information in a vast quantity of data.
Search engines were the first response to our desire and ability to obtain certain data that exists in this vast reservoir of information. The inherent problem of search engines is that they are a product of a computer, and time and time again we see the inability of the computer to make cognitive leaps that a four year old can make.
Mahalo is a Cloud Cyborg. Instead of a human that has machine like elements implanted into it, it is a machine that is merged with human intelligences so that the search function is done by the machine elements while the cognitive functions are done by the human elements. And this Cloud Cyborg can be upgraded in two ways.
First, more machinery in the form of servers can be added to the CC. Second, more human intelligences can be induced to join with the CC.
Each new server and each new human intelligence increases either the speed or the cognitive abilities of the CC.
Mahalo.com hopes to use this CC as a means to make a profit. It is more likely to do this if the CC develops a reputation for delivering high quality (accurate) information swiftly. The machine part of the CC is simple to upgrade, it just requires money. Increasing the number of human intelligences is obviously more difficult, and so mahalo.com uses two methods to induce more human intelligences to join with the CC. These are cash and community. Both are obvious inducements. Both satisfy certain needs in the people that join with the CC.
I could expand on this. I could mention phiIipy's game insight. I'll stop here.
So what do you think? Rational concept or is it crazy talk?
| Asker's Rating: |
• Very well put, and it has definitely tought me something new. It's the quote that did it for me, although that the thoughts presented in this rational concept was unexpected with the question. I actually anticipated several of these responses, but not yours and that's why you were selected best answer. This wasn't a question for the best response but the best thought, and in my opinion thats you.
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Other Answers (5)
May 29, 2009 04:48 AM
Interesting question. I have a few thoughts: (1) Most of the best answers I've received on Mahalo combine research (much of it done via search engines) along with personal expertise and experience. Hearing the results of a search someone did are great, but hearing that information analyzed and interpreted by someone with more experience in a given field than myself is invaluable.
(2) There is a social aspect to Mahalo Answers, and it has become something of a community of people who are passionate about knowledge, research and technology. You don't get this with a simple search engine.
(3) I'm not sure it's necessarily "lazy" to ask a question that you could personally answer with 15 minutes of search. Maybe you just want to be sure that the information is reliable...Maybe you don't really know the best sites on a certain topic...Maybe you just only have a moment, or are somewhere on the go, and just want to be able to check in later and get an answer. Sometimes, using Mahalo Answers to find info is just more convenient, and using a more convenient solution to a problem isn't laziness...it's intelligence.
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May 29, 2009 04:53 AM
I think that the core of this site is the tougher questions - the ones that are unique, or require personal knowledge/research to properly answer. I like these questions the most, including the ones that call for well-reasoned opinions instead of facts. Then there are the cruddy questions. It would honestly take less time to type:
Define: word
in the Google search box than it would take to type out "What's the definition of word?" here or in Twitter. Seriously.
However, not everyone has a black belt in Google-fu. Some people just don't know how to make search engines do what they want, as hard as that is for me to remember sometimes. It gets frustrating to see questions that I think could be better answered with a quick Internet search, but, hey, maybe the person asking the question doesn't have any idea of how to go about finding the information.
I find that my mental response to these simple questions alternates between, "Ah, easy question - quick answer," and "Gee, why don't I just send you to Let Me Google That For You." Depends on my mood and whether or not I have one of my stinking migraines.
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May 29, 2009 01:04 PM
Even with some of the simple "what does this word mean" questions, there are better more insightful answers here than looking things up in an online dictionary will give you.
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May 29, 2009 05:39 AM
The thing here at Mahalo is that there is a real person behind "Jeeves". Not just one, but thousands of us, with a couple of dozen answering some of the hottest questions. I think it's great to get several viewpoints on a question.
Some of the questions asked are factual. But instead of getting one answer and having to jump to another site to get more information, you just jump to later in that answer, or to the next answerer.
And in real life, many times questions require a bit of judgment in answering, and not just opinion questions, but the kind that answer "What should I DO?" Witness the many questions on which restaurant/which opening line/how to handle various child-rearing/relationship problems. What to do about squealing brakes. All of these questions could be answered in a simple fashion by Googling, but it would take a lot longer and involve more frustration for the asker. By asking here, people further from the problem do the research and share experiences and opinions, gathering a lot of information in one place, thus cutting a lot of the search-related frustration for the asker. The asker still has to decide what to do, but at least s/he's no longer fighting with/waiting on the computer in the process.
Is that lazy? No, no more than not wishing to push a rock up a hill a'la Sisyphus. No more than trading in honest, hardworking horseflesh for one o'them new-fangled motorcars, or trading the rocks by the river for a brand-new wringer washer. It's simply a better, more efficient way to find information.
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May 29, 2009 07:19 AM
I understand your thought here, but would you say people depend too much on Mahalo. To the point where they have to log on, fill in the "ask a question" log; just to find out a definition of a word when it takes less effort to run a search engine? Or, for instance, someone wants to know who a certain person is, most of the people who answer those questions wikipedia that person for their answer. Why add a middle man? That's the laziness I'm getting at. The fact that people tip people to do basic research.
Granted there are those questions like you mentioned, where its better to get multiple opinions and facts.
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Granted there are those questions like you mentioned, where its better to get multiple opinions and facts.
May 29, 2009 12:55 PM
Most of the very simple questions come from Twitter, where they might well be coming from a device that doesn't have a proper web browser.
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May 29, 2009 02:01 PM
It's true; when you look at many of the extremely simple questions, they're coming from Twitter or email. It's possible, I think, to use a service like Dial2Do or Jott to send an email, in which case those people are probably using those services because they're trying to avoid using the data plan on their phone and need to know something while they're away from a place to use a computer. And that's just fine. Still not lazy.
Maybe there are some people who are lazy, but I would guess a lot of them are not terribly tech-savvy; have someone gotten frustrated trying to find the right answer traditionally; have heard about Mahalo Answers and thought they'd let someone else try it.
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Maybe there are some people who are lazy, but I would guess a lot of them are not terribly tech-savvy; have someone gotten frustrated trying to find the right answer traditionally; have heard about Mahalo Answers and thought they'd let someone else try it.
May 30, 2009 12:23 AM
I think there are many lazy type questions that are asked here, but there are also some good ones that require a lot of thought and research. I can see how the questions coming from twitter may appear as lazy, but these people may not have access to a computer so they can't do a quick search for the answer. So they are not being lazy, they are just using what resources are available.
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Either it is quicker, in which case it is efficient. And if you want to call getting things done in the fastest and simplest way "lazy" go ahead. Personally I'd call it smart not lazy.
If you think it's easier and quicker to get the answer by going to Google or Wikipedia, then it might be a waste of time to ask here, but it surely can't be lazy to do it.