In ancient times, knowledge was carried in a person’s head. Simple knowledge, like which berries are good to eat and which are toxic was passed from generation to generation orally. Slowly more complex knowledge accumulated until in the time of Homer, Moses, and others, the collected wisdom of a people was carried through the long memorization of an oral history. The apocalyptic movie “Book of Eli” illustrated what was a common practice just a few thousand years ago.

This began to change with the advent of writing. First there were religious books, later the great libraries, like the Library of Alexandria. Scholars concentrated around universities both to share knowledge with their peers but also because the universities held the greatest collection of books.

A couple hundred years ago scholars in France set out to summarize the entire span of human knowledge into an encyclopedia. Great encyclopedias were still being created and distributed into the 20th century.

There are still people who memorize and can recite entire texts. There are still great libraries with thousands of books and journals not available anywhere else. There are still encyclopedias. Yet all have been eclipsed by the internet. Oral legends, ancient texts, books, journals, and encyclopedias are all available online.

The availability of knowledge, however, is only part of the struggle. It is like opening your cupboard and realizing you have all the ingredients required to bake a cake. The internet is a cupboard full of knowledge. But having the ingredients does not magically produce a cake. Having instantaneous access to more knowledge than was ever housed in the greatest library does not produce wisdom.