What Google doesn't know

The auto complete function on Google’s search window gives us an interesting glimpse into the answers people hope to get from the interweb. Case in point: When you pose a query starting with “how to k”, just under “how to knit” comes “how to kiss”. Face sucking tutorials make four of the top ten searches. I find this interesting and honestly, a bit misguided. I’m not sure I would have consulted my laptop for amorous advice. There are some thing you learn with another person.

Before the written word, knowledge was passed from person to person. Village elders told stories around campfires and apprentices learned beside masters. Writing was the first step of the removal of knowledge from relationship. Now you didn't have to ask a person, you could read a document. The printing press made mass publication possible. Knowledge could now be delivered widely and stockpiled in libraries, and an individual could draw from the learning of another without human contact. The Internet has taken this an exponential step further.

Today, you don’t have to call your dad about that strange rattle coming from your car--you can google the solution. No need to drop by to get a recipe from grandma--an endless supply of culinary guides reside online. Never before has virtually every answer been in the palm of our hands. Countless answers might be a few keystrokes away, but there are some things you’ll never learn from a screen. Kissing is one of them. Spirituality is another.

Things like kissing and faith are of a different nature than facts stored in the digital cloud. Knowledge in these arenas isn’t culled from data--it’s learned through sharing an experience with others. You can learn the basics about your pucker and information about Jesus through your phone, but knowing requires human interaction. Regardless of the strides virtual reality takes, some things will never be known without relationships. If you want to know who won the World Series in 1970, there’s Google, but if you want to learn to kiss, you’ll need a willing partner. And if you want to find God, you need to spend time with people who know him.