It’s surprising to see so many people waste away the benefits of the internet. The occasional gaming a few times a week is alright, but nowadays you can do just about anything on the internet. The problem is – some of us do nothing online.

You want to explore a new hobby? Visit Sutree and you can learn to become an expert. Need an easier way to manage your personal finance? Visit Buxfer and setup a budget in minutes. But many remain ignorant and visit solely entertainment websites that only wastes away countless hours. These people were the typical couch potatoes, and now they have evolved into desk potatoes. The only difference now is people are in control of the content they receive, and that may either dilute their general knowledge or increase it tenfold. Take for example, a sport fanatic. He/she will spend majority of their time reading game results online. Or, car enthusiasts who will spend the entire the day watching video reviews. Why? Because they can and they want to.

With TV, you will at least be forced into catching a glimpse of the news or forced to watch something of a new subject when nothing good is on (ditto for magazines and newspapers). But because the way the web is, you can visit a website every day of your life and still learn about the same subject, albeit different subcategories of the subject but still the same general subject nonetheless. That’s alright, however the danger comes when a dumb person likes dumb things.

Now, it’s a whole new discussion to define intelligence. However, I think we can all agree that most people who comment on Youtube are dumb, either that or they are incredibly effective in writing numbingly idiotic comments. So, the dumb will do dumb things, such as watching all ball-in-the-groin videos on Youtube while the intelligent may watch a single ball-in-the-groin video, laugh his/her ass off and spend the remainder of time learning how Bush sucked as a president, which may I dare say effectively explains the dirty core of politics.

But how about easy online access to the news and other lessons? Doesn’t that help “dumb” people engage in learning experiences who would otherwise be wasting their time? No, we’re all spoiled and we get what we want. Just be hopeful that you do more online than reading the entertainment section on Digg.

The internet has so much potential to save us time, educate us on important life lessons or entertain us. Unfortunately, it further grows the gap between differing intellects. The workforce will contain far brighter, well-rounded individuals who will take even more advantage of poorly educated folks.

All in all, the dumb will get dumber and the smart will get smarter. One thing is for sure though: we will all end up knowing more than before. The question is – about what?

For better using the internet, I’ve listed a few sites that I visit regularly to update my knowledge:

Personal finance – Redflagdeals Forums, Buxfer

Investment – Stockhouse, Four Pillars, Million Dollar Journey

Economy and Market – Canadian Business, Business Week

Science and Technology – Wired, Lifehacker, Engadget

Entrepreneurship – Springwise, Trendwatching, Inc.

Overall knowledge – Digg, TED, Flora.tv, Wikipedia

- Peter Kao